Had my normal 6-week follow-up with Dr. Opth today. My eye’s been feeling fine but I have noticed that it still has a tendency to be a little red if I peek under the lower eyelid or upper. A little testing makes me think the level of redness is related to the amount of time I’m on the computer!

Although I’m still not free of the drops … continuing daily for a couple of more weeks, then every other day … I finally got the okay to try wearing my contact lenses again. Yea! Of course, one little problem. I was visiting relatives in Nebraska last weekend and now have a cold. Since I was back a couple of days prior to noticing the cold, I don’t know if one thing has to do with the other and it really doesn’t matter. So, no contacts until I’m past this cold.

Had my 6-week checkup with Dr. Opth today. I can’t tell you how much I was hoping for the all-clear to try wearing my contacts again. But, alas, it was not to be so! ha!

Although I’ve been off all eye drops for 2 weeks, he gave me another prescription of  the normal, weakened version of the drops I was just on. These are the drops that contain some level of steroids. I’m to use a drop in the left eye 3 times a day for 2 weeks, then 2 times/day for 2 weeks, and finally once a day for another 2 weeks. I guess the good news is that my eyelashes on that eye will perk up again. The reason for the prescription is that my eye still looks fairly bloodshot if you life the upper lid or lower the bottom one.

It’s funny that the part of the eye that most people can actually see (without moving the eyelids out of the way) is really white. If it were teeth, it’d look like I’d just had it whitened. Yes, it’s that white. It’s like the slow discoloration that comes with normal aging of the eye has been removed and I’m back to “baby white.” Even the scar tissue is around this white area even though the white area is the part that was actually cut off/out.

If you see me around in the next few weeks, ask me to flirt with my flirty, curly left eyelashes!

I’m saddened to report that my eyelashes on my left eye are back to normal … less full, less curl. I’ve been watching this happen since I’ve been cutting back on the steroid drops. It’s been over a week since I’ve been completely off the meds and the “beauty treatment” is gone.

On television I actually saw a commercial for something that would give the full, curly look. I don’t remember the name but had to laugh. Dr. Opth had mentioned that there was a cataract drug being sold for this purpose. Given how given the effects disappear once you stop the drops though, I don’t think it’s worth a lifetime of eyedrops to keep up the look. But, hey, I wouldn’t want Botox or other things done to me on a weekly basis just to maintain the youthful appearance. That’s what surgery’s for! ha!

I had a follow-up appointment with Dr. Opth today. I’m weaning off the medicated drops … down to once a day for the next 2 weeks and then every other day for another 2 weeks. Dr. Opth seems pleased with the healing progress thus far.

It seemed like the perfect time to make a plea for wearing my contact lenses again in the near future. I have a feeling Dr. Opth isn’t a huge fan of contacts. He said he’s not sure I’ll be able to wear them due to the scarring. However, we all know I’m going to have to give it a try once I get the medical okay though! ha! I did make mention of the fact that, had I not been wearing contacts previously, the melanoma may have ended up much more advanced before I sought help. My contacts made the melanoma “bump” create the redness in my eye and that’s what drove me to Dr. Opth’s office.

Hopefully I can try them out after my next appointment with Dr. Opth, which isn’t scheduled until 2/18/09. Did you notice that my appointments are getting farther apart? Yea!

What can I say? I’m able to wear make-up as long as I’m careful removing it at night so I don’t rub my eye. No one who doesn’t already know about the melanoma doesn’t have a clue I’ve had any eye problems because my eye looks good. The only thing I’ve noticed is a need to get at least 8 1/2 hours sleep at night or else my eye feels a little scratchy throughout the day.

I went to Wal-Mart and explained my dilemna with the unopened prescription. Not unexpectedly, they said they couldn’t take back prescriptions due to health reasons. I wasn’t surprised because there are just too many ways to alter things and too many people willing to do it. Oh well, stuck with it.

Dr. Opth’s tests today showed my eye pressure is back to normal. The redness on the right side of my eye is better, too. I’m getting a little tired of the dilation though because my eye’s still so light-sensitive. Yes, my eye’s still dilated!

Okay, now I’m upset. During my appointment, Dr. Opth took one of the sample bottles he had given me and put 3 drops in my eye. Then he said I don’t have to use this drop anymore. My mouth dropped open. This is the $65 prescription drug and I haven’t even opened the new bottle yet because I was still using the sample. Argh! Dr. Opth suggested I try to return it to Wal-Mart since I haven’t even opened the box.

It’s weird to look at my eye. The area that was removed with surgery is really, really white. You can’t really see the edges and I never have been able to see them, even right after surgery. What’s funny is that it’s only been 2 weeks and my eye looks normal to people. Instead of the surgical area being the worst-looking, it’s the best. Tonight I wore eye make-up for the first time.

Although this surgery was more aggressive, my appearance is much better much sooner than before. Ironic!

So far, the new medicated drops seem to have little effect in reducing the swelling at the left and lower edges of my eye. The newest development is that the redness on the right side of my has yellow undertones, like it’s becoming orange instead of just red. It’s almost like it’s thicker than I know it is. My first thought is that, in the movies, they say yellow eyes are a sign of jaundice. Of course, that’s the complete extent of my knowledge about yellow eyes and jaundice.

I went back to Wal-Mart this afternoon to pick up the other prescription. Guess I was wrong. This one was only $35. Sounds like a bargain after the other one. So now I’m completely off the original medicated drops and just using these new branded ones.

Had my first follow-up with Dr. Opth this afternoon. He ran all his usual tests and wasn’t happy with my eye pressure. Apparently it’s quite a bit above normal. He believes I’ve developed an allergy to the medicated drops. Dr. Opth says that’s not unusual with extended use and I’ve been taking them since early October.

Dr. Opth’s decided to put me on brand name drugs, which will cost considerly more but won’t have the side effects I’m currently having. He says that “fullness” under my eyelids is swelling, not a gathering of tissue. He’s concerned about the redness of the right side of my eye since nothing was done to that area of the eye other than getting the local. Dr. Opth gave me a couple of samples of the most expensive new drop and a prescription for it, plus for another drug.

My eyelid never got swollen like the first surgery and I didn’t think it was the consistent use of ice packs. When I asked Dr. Opth, he said it was probably because I didn’t have stitches this time. He believes the stitches irritated my eyelid and that’s why it was so swollen for so long. Fine with me! My vision has been much better this time but I don’t know how much of that is because of the lack of swelling or the dilated eye.

I went to Wal-Mart to fill my prescriptions. Dr. Opth had warned me that they’d probably have to order one of them and they do. I got the other one and about had a heart attack when I went to pay. $65! Ouch! I think the one they have to order is the one Dr. Opth said was expensive so I’m not sure what I’ll hear when I pick up that one tomorrow.