I’m up late as we spent the day at the University of Iowa Hospitals learning that the branch retinal artery occlusion that partially blinded my husband in his left eye is probably permanent. A bitter pill.
p[Tomorrow, he has tests for various things…mostly ultrasound-type tests for carotid artery involvement or plaque, ECCO, DOPPLER. Unfortunately, the TEE (trans esophageal echo cardiogram) that Iowa City would like costs $3,000 and our insurance will not cover it. [It was canceled without even asking us while we were seeing Dr. Elliot Shon at University Hospitals.] My question: will the Doppler and ECCO tests be enough? How is it possible to be just sitting there, stress-free, no pain, no trauma, and just lose your vision? It’s scary.
On a happier note, a woman from Bettendorf, Iowa (last name, Waterman) who was with her son (Frank?) was selected for a make-over and looked great.
I sure hope the test tomorrow will pin down the source of this flukey thing that caused my husband to go blind while sitting on a Cancun beach having a drink with a doctor friend. Apparently, there is only a 90 minute window of time in which you could regnerate the eye.
I feel sad.