How is this for a broken record? “Man it’s been a while since I posted last. So much has happened since”.
May was a month. I was involved in a family trip to Mexico, and I was involved in a serious accident that’s left me disfigured. Not often that I can bookend a month with such highs and lows.
My brother got married May 12th, a day after his birthday. My family and I stood on the beach next to him as he got married in Nuevo Vallarta. We spent the rest of the week poolside with the 40 friends we’d made, catching rays and drinking in the sun. It was relaxation like I’ve never known. I took full advantage of our all inclusive resort, making my constant rounds to the bar and the buffet.
I ate and drank so much, I probably gained 6-8 pounds - a phenomenal achievement for me.
The trip home from mexico was my cue. Time to get back at it, back to work and back to focusing on the goals I have this spring. I came home still planning to move to Victoria on July 1st.
May long weekend I had a few different plans. My soccer team was going to Saltspring Island for a tournament and a weekend of camping and drinking. My other plan was another camping trip to Sproat lake with a ton of my closest friends. I also could have stayed home to work. I decided on Sproat.
There were like 20 of us at a great camping spot on the lake, and by Saturday we were in full high school reunion mode, and full on binge drinking mode. To give you an idea of the size of our campsite in the woods by the lake, from one end of the site you couldn’t see the tents on the far side. Courtlan had carted in rocks for a firepit, and made an elaborate outhouse. We had generators, stereos, and almost everything that deviates from ‘roughing it’.
I honestly don’t have much camping gear. I remember packing, thinking ‘I need something to entertain myself’. In hindsight I should have expected a campsite of such proportions, with enough games/people to keep me entertained for a week. Anyway, I threw in a few golf clubs with my gear, thinking that maybe I’d hit a few rocks into the lake. How unbelievable that Courtlan also brought a massive bucket of golf balls. I was stoked.
So Saturday. We’re hitting some golf balls, playing bocce, drinking, and having a blast. Some people were being bums by the campfire, and some people went into town to the liquor store. A few of us inflated a massive inflatable toy, and 4 of us went floating on. We weren’t in the line of fire for the golf ball hitting, and a few people kept hitting balls. We were close enough though, 40-50 feet from shore maybe, but off to the side. A nasty slice off a golf club, and we might be at risk.
And that’s exactly what happened. We were floating on the lake with our drinks, doing absolutely nothing. Saul was hitting a few balls, and the next thing I knew, something hit me in the eye. I figured it out right away what happened, because the impact was huge. It had to be a golf ball. I hit the bottom of our inflatable toy, and there was blood everywhere. It’s panic stations. I’m kind of freaking out inside, but I think I reacted pretty well on the outside. Everyone sees me in trouble and there’s no doubt I need to get to a hospital asap. We get to shore, Courtlan puts a bandage on my eye, and we get to the road. At this point I hadn’t tried opening my eye. My hand flew to my face on impact, and it didn’t leave my face until we were at the hospital.
Jer and Saul took me to the hospital in Port Alberni. There were a few other people that came along as well I think. I remember not passing out, and wanting to. The pain was pretty sickening and was deeper than anything else I’ve felt. I imagine if i’d ever broken a bone, the pain might be similar.
The hospital couldn’t do anything, and the only specialist on call was hours away in Cowichan. The only thing I really remember about the Port Alberni hospital was the doctor that shined a light into my eye and asked what I saw. I opened my eye for the first time, and I couldn’t see anything. Now at this point I’m getting worried. I’ve had friends sustain eye injuries, and I know that sometimes you can lose vision and get it back in hours/days. I was really hoping that was the case.
The ambulance ride to cowichan was terrible, and I vomited a bunch on the way. Saul and Jer came along in the ambulance. By this time, Saul had called Jen and my parents, and they were going to meet us in Cowichan.
The specialist in Cowichan met us around 9pm I think. He took a look, and again I saw no light. He told my family (privately?) that it was one of the worst eye injuries he’d ever seen. I caught that part, and immediately started feeling pretty bad about the situation. The doctor told me I would go into surgery the next morning. The surgery would be an ‘exploration’ and if need be, a ‘enucleation’. He straight up told me that my chances of saving my eye were very small. I was really hoping that the impact had broken my nose or orbital, and that my eye was bruised or something. Turns out the impact ruptured my eye, and I can only imagine what the doctor saw that night when he removed my bandage.
That night in Cow hospital was the longest of my life, regardless of the amount of demerol I received. I went into surgery the next day, and my eye was removed after they couldn’t repair any of it. i stayed another day in the hospital, and went home to my parent’s house to stay while I recover.
Since I’ve been home it’s been a tiring week learning to use only one eye. Processing everything with only one eye, after using two for almost 26 years, is extremely tiring. The first day I had to actually physically open my right eye to see. Now I can see through my right eye all day, but it’s still tiring. The pain from my left eye is almost gone, but the strain of using one eye is giving me wicked headaches.
Now I have to wait for a month or so, then get fitted with a prosthetic eye. With some surviving muscle in my left eye, I’ll be able to get some movement in my prosthetic eye. It won’t be like the movies where I can switch out my eye for cool looking eyes. It’ll be one prosthetic, and it won’t be coming out.
Today I head back to Cowichan to meet the specialist and talk about my coming weeks. I am able to drive and work again soon, but I don’t feel great doing either. Since I got home after my May 22nd accident, I haven’t been doing much. Not eating, or even watching much tv. It’s strange. I think I lost 6-8 pounds last week.
So that’s about it. I’m not moving to victoria until I am more organized, and can work to earn some money. My friends have been really supportive, especially Jen, Saul, and Blake. My three best friends have made sure that I’ve got anything I need. I really think the worst part of my injury is going to be coping with the first month. Once I get my new eye, I think things will be a lot easier than they are right now.
I’d say the biggest change in my vision is that everything is brighter. I have massive blind spots now, and I have to turn my head much more to see things, but the world is goddamn bright on my right eye.
Thanks for reading.
'I feel summer creepin' in, and I'm tired of this town again'
