First, I want to thank everyone for their prayers. Prayer is very powerful and I am grateful.
Now for some more information on this operation. I injured my eye while I was in the military waaay back in prehistoric times. The doctors thought I might lose my sight back then, but I was lucky and after 4 months of treatment I had regained most of my sight. Everything went well after that.
Fast forward to about 6 years ago. My eyesight started to fail again. It slowly degraded to the point that now everything is blurred and I see double with star reflections. This is only in my right eye but it does affect my overall vision.
The diagnosis is degradation of the cornea. This degradation manifests itself as flaking of the corneal surface. There is a secondary problem with "bumps" on the backside of the cornea. These "bumps" inhibit the flow of tears so my eye is dry most of the time. At other time I will produce an excessive amount of tears. These is also some hemorrhaging on the optic nerve.
The doctor said the options were a complete corneal transplant or a procedure called Epithelial Debridement. Neither one of these options sounded very good so I went for a second opinion. Unfortunately that doctor came to the same conclusion. After considering both options, I decided to go with the Epithelial Debridement. If that does not work, I can always go back for the transplant.
The Epithelial Debridement consists of scraping the cornea to remove all abnormalities. They will numb the eye and then use a scalpel to remove the "debris". I will be awake for the operation. They will then bandage a contact lens in that eye. They will keep the lens in for about a week. Depending on the progress they may remove the lens or replace it. If everything goes as planned I should recover in three to four months.
They have decided to delay any action on the hemorrhaging until after this procedure is completed. They will monitor the optic nerve.
The surgery has been scheduled for Wednesday, October 7 at 2:50 pm. I missed my first date due to getting the second opinion.
Again, I thank everyone for their prayers.