"Dramatic Progress, Mrs. Donovan"

Yesterday was another big day on the road to recovery!  I had another follow-up appointment with my eye doctor, Dr. Timoney.  To be completely honest, I was pumped for this visit because I knew myself that he was going to be impressed with the progress that was made in the two weeks since we had last met. 

On the other hand, the appointment itself started out a little differently than I had expected.  The doctor who walked into the room was a young doctor, definitely not the Irish man I was used to, and looked vaguely familiar.  He proceeded by introducing himself and telling me that we had met before in the hospital under much different circumstances.  And, then... within minutes... it all became clear.  He was the poor doctor who was instructed to come test the vision of my good eye one of those first nights in the hospital.  On the night he came to visit, I was struggling with my good eye because it felt like there was something in it or it was scratched and of course I was having a complete mental breakdown thinking now I was not going to be able to see out of both eyes.  Irrational, I know.  So, this poor doctor from what Kermie tells me, was very patient with me and tried to clean out my eye and then proceeded to hand me the vision chart to check my vision.  All I could see was doubles and I immediately threw the eye chart at him in complete frustration!  So, as I sat there in this follow-up appointment, I felt completely embarrassed and offered as many possible "I'm so sorrys" as I possibly could!  Kermie laughed the whole time!  Heaven forbid I run into the doctor I threw a bed pan at!! 

After a vision check of my good eye and a few quick glances at my bad eye, Dr. Timoney enters the room and I was ready to show off my new found skills!  At our last appointment he talked about the importance of Cranial Nerve 3 and how it would be the nerve responsible for the movement of my eyelid, movement of my eye to the left, up, and down.  So, I have been practicing as much as I can at home to regain those movements.  And, with lots of prayers, God has granted me fantastic progress.  In fact, Dr. Timoney, in his Irish accent, called it, "Dramatic prorgress, Mrs. Donovan."  Yes!  So, where does that leave us now?  There is still very little movement to the right which is controlled by Cranial Nerve 6.  It also explains why my when my eyelid opens my eye is positioned inward.  The nerves that control the muscle movement on one side are pulled while the nerves that control the muscle movement on the other side are not pulling at all.  Kind of like a one-sided game of tug-of-war.  I REALLY want my eye to be positioned center just for mere vanity reasons.... I want my eye to look normal as I've mentioned in my recent posts regardless if vision returns or not.  But, if I had to choose, I'd take a working eyelid and movement in three directions over a centered eye any day!  Dr. Timoney also talked a little bit more about Cranial Nerve 5 which is the sensory nerve.  It is the one responsible for the feeling sensation in the eye.  I still have a lack of sensation, but it is slowly improving.  When he put the piece of tissue on my eye today I felt pressure, but there was still not automatic response to close the eyelid or remove the object.  This is another reason why he is happy we chose to get the glasses!  The last Cranial Nerve he mentioned was number 2 which deals more with vision and the work of the pupil.  This is the one I am least concerned about at the moment since I still see no light at all.  He mentioned how this nerve and my optic nerve work together to allow us to see the pictures we see. 

I am scheduled for another CT Scan on January 8th in which they will do a full face scan as well as a more detailed scan of those nerves which play a role in my vision.  I will meet with the neurosurgeon who was in the OR during the time of my surgeries immediately after and then will follow up with Dr. Timoney again to discuss even more what the scans show in terms of damage to those nerves. 

My skin graft is still scheduled to happen on January 22nd where Dr. Patel will use skin from either my collar bone area or behind my ear to fill in the wound Kermie has been packing for the past month.  Dr. Timoney said recovery should be quick but that he wants scar tissue and complete healing to take place before reconstructing my lower eyelid.  Being the planner I am, I asked him if he thought I could return to work in between surgeries and maybe plan for the eyelid reconstruction over Spring Break and he was perfectly fine with that.  Yay!  So, it's looking like as long as there aren't many complications from the graft and my mental healing is still moving forward, Mrs. Donovan will be back in the classroom maybe February or March!

After leaving what I thought was an excellent appointment, Kermie and I spent another day together doing random odds and ends.  Lunch, sitting in a few cars to get an idea of what is going to be best for me when I'm ready to make a purchase, Starbucks (of course), a trip to Target, and to return my wedding ring to the mall to correct where it had been bent from the wreck.  Pretty great day if I do say so myself! 

While I know this post is getting a little long winded, I have a few more things I'd like to share.  First, whether from meds or whatever, I have been waking up every night with severe stomach/back pain and not able to return to sleep for hours.  So, I'd appreciate prayers for God to heal all the craziness happening with my digestive system!  Second, Kermie and I have been invited to speak at church this Sunday at both the 9:30 and 11:00 services at Grace Christian about the accident and how God is prompting us to use this experience to better serve Him and better our lives.  All are welcome to come listen, but please keep in mind that adults are not my usual audience! :)  I can speak in front of kiddos all day... adults on the other hand are a tad intimidating!  Yet again, more learning experiences!!

I'm leaving you with another picture taken late last night of my eyelid open.  Kind of gross, but it shows how miraculous God is and how thankful I am!