The eyes have it.

Over the weekend I had emergency eye surgery for a torn retina.  Because it can happen to anyone at any time I want to pass along my experience.  As fate would have it my sister experienced the same thing and because she told me the symptoms I knew just what to do.  Even though she passed away in 2005 she still watches over me.  

On Friday It was gorgeous and sunny so I took a nice long walk.  Upon returning home I took off my sunglasses and noticed a small shadow along the lower edge of my peripheral vision.  I thought my eyes were just adjusting to the inside light, but the shadow persisted.  That night when I went to bed and closed my eyes I could still see the shadow as a lighter semicircle.  When I moved my eyes small flashes of light darted across the edge of that semicircle.  The next day The semicircular shadow was about one-quarter into my line of sight and disappeared when I looked down and followed my eye when I looked up.  At this point I called Allina Urgent Care and was seen right away.  An on-call optometrist was called in and he dialated my eyes and examined them finding that I had a retinal tear in my left eye.  He called an on-call opthamologist and surgery was scheduled for Sunday at the Phillips Eye Institute in Minneapolois.  It was a long day because of the holiday weekend, but I finally had the surgery, a vitrectomy and scleral buckle.

The good news is that I can see light and color.  The healing will take some time.  It feels like I have sandpaper on the inside of my eyelid  and I look like Popeye, but I know it will get better and I will be able to see again.  It is important  to know that something like this can happen at any time to anybody.  Thanks to Jim, Ben and the medical community.  I am fortunate, indeed.