I recently traveled to Ireland for one two weeks on business. It was my first time to the Emerald Isle, and I must say, I was rather impressed with its warmth and charm. When I say warmth, I am not referring to the literal sense of the word. The weather was quite cool and rainy in Ireland, and reminded me of the dreary winters in Portland.

My plane landed in Dublin early on a Sunday morning. I had barely slept on the long trans-Atlantic flight from Atlanta, so I was exhausted. I didn't want to sleep, so I made the decision to stave-off the sandman and do some sight-seeing. The first order of business was to learn how to drive on the wrong side of the road while sitting on the passenger side. I was nervous at first, but endlessly repeating the word "left" in my mind gave me the courage to forge ahead. The Nissan Micra I rented from Hertz, although classified as a "compact", was actually smaller than that. I would later learn while squeezing down the streets of Dublin that this was actually a good thing.

Once I was comfortable with driving, I proceeded to my hotel. My Irish home-away-from-home was the exquisite Carton House in Maynooth. The hotel was formerly an estate for a wealthy family, so naturally, this place was dripping with history and charm. The hotel grounds contain two golf courses, a river, wilderness areas, and lush green grass. Needless to say, it was a most impressive place. The rooms were very modern and stylish, with all of the conveniences you'd expect in a hotel of this caliber. One of the more interesting features was the mechanism for operating the lights. A card slot on the wall by the door acted as the master switch for the entire room. To turn on the lights, merely insert your hotel room card into the slot. This enabled all of the lights in the room, which you could then control individually by various wall switches. When leaving the room, you remove your card from the slot, and after about a minute, all of the lights automatically turn off. I found this eco-friendly idea to be very ingenious and quite convenient.

With the business formalities of hotel check-in completed, it was time to get out and see some of the sights. My first stop was Dublin. I didn't feel up to driving into the city, so I opted for public transportation. I first took a cab ride to the train station near the hotel. I then took the commuter train into Dublin. While I was waiting at the train station, I started talking to one of the locals. His name was Declan, and he is part owner of a landscaping business. We rode the train together into Dublin, chatting about everything from American politics to the climate differences between Ireland and Arizona. As we rode on the train, a thundershower moved over us and drenched the train. I later learned that somebody in a town nearby was killed by a lightning strike from that storm. Our train arrived in Dublin about 30 minutes later. As Declan and I departed the train, he asked where I was going. I was planning to visit the Temple Bar district to check out some of the sights. Declan didn't have any real agenda, so he decided to accompany me. We walked from the train stop over to the Temple Bar. Along the way, Declan pointed out to me the Spire of Dublin. This landmark looks like a giant sewing needle pointing towards the sky. Declan explained to me that this was Dublin's contribution to the Year 2000 celebrations. We also passed along the River Liffey, which is the main river that runs through the heart of Dublin. We eventually arrived at the Temple Bar District, which was bustling with tourists. Our first stop was the Temple Bar Pub. We each grabbed a pint of Guinness ale and stood near one end of the pub. The pub was crowded, so it was standing-room only. The part of the pub we were in was actually outside with an awning covering it. The awning was down as it was raining that day. Declan and I chatted for a while over our pint, and then decided to move along to another pub. Our next stop was The Foggy Dew pub, also in the Temple Bar District. This pub was not as crowded, and had quite a bit of character, with its hardwood floors and old wooden bar. We ordered another pint of Guinness and watched an Irish sport on TV called Hurling. The sport resembles field hockey, but is much faster. Hurling is an amateur sport where people play for the love of the game, and not for money. Declan asked if I wanted to go to a REAL Irish pub where the locals gather and the prices on pints were better. Of course, I couldn't refuse. We left the pub and hopped on a local commuter train. After a short two-minute ride, we exited the train and walked over to Mulligan's pub. There were no crowds around the street, and the entrance into the place could have easily been missed it was so small. Once inside, I felt like I had walked into a page from history. The first thing I noticed was the sound of traditional Irish music playing. And the music wasn't coming from any stereo, it was coming from live musicians. In the corner of this very small pub were a handful of musicians wedged between small tables topped with Guinness pints. The pub was crowded with mostly locals. Declan and I squeezed up to the bar and ordered another pint of Guinness. We stood and watched the musicians play for hours. I was mesmerized by the music and the atmosphere of the pub. Occasionally, an old familiar song would be played, and the whole pub would join in a pub sing. Musicians would come and go and join along for the impromptu jam sessions. It was the quintessential Dublin pub experience. It was getting late, so I left for home again. I took a taxi back to my hotel since I missed the last train out of Dublin.

To Be Continued...

The results are in.  I went to my eye doctor yesterday for my follow-up visit after my ICL surgery.  Everything was perfect: eye pressure, ICL placement, and eye health were all good.  The best news of all was my vision test results:  I am now 20/15 in both eyes!!!  Woohoo!!

Overall, my experience has been overwhelmingly positive.  My vision is incredibly crisp, from the moment I wake up in the morning until I fall asleep at night.  My night vision is ten-fold better than it was with glasses -- no halos or star effects.  The only negative effect I've noticed is a slight halo effect in extreme darkness conditions.  The only time I've noticed it is when I'm in bed at night with all of the lights off and I look at LED lights on the TV, DVD, Wii at the end of the bedroom.  It's a soft halo of LED-color light around the primary light source (imagine a crisp-green LED light with a soft green halo around it).  I mentioned this to the doctor, and he said over time that effect would go away as my brain learns to adjust to the ICLs.  Basically, my brain will learn to ignore that effect.  Since I only see this the last five minutes of the day before I go to sleep, it's really a non-issue for me.  The benefits FAR outweigh the one slight negative, and I would gladly do this again in a heartbeat.  I am very pleased with the results, and a lot of the credit goes to my team of doctors at Barnett-Dulaney-Perkins.

As a celebration, I went out and bought a really nice pair of Maui Jim polarized sunglasses.  My ICL investment must be protected!!!

It's done!  I now have two new bionic eyes.  What a ride it has been, but the results are impressive!

Two weeks ago was my surgery for my left eye.  My lovely and beautiful finacee drove me to the surgery center at 8:00AM.  I checked-in and waited for a few minutes.  Then it was time to prep me for surgery.  A nurse walked me to the back room, where she seated me down.  She placed a net over my hair and asked me to sign a consent form for the administering of anesthesia.  I was then walked over to another nurses station.  The nurse seated me again, and placed a nametag on my shirt.  Next, she placed a piece of medical tape above my left eye, and a transparent plastic shield over my right eye.  The tape indicated which eye was to have surgery, and the shield indicated which eye was to NOT have surgery.  Next, she gave me a series of drops in my left eye and instructed me to keep my eye closed.  The drops appeared to be a combination of anti-biotics, numbing drops, dilation drops, and iodine.  Following that, she inserted a catheter into my vein in my right arm.  Another round of drops in my left eye, and I was escorted to the pre-op room.  I was instructed to lay down on a mobile bed.  The bed had a cup for my head (to keep it from moving), and a wedge that sat under my knees.  They hooked me up to a blood pressure monitor by placing a cuff around my left arm.  They also placed heart monitors on my chest, and an oxygen sensor on my right index finger.  They then placed a blanket over me to keep me warm.  The anesthesiologist then administered a sedative in the catheter that was inserted in my vein.  I briefly had a strange taste in my mouth, and then I became extremely relaxed.  After a few minutes, I was wheeled into the operating room.  Note to self: next time, wear warm clothes.  The OR was freezing cold.  This is where it gets a little fuzzy.  My eye was numbed, and some device was used to hold it open.  The surgeon came in and began the procedure.  I was awake the whole time, and I could see and hear everything.  I could see my eye moving around as the doctor performed the procedure.  I could feel nothing, though.  After about five minutes, the procedure was over and I was wheeled out to the post-op room.  As I was being wheeled out, I could see fairly well with my new lens.  The nurse taped my eye shut.  I rested for a few minutes and then the nurse went over some post-op instructions with me, and gave me a little kit with everything I needed: eye drops, eye shield, sunglasses, and instructions.  I was then free to go.  I returned in an hour to have a pressure check performed, and then I went home to rest.  The following day, the procedure was repeated for my right eye.

I go back on Monday for a follow-up visit with the surgeon.  I'm done with the drops, and I can see great!!

Yesterday was the last day of my "prework" before my ICL surgery.  I had a Laser Peripheral Iridotomy (LPI) procedure performed on both of my eyes.  Before the procedure, I first met with a nurse and had a brief physical examination.  The nurse took my temperature and blood pressure, and asked me several questions about my health.  Once that was complete, I was ready for the LPI procedure.  I first met with the physician who would be performing the LPI procedure.  He also happens to be the surgeon who will be performing my ICL surgery as well.  He went over the LPI procedure with me and allowed me time to ask questions.  Next, the physicians assistant took me into an exam room where she took readings for my blood pressure and pulse.  She then administered some numbing drops in my eye, and then some drops to constrict my pupils.  One thing I noticed right away after having the constricting drops was that my vision became quite blurry.  In fact, it was much blurrier than having my eyes dilated.  After waiting about 15 minutes for the drops to take affect, I went into another exam room to have the LPI procedure performed.  Similar to the photocoagulation procedure I had, I was seated upright in an exam chair.  One more set of numbing drops in my eyes, and I was ready to go.  I placed my chin and forehead into the head cradle, with the doctor seated facing me.  He used his thumb to hold open my eyelid on my right eye.  He then looked for a location in my iris to perform the iridotomy.  He located a spot, and began pulsing a bright red laser at my eye.  He pulsed the laser about 5-10 times, with about 5-10 seconds between each pulse.  For this procedure, I could feel the laser in my eye.  The first few pulses were the most noticeable, and felt like a dull ache that quickly disappeared.  After finishing one hole, he made a second hole in my iris.  Both holes were located at the top of the iris, and are too small to see (I tried finding them in the mirror afterwards, and had no luck).  After the right eye was done, he then moved to the left eye and repeated the same procedure.  The whole thing was completed in about five minutes.  I had no pain afterwards.  The only discomfort I had was from the fact that my vision was extremely blurry due to the pupil constricting drops.  For follow-up, I was given some anti-inflamatory drops to take four times a day.

Some sad news...Walter "Wally" Schirra has died.  He was one of the original Mercury 7 astronauts, and the only astronaut to fly in Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions.  The NASA web site has a nice tribute to him.

Yesterday I had an argon procedure performed on my left eye.  The procedure was exactly the same as the one performed on my right eye a week ago.  Apparently, my left eye didn't need as much correcting as my right eye.  The Dr. didn't need to apply as many laser pulses as he did for my right eye.  Since I had gone through this procedure before, I was a little more relaxed and noticed a few more details about the procedure this time around.  For instance, the block that the Dr. administered in my eye actually immobilized it.  I noticed this when he removed the tape from my eye just prior to the laser procedure.  I opened my eye, and when I looked around, I was seeing double vision.  This was a result of my left eye not moving.  I'm sure if I had a mirror in front of me, it would have looked rather strange.  I also noticed that the reason I could not see after the procedure was done was because I could no longer open my eyelid, again as a result of the block.  I strained to open my eyes, and just barely lifted the lid on my left eye.  Following the procedure, the Dr. gave me the OK to proceed with the ICL surgery.  I've scheduled my surgery for June -- two days, back-to-back.  I'm really excited to finally be rid of these glasses!!

Today was my appointment for treatment of my lattice.  After greeting the doctor's assistant, I was escorted to an examining room, and seated in a chair.  A piece of medical tape was placed on my forehead above my right eye -- a marker to the doctor and assistant as to which eye was receiving treatment today.  Next were a few quick eye tests - vision acuity, pupil response, and eye motion were all tested.  Once that was completed, it was time for the dilation drops.  I waited for the drops to take effect.  This was the first time that I had just one eye dilated, and as you'd expect, it was rather strange.  I could see perfectly from my left eye, but the vision in my right eye became increasingly blurry as my pupil dilated.  After about 30 minutes, I was then taken back to the examining room.  The doctor then used a syringe to administer a dose of zylicane just under my right eye.  I was a little nervous about having a needle so close to my eye, but it was over in about 30 seconds.  The zylicane was a local anesthetic that numbed my eye.  After a few minutes, I was taken to the laser room.  The room was just like the examining room, only it had one of those articulating arm stations with the chin-and-forehead rest for stabilizing your head.  For this procedure, the doctor used an argon laser.  The laser machine was much smaller than I expected, and was no bigger than your standard DVD player.  The doctor prepared the laser, while I sat in the chair and leaned into the chin-and-forehead rest.  The doctor's assistant held my head against the forehead rest to provide extra stability.  The lights were dimmed, and the doctor moved the laser into position.  He place a device that resembled a camera filter directly onto my right eye, holding my eye in place and preventing my eyelid from closing.  Since my eye was numb, I really could not feel the lens, except for some slight pressure from the lens pressing against my eye.  The doctor then peered through a microscope device directly into my eye, and began administering the laser.   The laser was green, and flashed several times a second.  The doctor would look through the microscope, target the lattice on my retina, and zap it with the green laser.  He did this several dozen times.  About five minutes later, the procedure was over.  When the lights came on, I briefly panicked as I could not see anything out of my right eye.  When the doctor asked how I was doing, I said "pretty good if I were a cyclops".  He explained that the loss of vision was temporary, and would return shortly.  The doctor taped my eye shut and instructed me to leave the tape on for at least five hours.  I was anxious to see if I could see again, and about five minutes after the procedure, I began to see light through my eyelid...whew!  My eye never really hurt before or during the procedure, but about an hour after the procedure, I felt a dull ache in my eye.  It was hard to tell if the ache was from the procedure or the tape holding my eye shut.  Eventually, the ache went away on it's own.  When I finally removed the tape, and opened my eye, I could see just fine.  My eye was a little red and slightly swollen, but my vision was fine.  What a relief.  To celebrate, I took the family out to eat at Burger King.  I ordered the chicken salad, with a side of carrots and lutein.  Next week, it's lefty's turn.

So I've decided to go ahead with the ICL surgery.  Last week, I went to BDS to have additional tests done before they proceed with the surgery.  They measured the distance from my cornea to my retina, my eye pressure, and performed a corneal cell count.  The last test was a thorough examination of my retinas.  After examining my retinas, the doctor informed me that I had some Lattice Degeneration in both eyes, which is basically a thinning of the retina.  The doctor recommended that they stabilize the areas where the degeneration is present before they proceed with the surgery.  The stabalization involves using a special laser procedure called laser photocoagulation.  The laser treatment is applied to the areas where the lattice is present, which causes scar tissue to form and thickens the retina.  Next week is my first treatment on my right eye.  Hopefully, everything goes smooth.