Finally the time came to go back to Sydney and as it was during school holidays, we all went up. We stayed in an apartment in The Rocks and when we arrived went for a walk. It was dreadful. We were out and about just as the five o’clock peak hour was happening and there were so many people rushing around and all the car lights and shop lights were hurting my eyes. I felt so vulnerable and could not wait to get back to the apartment. My emotions were at a peak and I couldn’t believe that in a few days I would be able to see again and I was feeling very emotional about having my second graft removed.
Dr Con told me he planned to implant the lens in the left eye and remove the transplant from the right eye at the same time and I would have both eyes padded up for 24 hours. That was going to be a challenge!
The anticipation was a bit more heightened because at the end of this operation I would have the sight back in one eye. I knew after the surgery I would come out with two eyes bandaged but I woke up and panicked and ripped off the bandages. They had to re-bandage my eyes but they put a shield on the left eye, a clear shield with holes in it so I would be able to see a little bit and that was amazing because even with the shield on and the tape all over it I could see stuff. When Peter and the girls came into see me I could actually see them. It was extraordinary. I didn’t believe I would have the sight so quickly after the surgery. It wasn’t great sight but I could see more than I had in a long time. I spent that day looking out of the holes and seeing what I could see and it was awesome.
Having a close look at my girls and my husband was amazing! I was able to see my doctors and nurses, my room and my roommates. When Peter and the girls left I sat back and took in all that was around me. Mind you my sight was still limited as I had my eye covered with a shield but it was overwhelming.
I spent a lot of time in tears but this time it was good tears. The ladies in my ward were lovely and we spent a lot of time drinking coffee and chatting. I still write to one of the ladies I met and as with the last visit I was so inspired by these women. I was having my sight restored while these ladies had lost theirs.
One of the ladies had a terrible accident and had lost her eye, not just her sight but her eye. She was so positive about it all and I wonder if I would have been as gracious in the same circumstances. On the second night that I was in the ward with the ladies, her doctor had changed her medication and she came out in a rash all over her body. She was very distressed and after talking with the doctor who assured that it would be OK that it would go away she came out of the bathroom and stood by her bed. Her curtains were open a little bit and she was wearing a long white nightgown and put her arms above her head and said, ‘it’s a hellhole!’ The whole thing was so dramatic. She was very distressed and it took us all a while to help her settle. She was 80 years old and had led a very interesting life. Her accident was terrible and occurred at the same time her husband had to go into a nursing home. She was a very flamboyant lady and we all fell in love with her. She told me later that she waited to see what I was wearing each day and was very impressed with my array of nightwear!
The healing process for the right eye was slower than the left and that was frustrating. I cried a lot and was scared that this one wouldn’t go as well as the first one. The doctors assured me that the first graft removal healed in record time. This one was healing at the normal pace and I ended up staying in hospital for seven days.
It was pretty amazing because I could see again and be more independent in the room. I could do things on my own again. I was able to take myself for walks around the ward, get in the lift and see the buttons, go by myself to the café, buy a coffee and sit in the courtyard and watch the world go by and follow the signs and find my way back to my room.
When I eventually left the hospital the drive home was amazing. It reminded me of the drive home when I had my first cornea transplant. I could see the road signs, car number plates, the faces of the people in the cars, the lines on the road were not double anymore, the trees, the sky. Even more importantly I could see the signs on the toilet doors at the stops we made. When we arrived back in the Creek it was just getting dark. Peter pulled over on the side of the road to look at our community noticeboard. I looked over and written on the board was ‘Welcome Home Kerry’ and I could read it! The girls had written on the noticeboard and Rusty had drawn an eye chart as well. More tears and then it was home to our new house, which I had not really seen in detail. The carpet had a pattern on it, the paint was so bright and clear, the tiles were just as I had seen in the magazine, the floorboards, the kitchen bench and my gorgeous family and of course the dog and bunnies. Everything was so clear, not foggy and this was with one eye. Imagine what it would be like with two!
When I woke up the next morning I came out into the family room and looked out of the window. I called out to Peter, ‘the sheep, oh my god the sheep!’ He came in and wanted to know what was wrong with them. ‘They have legs,’ and I promptly burst into tears. There are about a dozen sheep in the paddock next door. Even when they were close to our house all I could see was white blobs. On this morning they were down the end of the paddock and I could see their legs and heads and ears and it was quite a moment. I spent the day looking out the windows at the birds, the ducks, the sheep and the houses around us. Everything was so clear.
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