Pre-Op

As some of you know, I am having outpatient surgery tomorrow on my eye. No big deal, but for kicks I thought I'd post a picture and try and explain what I think it is they are going to do. So, first things first. On the picture above you can see the Superior Oblique muscle, correct? Well, evidently my SO isn't working so well anymore and whenever I'm trying to focus on anything (so pretty much whenever my eyes are open) my eyeball feels like it's bouncing around in the socket. Now, it isn't actually bouncing around, it only feels like it because it's trying so hard to stay focused. Because the SO is so weak, its alternate muscles are pulling harder and the eyeball has a hard time staying straight. You CAN see this when I try and look to my right, without turning my head, when I'm focusing too hard on something, etc. At those moments, the SO loses the battle and my eye rolls pretty much into the top of my head! Nice image, huh? Happily it doesn't happen often and I know how to avoid it so I've not been thrown in a circus side-show yet!

Two things (at least) have come from this. I've adopted this weird head-tilt where I think my head is totally straight and it's actually tilting to the right (opposite the bad eye). This, I guess, is common with this problem. I was talking with a co-worker the other day who said he had noticed it but that he thought it was because I was so interested and engaged in what he was saying! :) Evidently, this tilt has helped my eyes to be able to stay focused...it somehow alleviates pressure on that bad left eye...weird. The second thing that has been happening is my headaches have been getting WAY worse...and I have them all the time (which I am sure is due in part to the head tilt, the strain on my neck AND the strain on my eyeballs!). The kicker came a few weeks back when I realized that as I was reading - anything, at any time of day - I was closing or covering my left eye because I couldn't get it to focus. Red flag, anyone?

Ok, so back to the surgery. They can't make the SO stronger so they have to weaken the muscle that is pulling against it, which in this case is the Inferior Oblique. How do they do that, you might ask? Well, they will cut a little hole in the mucus membrane of my lovely left eye to get to the IO which they will then proceed to snip/cut/sever (whichever term you like best) and reattach closer to the front of my eye. Sounds like fun, eh? Ideally, this will take care of the problem and a few weeks and one bruised, red eye later I will be healed of headaches and a neck tilt (which will take awhile to correct itself because I'm so used to it that when my head IS strait it feels like my left ear is touching my shoulder - call me Quasi Moto)! If this procedure doesn't correct the problem, they will go in and "weaken" another muscle...but let's hope that's not necessary!

Anyway, I may be walking around for a day or so w/an eye patch (too bad this didn't happen during my Pirate project last Fall!) and I'm not sure about posting in the interim.

On WAY better news, we are hearing good things from the Mike-front. I don't want to say anything too particular yet, but we could be seeing him WAY earlier than we had anticipated.

I love you Mike!