Successful Eye Surgery

 Minneapolis, MN

Daft Punk, here I come!

Pterygium Eye Surgery

When you grow up in Southern California, you get exposed to the power of the sun and the sun's UV rays.  When you surf you get exposed to the power of salt water in your eye and the sun.  When you think sunglasses are anti-social, this compounds the issue.  All of this can add up to a pterygium lesion on your eye or eyes.

Pre operation

I noticed the pterygium way back in 2009 or so.  I had it monitored whenever I got my eyes checked.  They always said it was cosmetic and wouldn't be an issue unless it made its way to my pupil.  I started wearing sunglasses and protecting my eye but over the years it made its way towards the center of my eye, squishing my eye and giving me an astigmatism along the way.  The astigmatism distorted my eye and changed my vision rapidly.  I wanted to get it all taken care of before it caused permanent eye damage so when we moved to Minneapolis I got a referral to see a specialist. Dr. Volker agreed it wasn't cosmetic anymore and we scheduled an operation about 6 months later.  

That operation is done!  It was a success and after about a month of healing, everything is fantastic.  

The first thing I said after recovering from the anesthesia was, "Take my picture!" so Donna took a great photo.

Francis helped me recover that day and also helped me cosplay a Bond Villain.

The following day I went back for a checkup and they removed the bandage and said it looked fantastic.  It was scratchy and painful and I couldn't rub it.  A contact lens helped keep the skin graft in place.

Since the surgery in late January, I have returned to the Dr. for multiple follow-ups.  It's pretty much all healed now, but my vision is still settling in so I won't have new glasses for another few weeks.  The vision in my left eye has gone from terrible to great with the surgery and I am wearing glasses with the lens popped out.

Post op about a month.

It's hard to tell unless I do this.  Also I need to shave.

We chose Minnesota as our current home because they have a state run healthcare exchange.  We will need to continue to stay in states that run their own just incase The Affordable Care Act gets gutted.  If that happens we all go back to the chance of getting denied coverage because of a preexisting condition so that healthcare profits can increase annually by 20%.

That's it for today.  If you missed, 5 Days of Competitive Pinball in a Row, check it out.  It was the 5 days leading up to my eye surgery.