Recovery went about the same as for the first surgery, but this time, I made sure I iced much better. For the first day, 30 minutes on, 30 minutes off until I fell asleep, and then 10 minutes each hour for the next several days. It certainly helped with the swelling, which helped the skin around the eye to not hurt as much. However, the bone Aches as it gets cold! One trick I did figure out this time: I placed a gauze pad or folded Kleenex over my eye ball. This helped with the discharge from the eye, and kept the eyeball from getting SO cold, while letting the entire orbit get the cold it needed.
The surgical center sent home this great knit tube. We placed crushed ice in a baggie, and then in a second baggie, and knotted it in the center. Long enough to tie behind my head, it gave a bit of hands free icing.
The Arnica relief cream is a homeopathic medication to reduce bruising. I used it faithfully for the first surgery, and forgot about it with the right eye. The bruising was much darker. My daughter reminded me to use it, so I dug it out to placate her. The next morning, the difference was dramatic! The majority of darkness had broken up, leaving just this ring. I'm a believer.
What has continued to be a struggle is the double vision. I was so excited when the bandages came off that I could see clearly. Within the next few days, it hit with vengeance! Scrolling through Facebook about knocked me out of my chair. I zombie walked around the house, clutching walls and furniture as I staggered about. Hand to eye coordination was out of the question. As I undressed at night, I found the most amazing things stuck down my shirt! Six days after surgery, I felt up to making pancakes, I thought. I tossed frozen strawberries, sugar and water into a pot to boil into syrup, and mixed up the batter. So far so good. The strawberries boiled over. I turned them down. Flipping pancakes with no depth perception - well, it wasn't pretty, but they got turned over. The strawberries boiled over. Again. I turned it down some more. And now the pancakes started to burn. My husband asked if I needed help. Like a petulant toddler, I refused. I can do it myself!! Now, I needed to remember what to do when pancakes burn... how do you make the pan cooler? In the end, we had slightly burnt, delicious chocolate chip pancakes and enough salvaged syrup to make me happy. The stove --- well, that took the husband about a half hour to chisel clean. I did have to admit that what I was up to was EATING pancakes, not making them.
At my exam, I was also seen by 'the muscle guy'. He had me hold a stick while he waved things about my head. they took my glasses away hand handed them back to me looking like this:
I put them on and wanted to cry. Horrible! The young lady told me to wear them, and that in the morning I would be happy. I'm pretty sure what they did was voodoo. Within minutes, the queasy feeling started to lift. I rode home in the car with my eyes open. And in the morning, all the zombies were gone. Prism lens is magic stuff.
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