Just wanted to share my woes.

I've just been put on the waiting list for a corneal graft, which is something I've always known I might end up needing - I have a degenerative eye condition - but really hoped I wouldn't. I mean... scalpels... eyeballs... ewww!

Basically my vision's started deteriorating in what's always been my good eye (grr!), so the thinking is that I should get my bad eye sorted out asap so that it's had time to recover from the op, and hopefully start giving me decent vision again, before my good eye isn't good anymore. (Hope that makes sense!)

Oh well... I suppose it's a good thing really that my condition's treatable, and hopefully the op will improve my vision, but still... not looking forward to it!

Hi Magictime,

Hope everything goes well for you. Can totally understand your apprehension and don't envy you but try to think about the end result.

Take care,

D

Hi Magictime. I needed an operation on my eyes a long time ago. I was like you: scalpels and eye balls - surely not. But I was under general anaesthesia so was none the wiser during the procedure. The surgeons were really nice too. Got me counting to 10 and I recall only getting to about 7. The I woke up and everything was fine. I'm sure it'll be the same for you. They do procedures like yours everyday. :-)

Hi Magictime

That does sound pretty grim. But try not to think about the procedure, think about having better vision afterwards. Good luck with it.

Hi Magictime, as the others have said, try not to think about the surgery and just about the new improved vision. I had to have some eye operations during my BA, but it turned out ok in the end, despite my worries. The idea of eye surgery sounds a bit revolting, but when it happens, you get over it quickly enough and it is such an amazing relief to be able to see properly again, like normal people. Like magic, actually!!! Another good thing is that you don't mind your eyes being poked around so much by medical people afterwards as the squeamishness goes, if that's a good thing?!

My mistake (a seriously bad move just before an eye op, but I was going to see a lot of independent films then) was to have recently seen a surrealist film by Luis Bunuel that had a scene with an eyeball being sliced. Best avoided if you're having eye surgery imminently....

ruby, is that the one where they have a cloud crossing in front of the eye, and you think, oh, is that all they are going to do, that's not so bad - and then they come in with the slicing? - Incidentally when I worked in the labs, one of the instruction books said 'keep an eye on this machine'...so we did (how awful was that :$)

Not awful at all, it made me laugh! :-)

Yes, I think it was that film, was it Un Chien Andalou or something??? I don't really like his films, but I saw it years back when I moved to London to do my BA and there were lots of bargain double and triple bill film programmes on at independent cinemas. How time passes!!

Look, I don't want to be a drama queen about this, but... given that this is the sort of hilarious anecdote that puts people off the whole idea of allowing their organs to be used and abused by the medical profession after their deaths, don't you think it's just a teensy bit tactless to share it on the thread where I've just announced I'm reliant on the availability of a donated cornea to help save my eyesight?