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Today we are on a mission. Dianne, Mary’s sister by another mother, went in for eye surgery, and we took her. The surgery took place at the UCI medical facility on the UC Irvine campus. We picked up Dianne at 8:30 am and arrived about 30 minutes later. The ladies wanted to be a little early, so we arrived two hours ahead of schedule.
I used the extra time to read a software instruction manual that I should have read three years ago. The manual was so large that I had it printed in two sections, every 170 pages!
Dianne was called into the surgery area at 11:30 am and was out for about 45 minutes. She was getting cataract surgery.
Cataract surgery is a common procedure to remove a cloudy natural lens from the eye and replace it with a clear artificial lens called an intraocular lens, or IOL.
In summary:
- Preparation: The eye is numbed with drops or local anesthesia, and the patient is usually awake but relaxed.
- Small incision: The surgeon makes a tiny cut in the eye.
- Lens removal: The cloudy cataract lens is broken up, often using ultrasound, and gently removed.
- Lens implant: A clear artificial lens is inserted to restore vision.
- Recovery: The incision often heals on its own without stitches. Patients use eye drops and avoid rubbing the eye or heavy activity for a short time.
The surgery usually takes about 10–30 minutes, is often done as an outpatient procedure, and most people notice improved vision within a few days, though full healing can take several weeks.
Mary went into the pre-op area with Dianne, and the doctor turned out to be one of Mary’s students from when Mary was teaching eye surgery at UCI.
She was well taken care of!!
Dianne was ready to go to lunch, so we went VFR to Benjie’s, where the girls had Jewish penicillin (chicken soup) while I indulged in a pastrami burger.
While we were dining, we received a note from Vicky, who said she was at her motorcycle club meeting and forwarded her picture.
Lookout, Hell’s Angels, here comes Vicky!
We dropped off Dianne at her home and then went to our home to rest up,p but after a while, Mary called Dianne and informed her we were returning with dinner. Mary brought her spaghetti squash dish, and on the way to Dianne’s, we stopped to get garlic bread and some other necessities of life.
The three of us had a super meal and continued visiting until about 7:00 pm when we returned home. We watched the new Karate Kid and finally hit the sack at 11:00 pm.
