BIG NEWS from my tiny corner of the planet

On 1 March 2017 I had cataract surgery on my left eye and two weeks later on the right eye. In the overall scheme of things no big deal, routine procedures that are performed on hundreds of thousands of folks each year. But mine was somewhat out of the ordinary and apparently unmasked a preexisting condition called right fourth nerve palsy that produces double vision, something I had had since birth apparently but my eyes had compensated over time.

Anyway, it was several months before the condition was diagnosed. Eventually I was faced with either eye muscle surgery -- not always successful I was informed -- or go through life using a pretty serious set of prism lenses in glasses.

I opted for the glasses, resigned to living with double vision for the rest of my life.

But as the years went on I became increasingly frustrated by the restrictions the prisms placed on me and frankly I tired of them. I turned to an eye specialist in Detroit and after several visits scheduled for surgery. The result was disappointing to say the least: the procedure did NOTHING to resolve my condition.

So it was back to resignation mode.

I had been getting my glasses at Cascade Optical in Grand Rapids and at one point needed an updated prescription. They suggested Dr. Renée Korican. During my examination she casually suggested I see Dr. Patrick Droste, a well-known pediatric ophthalmologist here in Grand Rapids. And so I did.

So, at about 2:00 pm (1400 for many of you) on Wednesday 22 March, 2023 I was wheeled into the operating room, slipped into oblivion for an hour and a half and awoke to what I would soon discover to be a state of single vision back once again! Under the incredible skill of Dr. Droste I walked out of the hospital groggy to be sure but DOUBLE-VISION FREE!!

My excitement notwithstanding, it would be difficult to overstate Dr. Droste's kindness, empathy, understanding, optimism and compassion, all of which are matched only by his skill tweaking something as fragile and delicate as an eye. . .

A truly wonderful experience for me. And that cannot be overstated either.

Comments

Lee said…

Hi Steve and Susan.

Congratulations on your successful surgery. There's much to say about perseverance!
Please let me know if you have time while in New England; I would love to meet
for coffee, lunch, or dinner.

Give my best to Susie, and again CONGRATULATIONS; I'm thrilled for you.

Lee Forbes

1:10 PM

Day 1 in Annecy Morning

[20 April, Easter Sunday] OK, so our morning wasn't actually spent in Annecy per se. Still the bus said Annecy City Tour. . . We had our tickets in hand for a bus trip to Gorges du Fier and Chateau Montrottier . It was raining lightly as we finished our breakfast and then made the five-minute walk to the town's Hôtel de Ville. There we joined a few other tourists also waiting for the bus to take us to the gorge. Numerous vendors were undaunted by the weather as they were setting up for the day's big market of mostly gimcracks and geegaws with some food. The bus arrived right on time, and our little group of maybe 16 or so got aboard and out of the cold rain. It was a pretty quick drive out of greater Annecy and through the green countryside. As we pulled into the parking lot I noticed a restaurant I had seen from the train the day before -- and indeed we would see several trains speeding through the valley as we walked to and from the gorge. parking lot Once off the bu...

Wife saves husband

[from Susan VandenBerg, 1/7/1025] To those of you who know Steve (and are perhaps very fond of him) I’m reporting that on New Year’s Eve soon after we had finished dinner, he collapsed suddenly, unresponsive with dusky color and gasping breaths. I immediately responded with CPR and calling 911. Medics arrived in due time and continued CPR along with defibrillation which put him back into a regular rhythm and some return of respiratory effort. He was transported to Butterworth ER and stabilized with intubation and sedation. I/medical personnel feel this was a dangerous and potentially fatal arrhythmia most likely caused by some scar tissue in the heart from Steve’s previous heart attacks. In that case the scar can interfere with the electrical circuits in the heart, disrupting the normal rhythms. There are a number of other details that I could share with you, although that really isn’t that important at this stage. The crux of the matter is that, if I hadn’t been home when he coll...

Off to Paris and Home

[22-23 April] We were packed and ready to go by 9:00am. After last-minute tidying up we left the apartment keys on the table, hauled our bags down the two flights of stairs and walked the 10 minutes or so to the train station. Our train was on time and we got right on board without jostling with crowds. The train ride back to Lyon was smooth and quick and we enjoyed the scenery just as much as on our way to Annecy. We made a point of looking out for the Gorges du Fier on our way out of town. That was pretty cool. Our train arrived in Lyon on time and since we had a couple of hours before our connection to Paris we grabbed a bite of lunch. Our TGV high-speed train to Paris arrived on schedule at platform G and boy was it packed!. Our luck held out though and our assigned coach stopped right in front of where we were standing! We walked on, stowed our bags and headed up to the top deck and our seats. The ride was fast, really fast, and we pulled into the Gare de Lyon in Paris...

Les Flâneurs

Search This Blog