THE EYES HAVE IT

As we all know, life tends to just happen. It often provides surprises, some good, some bad. No matter how carefully we plan and methodically we go about our business, unforeseen events rear up and remind us we are not always in control.

Other times, inevitable but unpredictable events occur. We understand that eventually they will affect us, but we can’t typically carefully plan for them.

The human body breaking down is an example of the latter. Four years ago, a nagging pain in my right shoulder that had been slowly getting worse finally forced me to get an MRI. Lo and behold I needed a complicated surgery to not only repair the rotator cuff but also re-attach one of the two bicep tendons. Of course it was my right shoulder (I am right-handed).

My writing came to a screeching halt for nearly three weeks as my arm had to be immobilized 24/7 in a sling. Then came four months of sometimes grueling and always time-consuming physical therapy.

Fast forward to today. A week ago, I had cataract and partial corneal transplant surgery on my right eye. I knew this procedure was inevitable, as my vision had been deteriorating for several years, finally becoming uncorrectable with glasses or contacts. I began to feel uncomfortable driving at night at the beginning of this year, and decided it was time.

None of this is intended to evoke sympathy or even empathy. These are all things most of us eventually go through, if we live long enough.

The post-operative instructions required me to lie on my back virtually all day for three days, and then periodically for another week. Also necessary was self-administering three kinds of eye drops four times a day (that’s 12 drops!). Failure to comply could result in having to have the transplant portion of the procedure repeated, and the same regimen would begin all over again. I am now in day five post-op, and today is the first time I have sat at my computer and written anything meaningful since the day before the surgery.

Going forward, the eye drops will continue for a year, although the number will decrease over time. My left eye is having the same surgery on April 17 (in about three weeks), and I get to do it all over again. And doubling up on the eye drops! They need to be administered at least five minutes apart, so after my second surgery I will be spending approximately an hour and a half each day dropping various medicinal liquids into both eyes.

I am a structured person, not rigidly so, but I must manage my time well. When I am working on an important writing project, which is currently my fifth novel, one of my priorities is to make a certain amount of progress every day, without fail. Otherwise, my books might never get finished. On most days this is easy because I enjoy writing (why else would I do it?) and I often exceed my daily word goals or other milestones.

I can also be somewhat of a control freak, and when my structured writing plans are disrupted, it bothers me. For the next several weeks, I will not have control over my writing schedule.

The point of all this is that as far as control over my life goes for now, my eyes have it.