I Broke My Own Rule

[1CAVCCO15MED]

I broke my rule about never letting the VA do anything under anesthesia or sedation. It seemed OK, I mean it was the same doctor that did my other cataract surgery at the civilian hospital where I worked. She and I are sort of buddies and I trust her greatly. So, save some money and get it done at the VA. No problem, right?

I was given my appointments in late spring for preop testing and surgery. Later they called and told me they needed to change the date of my surgery. They said they would call me back and tell me the date. A few days later they called me and asked why I missed my preop. I told them they told me it was cancelled. They said they looked and I was still on the schedule. So I came in and had the tests. The next day they called and my wife answered. They asked why I came in and had the preop when my surgery was cancelled? It was a waste of time and money.

Well the real preop date nears and I got a package in the mail. It was one of those bubble wrap mailing pouches. On it was this big label saying DO NOT MAIL. I opened it up and it contained some post op instructions and two kinds of eye drops with a label on each one saying DO NOT MAIL.

Surgery day came and so I went. Everyone was really nice and they took me to the surgery pre and post op area. A neat, nice looking lady came to me and told me she is the one who would be sedating me. You have to be somewhat alert for the surgery so you can hold still. No problem, I had had it before. They numbed everything up and injectied the sedation. The doc is working away when my eye starts hurting real bad. I started moaning and they gave me some more sedation. Then I quit breathing. They yelled at me to breathe so I did, being a good patient. My doc told me to look down and I did that too. Only thing was, I kept stopping breathing and not looking down and they were continuously yelling at me to breathe and look down. Remember, they are cutting on my eye using a microscope. I kept hearing these bells and seeing bright lights. The lights were expected but the bells? Pulse oxymeter. It went off every time I quit breathing. I was out of it but I do remember telling the doc I loved the light show but the music left something to be desired. Nobody laughed? Hell, just trying to lighten up the situation. After all, I was the one not breathing.

This surgery takes about half an hour to an hour. It took three hours for me. When I woke up, it hurt like hell, not like the last time. The sedation was still affecting me so I was ok, mostly. I slept for the next twenty four hours.

The next day I went to the eye clinic. My eye was not happy. Upon examination, I has some severe inflammation on both sides of the iris and an abrasion on my cornea but the vision was real good. Whew! I didn't see my doc then but I do have a few questions for her when I do.