April 17th – The following day, Dave and Kathleen returned to drive me to my follow-up appointment. I knew I could not fly home for several weeks with the bubble in my eye because the pressure created by ascending altitudes would cause it to expand. The train was a viable option. Here’s the rub, to get from California to New Jersey by train, you travel over the Rocky Mountains. I was not aware that the bubble came with altitude restrictions too. Until it completely dissolved, I could not travel anywhere over 1000 feet above sea level. I used ChatGPT to map out the route, and guess what? Driving won’t work, either. My only option was to sit tight and allow my body to heal.
For some reason, I brought my iPad on this trip, a lifesaver. I could set it on the floor and watch movies. On Tuesday morning, I logged onto the live stream to listen to the Sales Kick Off while lying face down on the bed following doctors’ orders. My first instinct was to sneak downstairs and peek inside the room to see how it was going, and I stopped myself. Now was the time to care for me, not watch a mainstage presentation I could have recited from memory.
I shared a post on FB and was overwhelmed by my friends and company’s outreach and support. Lying face down for days does not provide many entertainment options. I joined two retinal detachment groups on Facebook. Some days I found them depressing and other days, they were comforting. Short-term or long-term bubbles, oil, buckles, sight returned, distorted vision, and partial or even lost vision stories fill the feed. Levels of success and those of learning to live with broke my heart.
If I covered my right eye, I could see clearly. The gas bubble in the left was shifting downward, cresting the middle, and I wondered if it was too soon. Being alone amplified my emotions. What began as an annoyance turned to curiosity, then to angst, culminating in fear. What had I done? I didn’t listen to my body until it screamed for attention. Each day I sat in a hotel room waiting to learn if I would regain my sight.
#retinadetachment #gasbubble
foursetsofeyes 