sad eye

In the words of Gilda Radner, "it's always something." A few days ago, I noticed a blurry spot on the inside of my right eye. Thought it was just a bit on my contact lens. Cleaned my lens, no difference. Put in a new lens, no change. Put on my glasses, nothing. Blind spot still there. Went through the motions for a couple days pretending the problem would resolve itself to no avail. Today mustered up courage to see eye doctor. The first optometrist sent me to an ophthalmologist immediately. They couldn't fit me in until this evening. Long story short, after 3 hours of tests and about eight different eye drops, I have a very detached retina in my right eye. This is a very big deal. I realized how bad it was when the doctor blindfolded my left eye, and all I could see was the last row of letters on the eye chart, nothing at all to the left. The vision in my right eye is almost completely gone at the moment. So, tomorrow morning, I must go the pharmacist and get three different kinds of eye drops. I must put them in, blindfold both eyes, and do nothing but lie on my right side for the next two days. As the ophthalmologist said, I must do as much in bed as possible, including "hacer pee pee". I told him I draw the line at "hacer pee pee". I will crawl to the bathroom if necessary. It's a freaky thing. The doctors kept asking me whether I had been hit or fallen, etc. Nothing like this has happened. I almost wish I had some exciting story to go along with the event, but I do not. I just woke up one morning, and it was this way. I like the doctors very much. The final doctor I spoke with trained at Johns Hopkins, although am not sure how because he speaks very little English. An expat note aside, I am very proud of myself for handling this entire event in Spanish. Apart from the receptionist who spoke a little English, I managed all the tests, medical history, diagnosis, etc. in Spanish. And learned the Spanish word for gauze (gasa), which never came up during my reading of Cervantes in university. The point of me doing nothing for the next two days is that it is possible the retina will reattach itself, or at the very least make the laser surgery, which will be needed otherwise, less complex. The bonus added weirdness to the story is that I should have been spending today and tomorrow editing articles for the journal Optometry and Vision Science, which my doctor subscribes to. So, let's all hope the retina goes back. My father had a detached retina after his cataract surgery a couple years ago. Postsurgery, he had to lie on his stomach for a week. This would drive mylifeinspain absolutely bonkers. But if I had to do it, I would. Just thinking about preparing for the next 48 hours of simulated blindness if enough for me to value my vision tremendously. It's just so strange because I feel fine; I look normal. My eye looks perfectly fine on the exterior. But inside it is a mess, which I got to see on one of the videos the doctor took. okay, must go to bed. Busy day of doing nothing tomorrow. Will post again when the docs say I am able.... hasta luego, mylifeinspain p.s. wish mr. james was here. he is a tremendously good nursemaid, and the poor guy is worried sick.