The David Drama - Series 1, Episode 2

So on Wednesday we went back to the public hospital to see about getting David's left eye sorted.

Given the rush hour nature of our journey and the multiple roadworks on the way and the inevitable slowing of traffic when two lanes merge into one at various places and the townships on the way, we left at 7.10am for a 63km trip for a loose appointment (turn up mid morning the doc said that we had determined meant 9.30am). And we wanted to have breakfast before his appointment. (Yummy, at Columbus Coffee downstairs in the same building as the Countdown supermarket - I went there on 2nd April while David was having his right eye cataract removed.)

It was 9am by the time we parked in the hospital carpark, so 1 hour 50 minutes for 63 kms - we both expressed our pleasure at not having to do that trip twice a day as worker bees. There are definite perks to being retired and/or being able to work from home.

I'd have to say that the service at the Eye Clinic in Wellington Hospital is stellar.

Ginny, the nurse, came and got us within 10 minutes or so of arriving. She checked what David could see of the eye chart in each eye, and through a pin hole lens as well. The right eye had distinctly improved, and the left eye was still useless - not surprising as its pupil is dilated with drops and has been since the drama began.

The pressure in his left eye was about 14, which was very acceptable. In his right eye it was up to 32, I think. Apparently that is expected because of the drops that are still being used.

A bit of a wait for Keith who had people stacked up outside his room, but it was bearable - I was reading/sudoko-ing and David was watching downloaded Netflix stuff** on the iPad. Not sure what else he saw but it had lots of shouting and loud music effects - I could hear some of it outside his earphones ...

Keith was happy with the eye pressures, but concerned about the blood vessels on the left iris that shouldn't be there, but have developed since 2 April. He said it would be unwise to remove the cataract at this point, because it could cause other more serious problems. I looked up (as you do) what I think he said and found, after google corrected my spelling, ischemia. It looks nasty. If that's what it is we choose 'no thanks'.

So the upshot is:

• no cataract removal until after we come back from the UK 
• additional drops for the left eye with enough prescribed for 3 months
• an additional set of drops for the right eye to assist with bringing down the pressure
• a check up with Zak next Wednesday
• a check up with Keith the following Wednesday, the day before we leave for the UK
• a letter and a recommendation of who to see in the UK if problems occur.

So now the eye drop regime takes twice as long but is only occurring 3 times a day rather than four.

Both eyes are feeliing pretty good. And after the initial disappointment at not having it all sorted, David is fine. We are both very confident in Keith.






** He watched one episode of Afterlife - with Ricky Gervais. I binge-watched it a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed it. So if you are subscribed to Netflix, check it out.