10 years older! :)

Wow so much has happened since I last blogged! I have had a crazy few months and want to hurry and blog so I have it written down somewhere. The main thing is that I had a cornea transplant on May 17! This journey all stated in January when my eye doctor sent me to see a specialist cuz he was seeing some changes in my cornea from last year. I was diagnosed with an eye disease called kerateconus in 2008 that causes my cornea to reshape and thin.  Well I had to wait until March to finally see Dr. Gardner and he took a quick look and said it was time to find me a new cornea. My cornea was almost flat and was really scarred. Then before we even had a chance to take it all in Dr. Gardner announces that he just  happens to have a spare cornea (someone couldn't have it because of an insurance issue) and that I could have it done the next day. They tried  to get it all set up for me but my insurance couldn't be processed in time. Not to mention I needed time to get ready for this! Both financially and emotionally!

So the wait began! We were told that it would probably be months before I got a cornea because of my young age. They match a cornea by age (within 12 years of each other) instead of tissue since the cornea doesn't really have any tissue to match up with. Let me just say that I am not a very patient person! I just wanted it done right then and there! So thank goodness I finally got the call on May 14! Just a short 2 month wait! I was so surprised when I saw the Idaho Eye Center pop up on my caller ID. I was half asleep on my break from work when I got the call. I was pretty happy that the wait was finally over but the timing was pretty rotten actually. My sister was having surgery in Arizona and leaving in 2 days. My parents needed to be with Mandy so my dad had plan B all ready for me. My aunt sherry and grandma avery were put in charge of team cornea while they took team pacemaker. :) My  mom had a really hard time with this because she wanted to be there with both of us. I still say we shouldn't have told her and just let her come home and find me wearing an eye patch! That way she wouldn't have had to worry.

Surgery was on Thursday May 17.  My aunt and grams got me there early and I got all checked in. We ended up having to wait an hour because my surgeon got stuck in clinic. That gave me plenty of time to get nervous, The nurses made fun of me because my heart rate was pretty high and then I got talking and it would slow back down. Then the anaesthesiologist walked in and it went really high again. The anaesthesiologist said that it should have lowered instead :). Finally the surgery was ready to begin. They gave me a local and gave me some injections to put my eye to sleep. I was only out a couple of minutes before they woke me back up. I had to be awake for the surgery! They need you to have complete control of your body so you don't flinch as they start cutting at your eye. They did make me really comfortable though! I don't remember anything until we got into the OR but I do remember them laughing at something I said while I was really loopy. I am kinda glad I don't remember what I was telling them! The craziest thing was that I could still see while they operated! I couldn't see everything. I could see the light and some shadows. It was a little weird. The surgery lasted an hour and then I was wheeled into recovery where they taped an eye patch on my eye. Everything went really well so I was sent on my way shortly after surgery. My aunt and grams got to watch the whole thing on a TV right outside the room. I have some pretty cool/gross pictures of the whole process. I am really grateful to the Idaho Eye Center. They took great care of me and are very good at what they do!  Also a big thank you to my aunt and grandma for taking care of me!

All my post op appointments have gone great so far! I did have a little scare a couple days after though. I thought I was rejecting the cornea because my eye lid was so swollen and my eye was really really red. Not to mention I wasn't seeing as well as I did the day after surgery. Dr Gardner says that I was just having a reaction to one of the injections from surgery. That is why my eye lid was so swollen. My vision was blurry because my cells have to take over the donor cells and that can cause blurriness. As for the red eye part, that is normal and my eye will be red for awhile now. So for now I have 3 eye drops I take 4 times a day. 1 is an anti rejection drop that is the most important one I have. Then I have some for hydrating the eye. I also have an ointment I put on at night and then I have to wear an eye patch at night and when I sleep. That way I don't rub it or hit my eye while I sleep. My eye doesn't hurt but it is really dry and itchy! I look like I have been in a bar fight though. People keep asking me "what did you do to your eye!" haha

I don't know much about the donor who I received the cornea from. But I am so very grateful for their gift! I do know they were 33 years old and that the cornea tested very good! I am looking forward to finding out more about this person and I want to send a letter to their family. One thing I struggled with throughout this process was knowing someone would have to die for me to receive the cornea transplant. I would also have to wait for someone young to die at that. I do take comfort knowing that if the situation were reversed I would absolutely want my organs and tissue donated.

 I want to become involved in advocating organ and tissue donation. There are so many misunderstandings when it comes to donation that I want to go out there and educate people about this! It is so so important and only a small portion that could donate are registered organ donors. So I do encourage everyone to visit http://donatelife.net/ and it will answer your questions and also provides a link to become a registered organ donor. This cause if very special to me because all 3 of us kids will be affected by organ donation.

I want my donors  family to know that I promise to always treasure this gift and I will do everything I can to keep this cornea healthy and to make the most out of it. This gift will not be wasted!