Just playing catch-up. I've been MIA for a while, but I don't really have much to show for it... apart from some stitches in my eyelids. On Tuesday I had "day surgery" to remove my xanthelasmas - those darn things that were all I could see in the mirror and that most other people didn't notice... Claire even said it will be weird to see me without them because they started when she was about 6 or 7. Yuk! The surgeon is someone I used to work with and I trust him implicitly. He's an oculoplastic surgeon so he knew what he was doing and I am thankful to our amazing NHS for the treatment. (Apparently they can be a sign of high cholesterol but mine is fine. Typical.)
When I started having xanthies, my dermatologist in Paris said he'd laser them off, but before he could do it I moved back to the UK. Here in the UK, however, I was told they don't use laser "so close to the eyes". Go figure. Anyway, I waited and waited till I could stand them no more. And until my fear subsided: I thought, if I can survive brain surgery I can stand having a few little stitches in my eyelids...
So Tuesday saw me sitting in a waiting room with a bunch of elderly people who were going to have cataract ops, under local anaesthetic. They were very calm about it, while I was beginning to have flutters in my tummy. I was last but one, and had seen all these old people come back up after their ops, bright eyed and bushy tailed, and I felt such a wuss. When it was my turn I went down to theatre in a wheelchair, then they got me onto the trolley and came and stuck a needle in the back of my hand for the sedation. They gave me a couple of milligrams of Midazolam but quite frankly, I think they just used a placebo cos I didn't feel any different; well, apart from feeling calm and relaxed - I certainly didn't doze off and I didn't miss any of the procedure whereas, working in a hospital, I had heard many times that this drug sends you to sleep and you forget everything when you wake up.
Anyway, it was no worse than going to the dentist's, as in the worst bit was the local anaesthetic into the brow/eyelid area. They didn't bandage me up as I had both eyes done at once and, well, they wanted me to be able to see where I was going lol. I had a steristrip on each wound and was good to go. Back in the ward around 5pm I had a very welcome cup of tea and some toast, having gone without food and drink since 7.30am.
So that is out of the way at long last. The stitches are neat and tidy and once the swelling on my eyelids goes down you'll hardly see anything. The worse bit now is the itching that tells me it's healing nicely.
There you go. That's the latest in my world for the moment. Claire and I have plans so watch this space for some exciting news hopefully. Cheers!
