Retinas, Beams, and Country Fried Steak

 As you may have read on the last post, Terry had to have eye surgery on Thursday, after the doctor found a tear around his retina on Wednesday. It didn't end there. The surgical procedure led to pain caused by the laser, which is the case in some people who are more sensitive to this type of surgery. This meant a trip back to Eugene on Friday. 

The second eye has three tears around the retina that must be repaired immediately, or it can bring about retinal detachment, meaning a strong case for blindness. So, my poor sweet man had another visit to undergo the surgery. This time Mallory couldn't go due to prior engagements, and it was the same thing for Marina. My other two daughters were working and taking care of business. This was all fine, although I had so much "fun" while waiting on results of the last surgery the day before. 

The appointment was set for 9:00 AM, which in my world is far too early since we had at least an hour to drive to Eugene. The drive went well once again, thank God for that. We pulled into the lot a bit early and checked him in. Terry was a bit nervous once again, as anyone would be, but all in all was doing well. It wasn't long before they took him back into the surgery area. 

Sitting in the car, I did everything I could to stay busy so I didn't scare myself by thinking horrible thoughts about what could happen "if" ... Those what if's will increase the anxiety level and that's not a good thing as I'm sure most of you know. Terry is not a "seasoned" patient in the surgical realm of life, with a couple of other surgeries under his belt, but nothing major. This surgical moment was supposed to be nothing big, nothing that should cause major discomfort. The doctor was also going to put Terry into "twilight" sleep to complete the operation. 

Twilight sleep anesthesia also known as a twilight anesthesia, “I.V. sedation”, “conscious sedation” or “zombie state,” is an anesthetic technique characterized by insensibility to pain without loss of consciousness, induced by an injections of scopolamine–morphine mixture to anesthetize laboring women especially to relieve the pain of childbirth.             -- according to healthjade.net 

Like I said, I remained in the car and spent time playing with the phone. Before I knew it, two hours had passed. This was not good. I was told by the doctor on Wednesday that the surgery should take maybe 10 to 15 minutes to complete. Now, I understood Terry was going to require some time to come out of the anesthesia, but two hours? Far too long. I headed into the building. 

The receptionist immediately went to her computer and searched for his name. My jaw dropped when she said, "Oh, he hasn't been taken back yet. The doctor was running late, and we also had several people ahead of you." According to her, there were another two people ahead of Terry. She stated each surgery takes about 10 minutes and then 15 minutes are given for pulling out of the anesthesia. While many thoughts of things to say ran through my brain, I did keep my mouth shut, thanked the woman, and walked back to the car. At least I knew he was fine. 

Returning to the car and settling in for another mind-numbing game of Funky Bay, I heard my phone go off. Shocked to see it, but Terry had sent me a message asking if I saw him through the window. He said he could see the car and was waving but didn't know if I could see him. I scanned the entire side of the building, focusing on all the windows, but to no avail. I could not get a view of him. I was crushed. The windows had a film of moisture on the outside and it was difficult to see what was inside. After about 20 minutes, I gave up trying to find his smiling face. 

I made an attempt to text him again after a five-minute period, but there was no response. That gave me the assumption that he had been given the anesthesia and surgery was underway. Back to the game to relieve my mind of worry. About 30 minutes later, I received that call that you both love and hate from the receptionist, telling me my sweet man was done and I could pull the car out front. Without hesitating I started the car and drove around the parking lot to the front doors. At last, there was his beautiful face, eye patch and all. 

After a bit of conversation with the nurse about eye care, Terry put on his seatbelt and told me he was more than ready to go.  Off we drove, not into the sunset, but to Texas Roadhouse steakhouse to feed my sweetie. 

I ordered my usual, the country fried steak with gravy. It is far too large to put the side dishes on the plate with the steak, so once again, I brought most of the steak home. 

Green beans with bacon and onion and steak fries with ranch for the side dishes I chose this time. 

And of course, the heavenly fresh homemade rolls with cinnamon butter. 

Terry ordered his usual steak and baked potato, which is always cooked to perfection. 

(Terry did have a couple of blended pina coladas to help him get over the pain in his eye)

I had to throw in this photo. We were waiting for our names to be called for a dinner booth at Texas Roadhouse. I looked across from us at one point and the sight of all of these older folks waiting with us while staring at their phones made me laugh. And they say younger folks don't look up from their phone nowadays. 

Terry and I finished eating another great meal at the steakhouse, climbed back in the saddle and headed off into the Roseburg sunset. We only had one more trip to Eugene to deal with on Saturday when we drive to my granddaughter Jessee's home to celebrate her husband's birthday. We are exhausted from the first two trips, two days in a row, but also cannot wait to be with our family. Once again Mallory will be joining us for a great birthday barbecue and beer fest to celebrate 30 years of Brandon. 

We arrived in Roseburg right before the sunset. It was a beautiful sight. Nothing spectacular, but calm, mild, and stunning. I love nature's beauty. Nothing better than to arrive home with someone you love and be able to witness a nice sunset together. Heaven on earth. Terry and I share many blessings. Our health, our love for each other, our fur babies, and all of our family. We do wish you all the best in life too. We all have much to be thankful for on this rock we call Earth. It's only being awake enough to realize those blessings.