The PRP Sessions

If Doctor Michael O’Brien at Koch Eye Associates had used the typical scare tactic "You’ll be blind in six months without PRP treatment," I would have run like hell. O’Brien did not raise those red flags. His calm and friendly argument that other doctors had been OK with not rushing into PRP was that now something had happened and I could not put it off. He also never openly contradicted or doubted that the Cialis had caused the massive vitreous hemorrhage. Whether he believed that or not I do not know. Unlike his associate Dr. God Michel Negrey, O’Brien possessed a congenial bedside manner.
Koch Eye charges for a three month window of PRP sessions. I first went under the laser on 2 November 2009 and again on 9 November, followed by an exam on the 17^th. During the 30 November exam, I reported seeing flashers following the procedure on the 23^rd. O’Brien did not really answer. He employed his interpersonal skills to calm the concerns as normal and nothing to be concerned about.
I did not fully accept this, but felt as though I was committed to seeing the entire planned regimen through to the end. What shape was I in to make decisions? By this time, I was seeing the world through a brownish red have of blood and wanted to get O’Brien’s green light for Negrey to perform the cataract surgery that promised to clear up that problem.
O’Brien put me under the laser again on 7 December. He waited until the 18^th for the next exam. I endured another PRP session on December 21^st. The holidays, presumably, delayed the next exam until 4 January 2010.
I had wanted it all done by that time.
I had lost my life to helplessness. I had told O’Brien that I had wanted to be up and running by Christmas. That deadline came and went, sliding unseen through the ruddy haze.
On the 4 January exam, after five PRP sessions, O’Brien lit the green light for the cataract surgery. That green light looked a sickly brown to me, distant and dim in the fog, but I still reached for the light.
Negrey’s office scheduled he cataract surgery for 25 January, 2010.