WELL, I HAVE SURVIVED HAVING A DETACHED RETINA!

"Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity.
For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel." (Ezekiel 4:4-5)

Just about ninety minutes ago, I ventured out of my residence for the first time in over six days! I felt like I'd been under house arrest! To my shock, on Tuesday of last week, I was diagnosed as having a detached retina. I had surgery to correct this problem in Boston on the afternoon of Thursday, July 11. I was seen at the eye surgery center early last Friday morning and told I had to pretty much stay home and rest; mostly reclining on my left side, for a week! I felt like the prophet Ezekiel in the passage above. You know, those Old Testament prophets were sometimes asked to do some pretty weird things! Ezekiel had to just lie on his left side for many days as a warning sign of the siege that would come upon the city of Jerusalem. I have often wondered, "How do you just lie on your left side for day after day?" Well, now I have had a chance to find out! I don't really have a medical mind or a scientific mind at all. There are some people that (upon being diagnosed with a certain illness) want to learn absolutely everything there is not know about that illness. They start rattling off medical terms and Latin terms like they are "Dr. Oz" or even worse, "Dr. Greene" (Anthony Edwards on E.R.)!" Others really don't care about all the medical terms and Latin terms. They just want a very quick, laymen's description of what is wrong and how it will be treated. Some of you may totally lose respect for me, but I am the latter type. Even if I were diagnosed with cancer, I'd just want the basics and honestly would not be the type who is pouring all over the internet for all the information I could find. (As Simon Cowell would say, "SORRY!" but that is just the way I am!) Thus, I am not going to give you a big technical medical blurb about a detached retina. I will just say that with a detached regina, a portion of the retina detaches, badly shadowing the vision in that area of your field of vision. In the surgery, they put something in there like a paste and reattach it, and then they inject a gas into your eye (my understanding is that it is mostly nitrogen) that puts pressure on the retina to cause it to adhere and stay in place. Eventually, the gas will dissipate. During the time you're recovering, especially for the first few days, you really have to be careful. In my case, I had to mostly recline on my left side and not do anything strenuous.

I never, NEVER thought I would ever experience having a detached retina! I have known a few people who have had them. One was "Pastor Tom" who was my predecessor at First Assembly of God of Framingham. It happened a couple of years after he left Framingham. I remember at the time hearing he had to lie down flat, facing downward, for a week. That sounded horrible! I could not imagine ever having to do any such thing! I have heard of several other people since then having detached retinas. The treatment wasn't quite so drastic, but they did have to pretty much rest and be still at home for a week or so, in each case.

It is likely that most of my readers do not know what the symptoms of a detached retina are, nor how urgent things are once you experience those symptoms. I'd heard that the big symptom is seeing flashes of light; that is, quick and intense flashes of light in your peripheral vision. I was not aware of any other symptoms; and again, I honestly believed I could and would never have a detached retina. Now, I had cataract surgery this year which has corrected not only the problem of the cataracts but also has corrected my vision for distance. I no longer need glasses for my nearsightedness. The first cataract surgery was on my left eye in early April and the second was on my right eye on June 18. My vision was great after each surgery. I now know that nearsighted people are at a high risk to have a detached retina at some point, and that people who have had cataract surgery are at an increased risk. I do not blame my cataract surgeon! There are a number of risks you take when you have cataract surgery. Is it possible that the cataract surgery caused the detached retina? Maybe, but maybe not! Anyway, early one morning on the week of July 1, as I was walking downstairs, I experienced about ten quick flashes of light in the peripheral vision of my right eye. I was stunned and shocked! Honestly, I immediately went into denial and put this out of my mind. For the next day or so, my vision was normal, but within a couple of days, the vision in my lower right eye just did not seem quite right. That area where you see the shadow of your nose was particularly dark and somewhat abnormal. I kept telling myself it was nothing. On the Fourth of July, that's how my vision was. Over the next few days, it gradually got worse. I continued telling myself it was no big deal. I was scheduled to have the final eye check-up following the cataract surgery on Wednesday, July 10, so I just was not all that concerned. I figured if there was a problem, it could be dealt with then. I had no idea that this was a very time sensitive situation! By Tuesday morning, July 9, I had lost about 25% of the vision in my right eye- all in the lower part of the eye. That morning, I went to a medical site on the computer and entered the symptoms I was having (which included lots of "floaters" in the right eye as well as a cloudiness of vision in the right eye). The answer I got on-line was that I had a detached retina. Later that morning, I made a call regarding my eye appointment and stated my symptoms. I never expected the urgency I would meet on the other end of the line. I was told I had to have a doctor appointment that day- Tuesday. Honestly, I felt embarrassed and a bit ashamed. I have been blessed with extraordinarily good health for most of my life. For years I never went to a doctor's office, except to have eye exams done so I could get new eyeglasses. I did see the dentist pretty regularly, but outside of the dentist and the optometrist, I was a guy who avoided doctors totally. I felt great. My health was good. Some of you know that earlier this year, I experienced massive rectal bleeding and landed in the hospital. I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease. This has meant a lot of dietary restrictions and being put on a couple of prescriptions. I've also been put on medication for high blood pressure. Again, this may seem foolish and silly to some, but I tend to feel embarrassed and ashamed about these things. I never try to lay guilt trips on sick people. In fact, I always try to have compassion on sick people. But there is a big part of me who feels that if I'm a good Christian I should be in very good health, and if I am not in good health, it's something to be ashamed of. Now, I know in my brain that this thinking is irrational; but honestly, in my heart...in my emotions...I still feel embarrassed and ashamed. It was very difficult to be told I had a detached retina at the doctor's office in Framingham that Tuesday afternon. I was also told I had to get into their Boston office and surgery center within one hour! If you've ever driven around Boston's North End, West End, and Government Center sections, you know that trying to find your way around that area in a car is a nightmare! I am so grateful that my friend Bob G. responded to my frantic phone call. He drove me into Boston and we found our way to the expensive parking garage and medical building only by using his G.P.S. I was examined by two young female doctors. They told me that many times a detached retina can be fixed right in the office, but that mine was much too serious. There was much taring and other problems. Mine would absolutely require surgery! I was very depressed that night. Honestly, I still owe a lot of money to that practice. Insurance covers the bulk of it, but has still left me owing a lot of money for my portion of the bill. There is no way I wanted to add to that debt. I also did not want to be helpless and out of work for over a week. But I learned that time is of the essence in these situations. Honestly, I waited way too long to do something. I should have been seen on Wed. July 3. I might have missed the July 4 parade in Natick and family cookout, but in retrospect, I waited way too long. At the very least, I should have made a call and been seen on Friday, July 5, and not on Tuesday, July 9! It is very possible that if I had been seen earlier, I could have had a procedure done in the office and not a full blown surgery.

I cannot stress enough: If you see those flashes of light and soon after you lose even a tiny bit of your vision in that eye, you have to call an eye doctor immediately! I am a compulsive planner who can get furious if my plans are disrupted or ruined. It really bothered me that all of my plans were "thrown out the window"; but it just had to be! If you will remember and act on this, it just might save your vision one day!

So far, I seem to be doing O.K. I spent six days not leaving my residence at all and mostly reclining on my left side. It was quite a change for me. I will say that I pretty much never get to just relax and do "pleasure reading". Well, I did get some pleasure reading done. And, I had a lot of time to read my Bible and think. Some of you know I have experienced a very difficult and very challenging past four years or so. I had actually recently told God the following: "I wish I could just take a week off and just read my Bible, read other Christian books, pray, and just rest and think." Well, you know that line about, "Be careful what you pray for because you just might get it!"? That's what happened to me!