I know more then a few people who think absolutely nothing about sitting around all day, not doing much of anything. I've never been one of them. I have to move - I feel better when I've done something during the day (outside the planned and sometimes needed rest days!) There's been a few times in my life where I haven't been able to do much due to health issues and I was hoping to avoid a repeat for as long as possible. The first was after the retinal detachment in my left eye back in 2011 and the second was following my mountain bike crash in 2019 where I ended up with the severe hemothorax. The first was a week of doing nothing, followed by a few weeks of easing back into activity. I probably pushed it a little by racing the Xterra West Championships in Las Vegas a month after that surgery. The second was only limited in activity due to the hospitalization and need for portable suction on the chest tube! I would have been up moving quite a bit sooner had it not been for that little complication.
So when I had a strange flare in my "good" right eye, I had a feeling something was wrong. A change in floaters, a new odd blob that held onto the light even when I closed my eyes and an increase in blood cells all pointed to something not being right. I was fully anticipating the "let's send her to see Waterhouse (the GJ retina center)" comment from my eye doctor. To me, the question would be how bad was it after attempting to ignore the obvious so we could have a fun weekend in Gunnison. I remembered the intensive surgery from back in 2011 - full OR suite, feeling like I'd been punched in the face and having to be either sitting upright or laying on my right side to allow the gas bubble to help seal the repaired tear. No reading, no driving, no doing anything. I didn't want to repeat that experience, but... So I was very surprised to hear that this particular detachment could be surgically repaired in the office. No full anesthesia - just local in my eye. No month of downtime, but a full week of very strict positioning requirements then a gradual return to activity. We could do it that afternoon if I thought I would be able to do a full week of keeping my head at a specific angle for more then 45 minutes out of every hour for at least five days/six nights.
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That arrow was supposed to point up towards to ceiling...
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The repair didn't take too long - laser to seal round the detachment, then cryotherapy to seal the tear followed injecting a small gas bubble into my eye. The laser and the cryo were the glue to fix tear and the bubble the vise to hold it all together. Hence the need to keep my head at just the right angle. Night one wasn't too bad. I was tired, sore and frustrated. Sleep sounded good. I was lucky that I normally sleep on my right side so that wasn't hard. But my face was sore and I had to cock my neck up at a weird angle to ensure the arrow on the dressing was in the right spot. When I woke up on Wednesday, I quickly realized that the next few days were going to be a challenge. Think about it. You have 15 minutes of every hour to be able to get up and move around - it can be spread across the whole hour or taken in a chunk. You can't stack 15 minute blocks for a longer time of moving around. If you can keep your head at just the right angle, then you can move around a little longer. How long does making breakfast and coffee take? What about taking a shower? Plan your movements wisely.... And on the flip side of that, 45 minutes of every hour is to be spent "lounging" in bed or on the couch keeping your head at that specific angle. What is going to start hurting from pressure or lack of movement?
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| A happy Sasha getting her couch time |
My answer to that was pretty quick. My right hip from pressure and posture. I had to use so many pillows to off-load my hip so that I could actually lay down and sleep. My hip was followed very quickly by my right elbow as I used it to help with positioning. Then my right ear and cheek from pressing into the pillows. That one was harder to prevent because if I didn't support my head, my neck started hurting. It took more then a little jeryrigging to get somewhat comfortable with the pillows. And then there were my knees. I'm used to an hour or more of running, riding or swimming every day - in addition to my work and general moving around. Plenty of movement to keep everything happy and moving. So when all of a sudden, when I stopped moving my knees protested. They were hurting even more then anything else. Stay in one position too long and there was pain, start moving and there was pain. Things felt a little better after my short 10 minute walks, but not by much. Hopefully now that I can move, it will start feeling better!
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| DumDum getting in on the snuggle action |
Of course, the cats were more then happy to have me home and not moving for five days. So much snuggle time!
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| Even George decided she wanted some lap time |
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