Friday - My Right Eye and Stuff

On Thursday morning I had the laser procedure, Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty (SLT), to reduce the intraocular pressure in my right eye. It is an outpatient procedure and was done by my eye specialist, Dr. Dina Weintraub, at New York Eye & Ear Infirmary at East 14th Street and 2nd Avenue.

I was told to be there no later than 9:45am for my 10:00am appointment, so I arrived at 9:30 thinking there would be a lot of paperwork to fill out. Well, there wasn’t - none, nada, zip. At 9:45 a technician took me into the exam room and administered some drops to numb the eye. At exactly 10:00 Dr. Weintraub came in. As an aside, I have been seeing her for about a year at her office on East 49th Street, just two blocks from the apartment, and I have to say that she is highly professional and is one of the nicest persons I have ever met.

She put some more gook in the eye and then inserted a cup to hold the eyelid open. The procedure began and there was a lot of bright light, of course, but absolutely no pain or discomfort. It was over at 10:21 or about 15 minutes from the start. Wow.

I went out to the waiting area and had to wait for 30 minutes for the gook to clear out and to have the pressure checked. Everything was OK and I was outta there at 11:00. My eye was red and itchy but I had been told to expect this. My vision was somewhat blurred. Dr. Weintraub had said it was OK for me to go to the afternoon Yankee/Fucksox game which started at 1:05.

Took a bus back to the apartment, dropped off the prescription the Dr. had given me and was in the apartment at 11:45. Plenty of time to change clothes and head out to the game, but ...

For some reason I suddenly felt emotionally drained and very tired. My eye was a bit itchy but no real problem. I took a deep breath and decided to skip the game, opting instead to watch it on TV. So, I settled in on the couch to watch it and promptly fell asleep, something I rarely ever ever do. I woke up several times during the course of the game but went back to sleep. Fortunately I was awake when the Yankees won it in the bottom of the 9th inning when Jason Giambi singled in the winning run. The win technically keeps the Yankees in the AL East wild-card race.

I didn’t go out in the evening either. Just didn't feel like it. Instead I opted to watch the South Carolina vs. North Carolina football game and then Obama’s remarkable acceptance speech.

This morning the eye looks and feels fine and so do I.

Now, I also gotta ask: “What is it with John McCain’s selection for his VP running mate?”

Got things to do, so ...

Go Yankees!!

Billi Pod
wanjr@aol.com