Chapter 10 – Time Tells… contd…….

“Om Sainathaya Namaha” 

“I know God won’t give me anything that I can’t handle. I just wish he didn’t trust me so much.”………Mother Teresa 

Left Eye: 

A small note on this before I write about surprises that I encountered with the eye. I remember very clearly the only prayer I said to Shri Sai when I was being wheeled into the OT on February 23, 2015 “Baba, please save my eye, do not let me go blind in one eye, please, please….”. Once I came back to the ward, I got to know that my eye is safe, in my mind I said a silent “Thank you” to Baba and named this eye as “Baba’s eye”. This eye is magical and nothing will ever go wrong with this eye till I live, so is my belief. 

Eye surgeon observed during surgery that the lower eye orbital floor has been compromised by the tumor and needs to be completely removed, one of the muscles holding the eyeball also had to be cut and stitched elsewhere. So, there is no lower orbital floor to support this eyeball and it just hangs in place held by the eye muscles. The eye surgeon feels it is nothing short of a miracle. He felt as well as my maxillo facial surgeon that this eyeball will just sink and fall into the hollow of the cheek with the passing of time as there is no support to hold it. However, it continues to hold on. This eye is healthier when compared to the right eye, has normal A/5 vision, eye pressure is 11 compared to 17 in my right eye. All this is purely magical and defies medical science. 

Baba’s Eye 

Left Eye One Day before Surgery 

Left Eye 10 Months Post Surgery 

Now for the surprises due to radiation: 

1. As with the mouth, contraction of tissues happened just below this eye, causing the lower lid to droop down considerably. This resulted in the upper and lower eyelids not being able to meet and close normally, causing exposure. The eye needs to be physically closed with a piece of medical sticky tape, stuck to the upper eyelid and pulling it down sticking it to the cheek, every time I sleep in the night as well if I were to take an afternoon nap. This condition can be corrected once surgical reconstruction of the lower orbital floor is taken up. However reconstruction can be done after two years of completion of radiation as the oncologist feels wound may not heal if surgery is performed earlier as the skin cells damaged during radiation process will need at least two years to heal completely. 

2. Moisture producing cells got permanently damaged during the radiation process hence the eye needs to be artificially lubricated every two hours to prevent dryness and cornea ulcer. This is a permanent lifestyle adjustment. 

3. Due to tissue contraction and absence of the lower orbital floor left eye is at a lower level when compared to the right eye this affects coordination between the two eyes and hampers driving and reading for more than a few hours at a time. 

4. As the eye-ball is held in place by the eye muscles without any lower support the muscles tend to get tired by 7:00 pm every evening and the eye need to be rested. There are certain lifestyle changes that I have adopted to avoid strain to the eye, these are: 1. Altered my sleeping time to 7:30 pm every night and get up early in the morning. 

5. Finish my dinner early by 6:30 pm. 

6. Finish all my laptop related works by 4:00 pm every day so that I do not strain the eye much. 

7. If I have to travel out-of-town I avoid morning and evening flights and take afternoon flights instead. 

8. Do not go for evening movie shows to multiplexes only watch morning or afternoon shows that end at least by 5:00 pm. 

9. Blinking of eye produces moisture which results in self-cleaning of a normal eye. Since my left eye does not produce any moisture, it needs protection against dust and dusty environments I have made a lifestyle change by stopping visits to project sites and managing projects from within closed office environment. Also I wear transparent glasses at all times when I am outside the house. 

Transparent Eyeglasses 

Magical Life. 

LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL