On the Recovery Trail(s)

Yes, I’m afraid it is trails plural. I’ll get to that in a moment.

My eye seemed to be recovering faster than expected. The gas bubble was gone by Jan. 11, a month and a half after the operation. By the end of January, I was confident that my vision had stabilized and was as good as it was going to be; that is, very near-sighted as the doctor had warned me (I have  my screen setup ae 3X power).

This past Friday I went back for my scheduled check-up with the hope that the doctor would tell me that I was ready for new prescription glasses. However, when she examined my eye, she saw something she didn’t like. She said that she needed to do some more laser stitching (spot-welding). That took about ten minutes. (BTW, that spot-welding is about as much fun as having a dentist drill out a cavity without using Novocaine.)

Although the doctor assures me this laser stitching was necessary, I can’t tell any difference at all in my vision. She wants to see me again in two weeks. So, I don’t know when I’ll get my Mr. Magoo glasses; but, I can’t wait any longer. I’m going to start blogging again even if it’s only once or twice a week.

Some of you have probably noticed in your blog stats that I have been visiting your sites. Using the Windows virtual magnifying glass, I have indeed been reading your posts. Sometimes it has taken as much as an hour to read a post but to me it has been worth the effort. I must say that you all have done some great work and reading them has helped me keep my sanity, as well as, keeping me up to date on all that has been going on in the world of American politics.

One might wonder if I am able to read with magnifications tools why haven’t been posting anything. The answer has to do with pain and I’m not talking about my eye. Reading through pain is one thing but writing through pain (I tried several times) is something quite different.

What I didn’t share with you all in my original post about losing my sight in my only eye was that there was a mishap in our emergency trip to Caracas on Thanksgiving day to see the retina specialist.

Venezuelan highways in the Eastern part of the country, where I live, are nothing more than a obstical course of pot holes. My son was driving and doing a masterful job of avoiding the pot holes but there was one monster pot hole that he couldn’t avoid. Although I had my seatbelt on, when the car hit the bottom of the pot hole, my head slammed into the hand-hold above the passenger door which drove me back into the seat. Well, I let loose with a few expletives but there didn’t seem to be any real harm. A half hour later we stopped at a gas station for coffee and when I tried to get out of the car I couldn’t. The pain in my lower back was excruciating. Now I am no stranger to lower back pain. Twice I have been operated on for herniated disk. I am accustomed to having bouts of lower back pain that sometimes last two or three weeks. So, there was nothing to do except ignore the pain and focus on solving the problem with my eye.  After the operation on my eye, I was given pills to relieve pain in the eye. Those pills apparently also relieved some of the pain in my back. But once I no longer needed the pills for my eye, the back pain came roaring back.

Being the stubborn old man who I am, I ignored my wife’s pleadings to go have my back checked; saying the pain would eventually go away. Well, a week ag Friday I was sitting here in front of my computer drinking a cup of coffee. When I tried to get up to get a second cup, I couldn’t. My wife and son took me to the emergency room of a near b y clinic where they pumped me full of muscle relaxants and pain killers. The next day I went in for a MRI and a week ago today I took the MRI results to a traumatologist ( I’m not sure what that is in English.) It turns out that there are small fractures i two vertebrae, which are already knitting together, and some radial fractures that extend to the iliac region of my right pelvic bone and that is the source of the pain. Again I am on pain killers, which I don’t like one bit. This afternoon I begin physiotherapy.

Bottom line: this “condenado viejo” is having stretch of bad luck. But this too will pass. As long as the pain is under control (hopefully with the physiotherapy) I intend to start writing again. Hopefully I will be able to post something tomorrow. I am under no illusions that what I write is of any import. I know that my voice is but one of millions. I write this blog for purely selfish reasons. It’s all about you, my dear readers. You all have become a very important part of my life. You are my connection to my beloved America. Here in Venezuela I have no one with whom I can talk to about what is happening back home. I thank God every day for each of you who take the time to read my opinions and comment on them. You all make me feel like I am still a part of America and that is very important to me. So, I’m looking forward to being part of the conversation again. I miss you guys!

Cheers!

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