My sweet Daddy had this bottle cap looking thing sewn onto the back of his eyeball last Tuesday. His previous eye doctor misdiagnosed a spot on his eye as scar tissue, eight years ago. Luckily he went to a different doctor who found that it was a malignant melanoma. The tumor has not spread to any other location, but it does have to be removed by radiation. This thing in his eye will emit radiation for a week until it is removed. During that time my Mom has to stay 6 feet away at all times. So she says things like, "I'm coming in the kitchen!" at which point my Dad has to get up and go in another room. When she does have to go near him (like to put in eye drops) she has to wear a lead 8 pound vest. On Tuesday they will take the bottle cap thing out of his eye. There is an 85% change that the radiation will remove the tumor completely and that it will not return. There is a chance that he will lose some sight in one eye in the next year and a half due to the radiation damage. We are all hoping that he will still have most of his peripheral vision in that eye, but we just have to wait and see. He has been such a good sport about it all! You can often see him doing things with one eye closed just to see how it is all going to work out. I have since found out that when you go to the dermatologist to check for sun damage you should also have them check your eyes. Who knew?
Think good thoughts for my Dad on Tuesday!!
Update: Daddy's surgery went very well and he is now at home resting. He has to return to Tampa tomorrow for a post-op check, then not again for 6 weeks. The muscle in his eye that they had to cut has been reattached and should fuse back together in 1-2 days. Time will have to tell about the rest! So far so good!
