Life would be a lot more pleasant if things would stop breaking. My most recent medical encounter was eye surgery today to repair a detached retina in my right eye. I write this little entry with a patch. I should be face down on the bed now so the operation can do its work to (I hope) restore some vision.
This sort of thing usually happens as the result of a sharp blow to the head. I have not had one of those in about five months, when I got whacked on the head with a dinosaur, so I am pretty sure that isn’t the cause. The doctor said the main thing is not the cause but the cure, so I should focus (har har) on obeying the rules of recovery. That means I should not be writing this, but I thought it might be a good cautionary tale, reminding those who read me to take care of eyes. I have learned a lot in the past three days about how difficult it is to function without good vision. I am fortunate to have good care and prompt surgery. Dr. Sano says I have a good chance of recovering my sight, or at least most of it. That sounds really nice right now.
By the way the eye in the U.S. dollar bill, grotesque as it seems, is part of the Great Seal of the United States, adopted by Congress June 20, 1782. It may have something to do with Masonic symbolism, as we were told by Nicholas Cage and friends in National Treasure. Then again, it may just be because Masons were fairly well represented when the United States was founded, with George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and probably others, among the members of the order, and those symbols were a lot better-known than they are now. Anyway, the eye was considered important enough to make it to the dollar bill, so I reckon eyes are important enough to take good care of, too. One piece of advice I can give for free is that if you notice that your vision is blurred or impaired in any way, get a thorough eye exam from a competent eye specialist (not the corner contact lens shop!!). There are several things that could cause your vision to fail, and I hope you don’t have any of them.
The National Eye Institute has more to say on this subject:
http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/retinaldetach/index.asp
