Yes, Back In Boston

I never quite saw this one coming. Dr Fay had set-up my followup appointment with a doctor in Charleston  and he said that I should be taking tylenol and moving on in my life in no more than three days after they removed my eye. Boy would that have been nice.

Needless to say on day three I still had not had anything to eat and the pain was pretty rough. I made it back to Augusta where my family was waiting for me. They spent all weekend waiting on me hand and foot. They are the BEST! My mother decided to stay the week with me because the pain was not subsiding the way we had anticipated. We ended up going to Charleston early to get the doctors view on the healing situation. Needless to say i was not very fond of this doctor and he decided that he did not want to touch my eye and recommended I fly back up to boston as soon as possible. That night sitting at the Marriott in Charleston (compliments of Titi Lisa and Rich), I booked a flight the next morning for Boston. My mother drove me back to Augusta the next day and off I went to Boston to find out what was going on. Upon arriving, I saw the doctor who thought that there could be a hemorrhage causing all the pain. They admitted me back into the hospital for pain and had me scheduled for an MRI the next day. My mother flew up the next day compliments of the Statham family to make sure everyone was set straight this time around. I failed to mention earlier but my first time at the hospital was a nightmare and when I was admitted the second time I had to speak with the charge nurse, doctors, patient advocate and social worker to make sure we were all on the same page and that I would get the treatment I deserved.

      The MRI revealed that there had been a hemorrhage which was causing the additional pressure and pain. It had stopped bleeding but there was still a lot of dried blood. There is nothing that they can  do in this situation but wait and try to manage pain. I stayed in the hospital another night and then went to the Marriot where my mother was staying (again compliment of Titi Lisa and Rich).

     I have had pain all over my body but I feel like pain in the eye can be one of the the most debilitating spots. Every time I would try to open my left eye my right eye would hurt so it was ideal to have both eyes closed to help control the pain. However closing both eyes leaves you with very few ways to distract you from the pain ie watching movies or surfing the internet. My friend Maggie a Child Life Specialist and well respected professor in her field tried her darndest to come up with some distraction techniques but even that was a little tough she said.

     Anyway, my mother and I flew back from Boston this past Thursday (compliments of the amazing sky miles of the Summers family) to recover in Atlanta. The pain is still there and never really fully goes away but the eye is still draining the old blood and I am able to open my eyes for longer and longer each day. I am a little confused as to what God is doing right now but I am sure his masterpiece will be revealed one day! Thank you all for your love and support, it means the world to me.

Flying to Brazil?

I was unsure how many more trips I would be taking to boston, and after all this time I had only seen little snippets of the city, so I decided to come up a couple days early to see the sites. I was able to convince my friend Jenna Parker to come along and explore the city with me. Friday morning started with a 4:00am wake-up call in order to catch our flight at 6:00. Upon arriving in Boston it was a beautiful rainy and cold day. We found a fun little hole-in-the-wall called dot 2 dot for lunch, followed by a visit to the JKF Library and Museum, a tour of the Sam Adams Brewery and ending with a great BU hockey game. Saturday after breakfast we walked the first part of the Freedom Trail with a very funny and informative tour guide followed by a stroll through Quincy Market, a picture of the bar from Cheers, a beautiful view of the Boston Harbor, a visit to Paul Revers house, Old North Church, the Museum of Fine Arts, a spectacular view from the top of the Prudential, a visit to Fenway Park, a great dinner at LeContes a stroll through Boston Commons, finishing the day at the Beehive a great jazz bar.               Jenna ended up leaving the next morning and I spent most of my day shoveling snow and relaxing at Jenn Morell's house.

       Monday morning i called the Dr. office to confirm my 4:30 appt. While talking to Rose the nurse practitioner she mentioned that Dr. Fay was going to talk to me about a procedure he had seen done in Brazil.  This left me in high hopes for the next procedure to be done on my eye.  Upon arriving at Mass. Eye and Ear I immediately met with Dr Fay, to discuss my different options.  The biggest problem we were now facing was that the eyelid would not function enough to cover the entire eye when blinking.  However there was a procedure he had seen done in Brazil where they take a slice from inside your lip and cover the white part of your eye which in turn would assist in keeping the eye more lubricated, which in all actuality it would just be buying us more time.  I told him that as much as I would have enjoyed to travel to Brazil with him and trying this procedure I think we both felt that we would still be left a couple step short from achieving our ultimate goal. This has now left us with the backup option. I never really saw it coming this fast but it was time for an enucleation. He said he would give me time to think about it but he knew that it had been in the back of my mind before. Having the procedure done in Boston was not the most ideal location because most of my support system was back in the south. However I knew that Dr Fay knew me and my eye better than anyone one else and it was under his skilled hands that I would feel most comfortable. That evening as I was walking down the streets of Boston I became overwhelmed with emotions and a song came with each of those emotions. I would like to share these songs with you and just let them speak to your heart. It started with JJ Heller
followed by Horatio ending with Christy. As I was lying there in bed I thought to mself, Eric this will be the last time you go to sleep with your own two eyes. Kinda crazy huh? The next morning I woke with a peaceful spirit. I went to MGH a bit early to ask some last minute questions. Dr Fay explained the different options and the route he was going to take. To be honest I am glad he was able to operate today because waiting would have probably eaten me up inside.

Upon waking up in recovery they took me to the 11th floor for the night just to keep track of my vitals and help manage pain. Needless to say this was the part of the procedure that did not go according to plan. They said I would have been able to hop on the plane and be back in Augusta by Wednesday afternoon. Well when Wednesday afternoon rolled around I could not hold anything down, I felt extremely nauseous, and in lots of pain from the inability to hold the pain pills in my stomach long enough. My parents ended up changing my flight so I spent one more night in Boston. Jenn was such a huge help during this process by picking my up from the hospital, filling my prescriptions, and getting bland foods to work on.

Thursday morning I still had not had anything to eat but knew that all I needed to do was make it home sweet home. All of the airport personnel were great from curb to curb. My good friend Ali Griffin picked me up in Charlotte and brought me to Columbia where my friend Jenna picked me up and brought me the rest of the way home. Upon arriving home, there was my sweet little molly girl, my two loving parents and the oh so famous family dog chico! I was a home.............