Thanks everyone.
Ian has a consultation on his eyes yesterday. He does need surgery. That is not a question. The big question now is will his retinas be able to handle surgery and the post op recovery. They were able to dilate his eyes and get a decent look at one retina but the cataracts were too bad on the other and they couldn't see it. So he now has an appointment on Monday to see a retinal specialist. She will either give the go ahead and he will have surgery on one eye Wednesday or come up with a treatment plan to get his retina/s in shape for surgery.
He can not wear his contacts at all. His glasses don't come anywhere near correcting his vision so he can really function outside of the house. So as of today he is on short term disability. We don't know if it will be for a few weeks, or a few months.
Once his retina/s are cleared for surgery he will have one eye done one week and the other the next week. It will take 3 months before they are considered healed. However at that time he should have scar tissue starting to form on the new lenses they will be putting into his eyes. This will degrade his vision once again but is actually something they want to see. It means the lens is stable inside the eye. At that point they will do a quick laser procedure to break up the scar tissue. He will have floaters for a while until they dissolve and his body absorbs them. After the laser procedure they consider his eyesight stable. In a lot of cases the patient has their vision corrected as well as the cataracts taken care of. If all goes well Ian will have better vision but they can not give him great vision. So he will still need some form of corrective lenses. Right now were are shooting at 20/40 at least so he can still drive. 20/30 would be amazing.
We aren't sure what will happen once the two surgeries are done and if he will go back to work with me driving him back and forth (not fun but ya do what ya have to do) - or what will happen. We will cross that hurdle when we get to it.
Right now we are just trying to take it one day at a time with seeing the retinal specialist on Monday. Making sure his retina/s are healthy and secure to prevent retinal detachment is the first hurdle we have to overcome.
I am doing my best to stay as positive and strong as I can be for Ian. He has always and I mean ALWAYS been my rock. Now it is my turn to be there for him. I cry - but I make sure I am not in front of him when I do so. I am holding on to the thought and belief that this is an answer to prayers and it will not just turn out OK - but turn out to be a wonderful gift. There is still that evil fear monster lurking in the shadows though.
Ian is worried. Ian is scared,and he is trying with everything he has to hold on to the hope that he will not have a bad outcome and that he will be able to drive again. I can see the worry and pain. He is trying to not show it - but I have been with him for 33.5 years. I know him very well and I can see it. That breaks my heart more than I can explain.
So please keep the prayers coming for really good news on Monday or at least a great plan to get his retinas where they need to be so we can tackle that next step.
.
)
