The day finally arrived for the surgery.
At 7:00 a.m. we arrived at the Somerset Eye Intitute. After the usual exchange of insurance cards and Patients' Rights Notices and a short wait, I was invited to follow the nurse to get a surgical gown, bonnet and booties. Then came the indentification bracelet, a red dot over the eye to treated and name tag. After being thus decked out, I followed the nurse into the pre-op room to be seated in a huge lounge chair with feet elevated.
The next step was blood-pressure cuff, electrodes for EKG and pulse measurement device. Then came the first round of many eye drops to begin dilating the pupil. Finally the anesthesiologist with several shots do relax me and numb the eyeball. When all was ready, I was escorted into the operating room.
Seated in a large chair, I was tilted to a reclining position and a mask was placed over the left eye, obscuring the right eye's vision also. From there I could only hear the approach of the surgeon, the short directives given to the attending staff, and feel the distant sensation of something being done to the eye. The procedure took only about 20 minutes. The surgeon announced that she was done, the eye was covered with a bandage and protective shield, and I was escorted back to the pre-op room. The gown, hat, booties and shunt were removed and shortly I was walking back to the waiting room ready to go home and rest.
In all, the "adventure" was very well managed by a competent staff and skilled surgeon. When the second eye is treated at the end of July, I will have far less apprehension. Thanks be to God!
