2 July -- surprise laser surgery

This post I'm going to explain what happened the day I left and why I've stayed in Vincenne all this time.

As said, I'd been preparing for this trip for a few months (if not many years in my mind). At the same time, I've been working with my new GP and trying to follow her advice. A few months ago, I tested positive for "pre diabetes," probably because I'm too plump, so to speak. Part of working with that is to see various specialists, like a nutritionist and, of relevance here, an eye doctor.

The week before I left, I finally made an appointment with Dr. Jacquelin Smith of Eye Doctors in Scotia Square (a very good optometrist by the way). If you're diabetic, your vision can change, become blurry. Mine was becoming blurry in the late afternoon, noticeable while working on my computer. (note: it seems to be fixed now, hmm). So, she tested my eyes and we came up with new glasses specifically for me to use while working on the computer (am I using them now? no.) She also found that I seemed to be getting a detached retina -- on the bottom , so it might take a while to become totally detached, better than if it were at the top where gravity could take its toll. So, she referred me to a specialist.

Two days later I saw my GP and told her (Dr. AJ -- from India, hence the initials). She said seeing the opthamologist sooner than later was good -- i.e., before I went to Paris, was good. Call and get the name and call and get an appointment is good. So I called on the Monday before I was due to leave on the Wednesday. Tuesday was Canada Day. Got a call on Wednesday morning at 9 am that I had an appointment at noon. Hadn't finished packing.

Went to see Dr. Dickenson. He said, yes, the (may be more detail than you want to know) jelly in my right eye was layered like a kleenex and there was a hole in my retina, so leaking could hapen. He could operate now if I liked. Did mention that it would cost $10,000 in the U.S. Didn't know how much in France and my medical insurance wouldn't count because it was now a pre-existing condition. So now was good. Not what I expected when I woke up though.

So, at about 1:10, I went into the laser surgery room. Dr. Dickenson spent about 10-15 minutes lasering (or as he described it, spot welding) my retina back on. Gad. When he was done I saw a nice green haze in my visual space. When I walked out of the room to leave and catch the bus home, it was a nice pink haze. Didn't really hurt. Just felt a little pressure and warmth at one point.

4:30, the taxi came to pick me up for the $50 trip to the airport (no share-a-cab, though that's who I called, but not early enough to get the cheap rate).

7:30 pm on the plane. 8:30 we left. Jumbo plane with nine seats across. Had a great seat mate, Deborah, who I sort of recognized, though she looked like she was in some pain and trying to sleep. But, when she woke up, found out she was a fellow writer and we'd met at the Writer's Federation of Nova Scotia (WFNS) Christmas party and that she had read some of my last blog on going out west!

We had a great time talking. After a while, over the mid-Atlantic, she moved to a better seat, so she could lie down (the middle section of seats was pretty empty) and I tried to get some sleep with no success, though I did get to chat with Rene, a 13-year-old flying with her parents and two sisters to France for vacation. Very worldly wise, but fun to talk with.

I got into Orly at 6:45 am Paris time (5 hours later), then, because it's what I arranged, had to find my way to Vincenne by bus and Metro with my very heavy suitcase, backpack, and purse. Oiy. It was very difficult. I don't know enough French to really communicate and hear back what is communicated very well, plus having to figure out where I was going. The bus went to Montparnasse, which somehow I thought was somewhere else (like the Sinai), but took the bus driver's word for it. I was to get to Chatelet. Well, I won't bore you with the details. Basically after asking all and sundry, I finally figured out that I wanted a Metro pass and waited in line so I could talk to a human being (not a machine), then went through what felt like all the tunnels in Paris, up and down lots of stairs and escalators to get to Line 1. It took me three hours to get to Vincenne where I called my new roommate to be -- who, for some reason I thought had a car, but didn't, who nonetheless, met me on a bicycle to escort me back to where I'm staying--a walk of about a km.

To sum up, I was truly exhausted, more than I'm used to. Kept falling asleep and having my vision tunnel. Then I needed to find my way to a grocery store -- or let's say a vegetable store, a patisserie, and a "super market." Then I needed to find a store that sold an adapter for my computer ("Monsieur Bricolage" if you want to know). Now I've been to "Mono prix" or Monop for short about four times -- it's about two km one way -- maybe only 1.5, but only if you don't lose your way. Agg. Figured out I also needed a "parapluie," aka rain umbrella, not an "umbrell," which is a parapluie for le soleil, i.e., a parasol.

So, that should bring us somewhat up to date. I can now move along.