Ok, so I’ll let you in on the secret now. I’m having corrective laser eye surgery done, paid for completely by the Army. It’s being done at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., hence my trip here. Today was part 1 of our pre-op stuff. First thing was to get into their computer system, but that didn’t take very long at all. Then we headed up to the Eye Surgery Center and filled out a little bit of paperwork and then the fun began. We must have been in front of every eye machine there is (except the puff of air glaucoma test one). They took many measurements, pictures, scans, etc. of our eyes. We even were in the room where the surgery will be done on Thursday and got to lay on the bed/table where it’s done. They have a machine that takes pictures while you’re in the position you’ll be in for the surgery. Then they dilated our eyes and did more checks and scans and looked at more stuff. I was the first of the 6 of us done, and I headed down to the Outpatient Pharmacy to pick up all my prescriptions – various eye drops, percocet, and Vitamin C tablets. Then I sat around and waited and waited and waited and waited. The other guys finally started appearing, and got their prescriptions, and left. And I was still waiting. SFC S was the last one down and he’s my ride.
But I had fun people-watching while I was waiting. I saw a lot of retired people, but lots of soldiers (and I include all branches in that since they were in civies and I couldn’t tell what they were) as well, many that were amputees. It was kind of sad. But they were all walking/riding in a wheelchair as proud as they could be. There was even one guy (leg amputee) that was standing (I offered him my seat, and he declined) waiting for his number to be called, and he greeted every retiree that walked by with a smile and a How are you today, sir? SFC S finally showed up and got his prescriptions and we headed back in the direction of the hotel. We were both pretty hungry by this time, so we went to Popeye’s Chicken for lunch. I had bought some granola bars at the grocery store yesterday with the intention of bringing one or 2 in my pocket for today, but I forgot them. Oh well.
When I got back to the hotel, I discovered that my computer has died. Yes, my laptop. I called my brother and he thinks it might just be the backlight for the screen. The computer itself boots up and everything, but you just can’t see anything on the screen. At least I can still charge my iPod, which it needed. After crocheting for a little while, I changed clothes and headed down to the fitness center and ran on the treadmill for 30 minutes. It sure felt good to be moving, especially after sitting in a car all day yesterday and then sitting all morning today at the hospital. I called Ryan and Robbie when I got back up to my room and had a nice talk with them for a while, and then it was shower time. Once I was done with that, I had some yogurt and some of the other food from my room and then I sat down with my crocheting and my phone. I called Mom & Dad and talked to them for a while, and then I called G’ma & G’pa, but G’ma wasn’t home. I had a very nice chat with my Grandpa though! Right now I’m using the public computer in the hotel lobby to do this and check my e-mail and message boards, and then I’ll go crochet for a bit more before heading to bed.
I’ll check in again tomorrow night, but then after that, you probably won’t hear about my surgery until Sunday or when I get home on Monday. They said no computer, no TV, no reading – pretty much nothing with our eyes for the first couple of days so we can let them rest and begin the healing process. Those of you on my message boards, Mom will be posting on the one she posts on, and if you see a post on there and you post on another board I post on, feel free to cross post the message.
And I want to thank you all in advance for any and all prayers and good thoughts this week, and especially on Thursday morning.
armytbonegirl 