The ‘eyes’ have it

Over the years, I’ve been cut on, opened up and been wrapped in bandages from foot to head, literally, but my most recent experience with the scalpel was the first time I’ve had anything done to my eyes. And I think I can now say, losing my eyesight may be the worst thing I’d hate to lose. In other words, I think I could overcome anything, but not the loss of my eyes.

I’m in the second week of recovering from what my friend Elaine says is a mini-facelift. Actually, I had both my lower eyelids operated on – I had a procedure called Ectropian repair -- and thanks goodness both eyes weren’t done simultaneously. There’s a reason Dr. Bohn chose to do one eye at a time. Mercy!

What Dr. Bohn did was tighten the bottom eyelids, to stop my eyes from watering. He had tried a couple different things during my bi-annual visits to him, but they didn’t work. When Cynthia and I took our first trip in the I-Bus last fall and went up through Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas and back down through Oklahoma City, then went to San Antonio for the better part of two months, I was miserable pretty much the entire time, because I couldn’t see and enjoy everything because my eyes watered constantly. In sunlight, in wind, when I sneezed or coughed. Constantly, I tell you. I had to have some relief, so my December visit, I told Dr. Bohn I had to do something.

He scheduled me in February to do each eye, two weeks apart. First the left, followed by the right. Each time, the eyes didn’t actually bruise like he had warned might happen, but there was considerable swelling. Cynthia had to apply an ice pack beneath each eye and doctor each eye nightly with an antibiotic ointment. Now that it’s all said and done, maybe I can enjoy our travels and life again. We’re talking of going to Nashville this summer and see her former East Texas Handbell Ensemble (ETHE) perform. California is still in the long-range plans for next year. We’ll see, or, at least, I’ll SEE.