Archive for March, 2010
New Vision
First of I’d like to say thank you to everyone who responded to my previous post about my mom’s corneal transplant. It’s nice to read all your comments there. The surgery itself went smoothly last Saturday.
We arrived at the hospital at 8 AM, the doctor and her team were already waiting for us. They ran a few tests on my mom before sending her to the inpatient room so she could take a proper rest before the surgery. FYI we live about an hour drive from the hospital so it was tiring journey for her.
At 10.30 AM she was brought to the OR and from there we trusted her to the medical team. However, we were able to see what was happening inside the operating room through a big screen TV just outside. After the surgery she was taken back to her room and spent the night there.
Sunday morning her doctor put an eye cover on her left eye before slowly opened the bandage from her right eye. Then she asked, “Can you see any light ma’am?” My mom smiled and responded, “Doctor, I can see your face.” Then she was asked to identify some objects and colors around the room. Every question was answered correctly.
Later I asked my mom if the process was similar as we saw in the movie. You know, if you saw a movie/drama/telenovela (whatever) about a person having a corneal transplant, it was usually visualized with a dark screen and slowly progressing to a blurry gray-scaled picture before finally became a clear colored picture. My mom said, “No! I instantly saw her there in pink dress.” (It was Sunday so the doctor was actually off duty and she wore a pretty pink dress instead of white). Interesting, isn’t it?
Anyway, before the transplant, the visual acuity of my mom’s right eye is HM (Hand Motion) means she could recognize (sometimes blinked) if a hand was moving in front of her face. That was it, other than that was total dark. So to be able to see the entire room was a great progress. I know transplantation is a long process, the doctor reminded us frequently about this, but at least I can say that was a good start.
She was released from the hospital Sunday afternoon and scheduled for checkup next Saturday morning. I will follow up about her condition next week. Thanks again for your support everyone!
Finally, A Corneal Transplant For My Mom!
For the last two years my mom has been through several procedures to restore her sight. Started with cataract and glaucoma surgery (Aug ’08), YAG laser capsulotomy her POC treatment (May ’09), Lucentis Injection for AMD treatment (Sept ’09), and Intravitreal triamcinolone (IVT) injection for her CME treatment (Jan ’10). All of the procedures were done on one eye only, her left eye.
Her right eye, on the other hand, was already damage. The cloudy cornea had caused blindness and the only available treatment for her was a corneal transplant. The procedure includes removing the cloudy cornea and replacing it with a clear cornea donated through an eye bank. And because of the complexity of this procedure, her doctors advised us to focus on her left eye first before proceed to her right eye.
Until last week when she had her regular checkup, the option of corneal transplant was discussed again and yesterday we were informed that an eye donation was available for her. The doctor then asked if my mom wanted to proceed with the transplantation. She agreed, so yesterday evening she had a complete examination prior the surgery. She had an ultrasound scan on her right eye, hematology test and EKG monitor. We went home late last night.
We Never Know When
You woke up on Sunday morning and saw the sun was shining brightly. After days being stuck in the house because of endless rain, you thought it was a perfect time to have fun outside. So you brought your kids to a new public swimming pool around your area and let them had fun there. Not only that you also invited your parents and sisters along with their kids to join you so it became a one big family outing.
Everybody was happy, kids swimming with their fathers while mothers chatting under a gazebo by the swimming pool enjoying lunch from the pool’s cafe. It was a perfect family outing, until suddenly the weather changed. Rain started to fall. Some visitors ran into the pool’s building/cafe while some others, including your family, chose to stay under the gazebo instead. You thought everybody was already wet from the pool anyway so it did not make a difference if you got wet from the rain.
Then the rain got heavier accompanied by strong wind and thunders. Yet, you did not move from there hoping it would be over soon. Suddenly lightning struck the top of the gazebo causing the whole heavy roof to fall on you and your family. You felt pain and started screaming for help then everything became black.
It’s Tax Reporting Month
March is always a busy month at the office. It’s time to submit the yearly tax report so everybody, especially those at finance/accounting department, is busy preparing company’s tax report. Though I’m at legal dept, somehow they manage to drag me into this crazy season. I’ve been working late lately checking documents submitted by our auditors. Oh I really wish this month to be over soon.
I also need to submit my own yearly tax report by the end of the month and up till today I still haven’t had time to meet my consultant yet. Sometimes I think it’s easier to combine my tax report with my husband’s. As a married woman I can and been advised to do that. However, since I got my own tax ID before I got married, I chose to submit my own tax report and I’m telling you it’s so time consuming and getting more complicated year by year.
I’m not sure, maybe I should reconsider the “combining” option and let my husband takes care of my tax. But the idea of him knowing every penny I make just doesn’t work for me. He knows, or at least has a general idea, about my salary, but there are other income that related to my side of family that I want to keep it for myself. Does it sound right? Does your spouse know all of your money?