Emergency Surgery

On Friday night, Todd had to have emergency surgery to repair his detached retina. This is the second time he has had surgery to repair it. The opthalmologist also removed the lens from his eye as it was in the way of repairing the retina.

It all started Thursday afternoon when Todd started to see some black lines. They went away so he didn't think anything of it. Friday he had some white dots in his vision as well. He called me around 1:00 and asked me to call the doctor to see if he could get an appointment that afternoon. His regular doctor was on vacation but she gave me the choice of an appt for Monday morning or having Todd come and wait to be seen. He called the nurse in the meantime and she told him to come on in.

In the meantime, we were at home getting ready to go to the pool. Todd called a little after 3:00 and said he was headed to the doctor. He said that depending on what time he got done there, he would call and probably meet us at the pool. When I had not gotten a call and it was almost 5:30, I tried to call Todd. He didn't answer so I figured the doctor was just backed up.

I finally got a call from Todd around 5:45. He was on the way home. He told me that he had to be back at the hospital by 6:30 for surgery on his eye. He had a detached retina again. I couldn't believe it and kept waiting for him to tell me that he was kidding. Anyone who knows Todd knows that he can be quite the prankster. I realized he was serious after he said he would be waiting for me at home. I think I was in a bit of shock at this point. So I quickly got the kids changed out of their bathing suits and we headed home.

As soon as we got there, I ran in, got changed and we headed to the hospital. Once we got there, we got Todd registered and the nurse came down to take him to pre-op. The kids and I headed up to the surgery waiting room. Todd's parents were there and his brother met us up there shortly afterwards. I headed down to pre-op to see Todd before he went in to surgery. I met the doctor who was going to perform the surgery. He talked about the operation and said that it should take between 1 and 1 1/2 hours. Todd would be sedated but awake for the operation. I headed back up to the surgery waiting room around 7:45 as they took Todd back to the OR.

We ran out to get something to eat for the kids and got back around 8:30. Time went by as we waited anxiously for news that the surgery was over. At 10:00, the waiting room was closing so we headed down to the ICU waiting room. The surgery had been going on for over 2 hours now. The kids were beyond tired so we were getting them ready to go home with Todd's brother. The doctor came in around 10:30. He said that the surgery was complete. It had taken him longer than expected to get the lens out but all else had gone as planned. The kids went home with their uncle and we waited for Todd.

This was an outpatient procedure and Todd was going to be released that night. When he had his first detached retina over 10 years ago, he was in the hospital for 5 days. We were a little concerned that he was going to be released and asked the doctor about that. He said this was a routine procedure and insurance would most likely not pay for a hospital stay.

He was finally ready to go home around 11:00. I spoke with the discharge nurses and got his prescriptions. He was due to meet with the doctor in the morning at his office at 8:00. We got home a little after 11:30. Todd got something to eat and headed up to bed. I headed out to pick up his prescriptions, which the hospital had faxed in. The fax didn't go through and I ended up having to wait an hour for them to be filled. I was exhausted by this time.

For 5 days after the surgery, Todd has to keep his head down to allow the retina to heal. He has a gas bubble in his eye and in order to keep it from moving to the wrong place, he has to keep his head down. He can't sleep on his back and has to sit with his head looking at the ground too. The first night was extremely uncomfortable for him and I don't think last night was much better. It's hard for him to lay on his stomach for extended periods of time due to his back. We were able to get a massage table from one of his brother's friends so this gives Todd somewhere else to sleep.

We will go back to the doctor again tomorrow to get his eye checked. He has to take 3 different eyedrops each day and an ointment before bed. Hoping for good news from the doctor in the morning!