This spring, I got to take a class that I did not ask for…..that I did not enroll in. Let’s call it Blindness -.500. Notice the decimal point. It was definitely a lower level course…..but I experienced enough of it to know that I never, never want to take the full course. In fact, I would never want to see (no pun intended) anybody have to take this class. It is no fun…..and there is a chance that one may never get out of the class. Who is the teacher? Well….I am not even going to speculate on that question.

Once in a while, things just happen. And happen unexpectedly. They come from nowhere….and are contrary to everything that has happened in the past. Think about it… that is usually how we form our expectations: from past experiences…..and from the experiences of others. That is how insurance companies set their premiums; that is how gamblers determine odds of winning and losing. Most of the times, the odds work in your favor…..but sometimes they don’t. With me…..this time they didn’t.

But this is not a story of gloom and doom. It is a story of a partially salvaged Spring Break. It is also a story of a loyal, unselfish friendship…..an opportunity to set aside adversity and uncertainty……and to see (Yes….the pun is intended.) the bright side of life. 

This is why I call this blog “I See Said the (almost) Blind Man…..and Other Spring Break Fun.

Yes…..it started out with high hopes. Fayez Alruwaili was coming to spend Spring Break…..at his “home away from home”. I am always glad to see Fayez, because he seems to brighten up my life….and the lives of everyone…..when he is around. 

Friday afternoon I left the front door unlocked, because I knew that I would probably be asleep in my recliner when he arrived. And, of course…..I was. I don’t know how long he had been standing there, but I awoke suddenly….and there he was. I knew he would be there, but yet I am sure I let out a little exclamation of surprise. It is sort of like what happens when you are suddenly and unexpectedly awakened from a deep sleep.

There was some uncertainty about our plans. My great-nephew was stopping at my house on his way to his mother’s….my niece…..house in Hutchinson. Not having been told of when he would arrive, we quickly reviewed the potential sleeping arrangements for the night. I in my recliner; Fayez on the couch; my great-nephew could have the bed in the spare room….Fayez’s room…..and others could sleep in the bunk bed in my bedroom and in sleeping bags on the floor. And, we could always pitch a tent in the front yard. It would all work out.

But, we never had to use this plan of action, because my great-nephew called and said they would be spending the night at his sister’s house in Kansas City…..and would come to our house the next morning on their way to Hutchinson. 

This left us free to mobilize Plan B…..except we really didn’t have a Plan B. However, it didn’t take long to come up with a Plan B. We would go to Topeka to Weller’s Bar and Grill to eat supper and watch K. U. play in the semi-finals of the Big 12 Basketball Tournament. Quite frankly, I didn’t hold very high hopes for K. U……and they didn’t disappoint me. They lost to Iowa State….the result of….probably….lack of desire and motivation. Oh well……they were already assured of a spot in the NCAA tournament…..probably as a Number 3 or 4 seed, I thought…..but never as a Number 2 seed as it ended up. After we had finished our supper….and two or three large beers…..Diet Pepsi for Fayez…..it was getting late. And, we knew that we would not have to watch basketball again for another week. Neither of us really cared who won the Big 12 Tournament after K.U. was so ingloriously knocked out of it.

My great-nephew, Tim Darrah, was scheduled to arrive fairly early……8:30 or 9:00. And, he did.

Tim is the son of my niece, Wanita. I had been in contact with him for several years through Facebook and through e-mail. I had seen pictures of him at my brother’s (his grandfather) house; I had seen pictures of him on Facebook; and I had old baby pictures that my mother (his great-grandmother) had left in her collection of family pictures. But…..I had never met him in person. Oh, it is entirely possible…and very probable… that I saw him when he was a toddler…..but certainly never when he was a “real person”. 

From the Facebook messages and from the e-mail messages that he had written over the years, I already knew that he was a bright….and very literate and articulate….person. And, I was looking forward very much to his arrival.

Around 9:00, there was a knock at the door. There he was. And, he looked pretty much like his pictures…..maybe a little taller than I had envisioned, and maybe his hair was a little longer than some of the pictures that I had seen. And, of course…..the beard. He had been in the military…..and most of the pictures I had seen were taken during that period. But….nevertheless, it was a happy and welcome meeting. I had finally met Tim….or Timmy, as I always heard him referred as.

With him were two of his kids…..Kaeli, probably around 3 years old, and Tristan, a junior in high school. Kaeli was amazingly literate for her age….and smart, too. While initially restless, after I gave her something to eat and drink…..and after Tim got her interested in a cartoon on his smart phone….she became absorbed in it.

Fayez, who was still asleep when they arrived, woke up and joined us…..rather sleepy eyed…..but yet, seemingly awake! 

Tim is developing software for an automatic door opener. Wow! Finally…..maybe another Einstein in our family. Another Bill Gates….maybe. As he demonstrated the software he had developed up that point, I am sure that Fayez had a much better understanding and grasp of what he was saying. My mind simply does not process scientific information very well. Well….I do know what an automatic door opener is. But….how is works? That is better left to people with a more scientific mind than mine.

Tristan, Tim’s son, who had been asleep in the car woke up and came inside the house. That is probably what he and Fayez have in common…..both like to sleep. Nevertheless, after taking some pictures, Tim left to travel on to Hutchinson…..a course Fayez and I would soon be following.

It is a rather strange feeling to meet somebody so close in relationship after such a long period of time. Somebody who was a stranger…..but yet a blood relative. A person who shares the same last name, the same relatives, the same heritage…..but somebody whom I felt I met twenty-six years too late. But, it was also an easy, happy meeting. It was a good way to start off the Spring Break activities.

Shortly after Tim and his family left, we, also, were on the road heading toward Hutchinson. This was the first trip Fayez had made through the Flint Hills and finally onto the pancake flat land of Central Kansas that I call home. 

We arrived in Hutchinson in mid-afternoon….and drove straight to my niece’s house. There again, we met up with Tim…..and also with my great-niece, Trina….who were staying at my niece’s house. For Fayez and me, time was starting to run down….the clock was ticking toward 7:00, when we had tickets to attend “Fiddler on the Roof”. After Fayez took some pictures……pictures with four generations of Darrah’s represented…..we left to find our motel. That task really did not require a PhD in geography…….because, after all, Hutchinson was my “big city” until I was twenty-two years old.

After eating dinner at a Chinese buffet across the Highway 61, we headed to Hutchinson Community College to attend a performance of “Fiddler on the Roof”…..our official reason for being in Hutch in the first place.

Before the performance began, I had cautioned Fayez that this was a student performance…..not a professional performance. It was being presented by the students of Hutch Community College….basically a bunch of kids. And, probably a majority of them were not even music or theater majors. Having sat through a myriad of student plays and student musical programs in my life time as a teacher and counselor, my expectations were already fairly low. No disrespect intended…..but I am quite familiar with the quality of work displayed by students of this age.

Fayez, on the other hand, had much higher expectations. He had attended performances at Wichita State University, which were performed by upper class theater and music majors…..or actors and musicians from the professional world. Believe me….there is a vast difference between watching a 13^th grader and a Broadway cast member. Sort of like comparing a Little League baseball game to the Kansas City Royals.

At any rate, I was pretty well prepared as the curtain went up and the performance started. Yes……for a group of inexperienced kids, they did a creditable job. They knew their lines….they knew the music….they spoke in reasonably audible voice….they didn’t appear to be overly nervous….. Yes….it wasn’t so bad, looking at it from this perspective. 

But, Fayez……

He simply didn’t like it. Actually, I think he was expecting too much. But, at the end of the first act, which seemed to go on interminably, we both agreed that it was time to go. And, it was intermission….a natural, normal time. Most of the people left their seats to go into the lobby to stretch their legs. Some went outside to smoke. We went outside….not to smoke….but to get into our car and leave.

Well….OK. Actually, I really didn’t like the play very well, either. But….the reason I didn’t like it was…..I simply don’t care for Broadway musicals…..even if is one of the most popular, longest-running musicals of all time. And, at least, Fayez was able to keep his eyes open during the first act. That was more than I could do. Set me in a room…..turn the lights down….and I am out like a light. I don’t think I fell asleep this time, though. I merely closed my eyes and listened…..contrary to what Fayez may think.

Having accomplished the main objective of the trip….making sure Fayez had a ticket and a program to take back with him…..we spent the remainder of the evening sitting in the Grand Slam Sports Bar at the Ramada Inn. Every TV in the bar was tuned to the Big 12 Championship game between Iowa State and Baylor. And, in the background was the loudest, most annoying music that can be found in any bar in Hutchinson. Well….I assume that is a true statement….but I have only been in one bar in Hutch….and this is it. The last time I was there, we asked one of the waitresses if she could turn down the music a decibel or two. She apologetically and politely told us that she had no control over the music. I think I have figured out the reason for the excessively loud music…..This must be a bar that caters to deaf people…..or at least, people who are hard of hearing. But….most definitely…..it was far better than sitting through the second act of “Fiddler on the Roof”.

The next day…..Sunday…..we had intended to drive back home and go watch one of my friends in a bicycle race at Lake Perry. I think we already knew on Saturday night that this was not going to happen. When we came out of the sports bar to go to our car, the temperature had already dropped several degrees….and the wind was blowing furiously. Neither of us had brought a warm, winter jacket with us. When we left my house on Saturday, the weather was sunny and beautiful. When we got back to the motel room, I checked the weather forecast for Topeka. Temperatures in the 30’s and chance of snow. Not very conducive to standing outside to watch anything! In fact, we assumed that the race would be canceled….or at least postponed to another day. Wow….racing a bicycle in barely above freezing temperatures….with wind….and snow? To go ahead and race in that kind of weather? That would take some real dedication….or the skin of a polar bear.

So…..Sunday morning we decided to drive directly to Lawrence and eat lunch at the Aladdin Restaurant…..a Lebanese place that serves a buffet for Sunday lunch. If Lebanese food is an acquired taste…..then I have acquired it. The food is exotic, spicy, and highly delicious. It was well worth the drive to Lawrence. A nice walk up and down Massachusetts Avenue would have been welcome…..and beneficial. But, because of the weather, that possibility was immediately ruled out. Instead, we went to a Middle East food store to buy some desert for a cook out we were planning for later in the coming week.

The weekend was a perfect start to what we hoped would be a pleasant, fun-filled week ahead.

Then came Monday.

It was a day like any other day…… Except this was the day I had surgery on my right eye to remove a cataract and to replace the lens. I was prepared for it. Fayez had put three different eye drops….at $125 a bottle… into my eye the required three times on Sunday. Actually, I was sort of looking forward to it. I had gone through it before. The hardest part of the procedure was to lie still for the thirty or forty minutes that it took to complete the process. But, after it was over, I was looking forward to seeing clearly again.

About two months previously, I had the same surgery performed on my left eye. Everything went well. The surgery was virtually painless. For about eight or ten hours following the surgery, my eye felt like it had an eye lash in it….or maybe a tiny grain of sand. Not really “pain”…..but enough of an annoyance to want to rub it or scratch it. That is why I wore a plastic protective covering over it. By sometime that evening, even this feeling had disappeared. My eye was terribly bloodshot….almost bright red….but that was a cosmetic distraction…..not a painful one. I could see out of the eye. Not well, of course….but I could definitely see, even though things were blurry and indistinct. 

Thus…..when Monday morning dawned, bright and sunny, I approached the day with very little nervousness or apprehension. Fayez put the eye drops into my right eye….and we set off for Topeka and the Stormont-Vail Single Day Surgery Unit. This would be the last time I would drive a car for the next week.

The surgery was scheduled for 7:45 A.M. The entire process was estimated to take about three hours. There was no need for Fayez to wait around, so he took off for the North YMCA to work out. The nurse had his cell phone number so she could call him when I was ready to be released.

Things went wrong from the very beginning. The operating table was broken. It needed a new part before they could begin any surgery. The part had been ordered out of Kansas City…..and it was in transit from Kansas City to Topeka. In the meantime, I was sort of in limbo. I was already checked in….and they didn’t want me to leave. On the other hand…..there was nothing they could do….or that I could do….except wait. The nurses and doctors seemed to be agitated. I could hear them talking in the background. I am quite sure they weren’t very concerned about me……but I am sure they were concerned about running behind and possibly having to postpone surgeries that would follow mine. You know……Money, money, money!

The nurses were thoughtful enough to take me into a rather quiet room….away from the hustle and bustle of the main holding area…..where there was a chair that reclined. That, in itself, was a major blessing. Now…I can hardly wait to see how much they billed my insurance for the use of the chair. Anyway, I almost immediately fell asleep…..and that is a great way to make time pass quickly! In the meantime, assorted doctors, nurses and technicians would drop by periodically to ask how I was doing and to assure me that “It won’t be much longer.”

More than two hours late, they finally took me into the surgery room and proceeded with the surgery. Since I had already been through this procedure once before, I had a pretty good idea of what was going to happen. After they had isolated my entire body, except for the right eye, the doctor began with the surgery. Again, he told me that it would be painless….and all I would feel would be some pressure as he made three incisions, extracted the old lens, and inserted the new lens. First of all, somebody applied some eye drops……and some thick jelly-like substance to my eye. These were, I think, the preliminary anesthetic….to deaden the eye so I wouldn’t feel the needle as they injected the final pain killer.

There was a problem, though. I felt the needle as he stuck it into my eye. It wasn’t exactly excruciating…..but, believe me…..it was still pain. I thought, “Oh well….that will kill the pain, and I won’t feel it any longer.” This is where I began to suspect that something had gone wrong. Not only could I feel “pressure”, but I could also feel pain. And…..this is the point where I was pretty sure something had gone wrong! I told the doctor that I could feel pain. “Oh…don’t worry. The pain will go away in a minute or two.” A few minutes later, I told him again…..”I can still feel pain.” Again….”That’s normal. It will stop in just a minute.”

Unfortunately, it didn’t stop. But, again, it wasn’t unbearable pain. So, I didn’t mention it again…..although I was pretty sure that this was not a good sign.

They finished….put the protective plastic cover on my eye….sent me to the recovery room…..and it was over. 

They called Fayez on his cell phone. Fortunately, he was across the street in the parking lot….or somewhere very near. He picked me up at the front door…..and this is where Fayez more or less took over. This is where I am sure I unintentionally started to ruin his Spring Break!

I put on my dark glasses…..my Mafia glasses…..and we went home……straight home. When we arrived home, actually, I didn’t feel so badly. I posed for a couple pictures….of course. And, for the lack of anything else to do, I went inside and sat in my recliner. The eye still hurt….but it was a different kind of “hurt”. After the surgery on my left eye…..like I said…..the eye felt irritated, like there was an eye lash caught in the eye….or a piece of dust….or something similar….in my eye. But, this time, it was real pain. Again, it was nothing I couldn’t handle.

As he did for the next three days, Fayez fixed something to eat. We sat and talked. He put the eye drops into my eye……eye drops that cost $125 for a little bottle less than one inch tall……and there were three of them! I want to buy some stock in that company! And…..then while he was studying, I took my usual eighty-minute nap. That is the length of the music CDs that I “listen” to as I sleep.

When I awoke, there was still some pain. But…..no problem. It will go away soon. We decided to go to Terry’s Bar and Grill in Topeka….probably our favorite bar because it is a neighborhood bar….relatively quiet and very friendly…..and safe. Of course, Fayez drove….. And, of course, I wore my dark Secret Service glasses. We sat and talked until about midnight and then went back home. All in all….not such a bad day. Yes….my eye was still hurting….but surely it would stop hurting soon……just like it did last time. I covered my left eye to see how well I could see out of my right eye. I couldn’t. There was nothing. The only things I could “see” was a solid yellow-tanish color….much like the color of a manila envelop. Oh well….tomorrow morning, things would start getting back to normal again.

Fayez put the three eye drops into my eye….three different kinds at $125.00 a bottle, remember? I taped the protective plastic covering on eye….and went to bed.

Tuesday morning, I woke up, took the protective plastic covering off my eye…..and washed it gently with a wash cloth. The doctor had told me not to take a shower and get the eye wet for five days…..but that I could wash it with a warm, damp cloth.

I proceeded to make a cup of coffee, and went to my office to check my e-mail…..a major chore all by itself. Needless to say, my vision was not very good…..looking out of my left eye only….and with somewhat blurry vision in that eye. I went back to front room, sat down in my recliner…..and thought, “OK. I will do another test on my right eye to see how well I can see this morning.

Nothing. Not even a shadow. Just the same yellowish color. And, my eye was still hurting a little. “Come on now,” I thought. “I was already seeing things last time. What’s the problem now?”

At that point, I was more annoyed than alarmed. Fayez got up…..put more eye drops into my eye. And, I closed my eyes, thinking that I would take a short nap and let my eye rest some more. However, I started to feel nauseated…..sick….very sick! 

Oh wow…..It must have been something I ate last night…..probably a touch of food poisoning. But…..why isn’t Fayez sick? We ate chips and cheese dip out of the same bowl. What did I do? Get the only bad chip in the bowl? And, who ever heard of getting food poisoning from tortilla chips? I felt miserable. I tried to vomit…..but (fortunately for me!) I couldn’t. Fayez started to get worried…..and so did I…..just a little bit. I checked my vision again. There was still not a trace of vision in my right eye.

Upon Fayez’s urging….and it didn’t take much…..I called the doctor’s office and told the nurse what was happening. The doctor wasn’t there at the time, but a few minutes later, he called on his cell phone and told me to come to his office as soon as possible. I didn’t feel like going…..but, again, with Fayez driving, we went down to his office.

He examined my eye and said that a lot of pressure had built up behind my eye…..maybe from swelling, I am not sure……and that there was a small blood clot. That was what was causing me to feel so badly. I had no idea that something like this could happen: That swelling or pressure on an eye could cause such a radical effect on my digestive system. He put some different drops into my eye…..and gave me the bottle to take home….for free this time….Another drop for Fayez to put into my eye. It was sort of like watering flowers.

Unfortunately, I felt like….. Well, I still didn’t feel very well the rest of the afternoon. Again Fayez fixed lunch…..and put some drops into my eye. Again, I zonked out in my recliner. I wasn’t very entertaining company that afternoon. And, Fayez was more or less left to his own devices. I think he drove down to Paradise Point to run. I am really starting to feel like a really great host!

Fayez prepared some delicious Saudi Arabian food for supper. That made me feel somewhat better……raised my spirits a little bit. We stayed at home that night. There was no use in even pretending that I felt like going anywhere.

I decided to test my vision again. Nothing. Zip. Not even a shadow. I began to get a little nervous. Maybe I would be walking around with a patch over my right eye for the rest of my life. More eye drops……back to bed again.

Wednesday. This was the last full day that Fayez would be here. Let me test my vision. Again…..nothing. Just like staring at a manila envelop. My spirits were starting to sink. It was the third day with no sight in my right eye.

Fayez took me back to the doctor again. More magic eye drops. No explanations.

On the way home we took a time out so Fayez could run on the Ferguson Road for four miles. I wanted him to get something beneficial out of his Spring Break! As for me…..I was the one who benefited beyond words from him during Spring Break. But…..that is not what Spring Breaks are for. 

The remainder of the day we…..well, we did nothing. I still did not feel well. I could see only out of one eye…..and even that eye was not clear. We had to cancel a cookout that afternoon….something that was supposed to be a highlight of the week. Man, I hope Fayez is having more fun than I am having! 

Noon…..more of the magic drops. Still no sight in my right eye. And, I paid $125 a bottle for those eye drops!? I am starting to mentally design the patch I will wear over my eye. Maybe….one for around the house; another one to wear in casual outings; maybe another one to wear to church and other dress-up occasions. No…..wait. Maybe I will just wear dark glasses. People won’t be able to see my eye….and they will never know. It will be my “new look”. I have always thought it would be neat to get a flat top and have my hair dyed deep black. But, this might be even better.

In the early evening, we decided to get out of the house and go somewhere. After all, this was the last night of Fayez’s exciting, enjoyable and fun-filled stay at my house.   I was still not feeling at all well….in fact, I was still feeling miserable, but I could be miserable almost anywhere. And, at least one of us should be having a good time…..that should be Fayez. So, why not go somewhere? We decided to spend it at Terry’s Bar and Grill again. 

Upon returning home….somewhere after midnight…..I did the “sight test” again.

Wow…..I could see shadows! I could see the light of the lamps. I could see the shadow of my hand in front of my face. I could even see the flickering light of the TV. If I had not know beforehand what each of these objects was…..they would have remained a mystery. But…..at least, I was starting to see again!

Good old Magic Eye Drops! Maybe the $125 per bottle is starting to pay off.

Fayez had to leave and go back to college on Thursday morning. I hated to see him go….and I was just a little bit apprehensive about staying by myself. However, we had already gone shopping, and I had enough food to last about ten days. I had no doctor appointments until the following Tuesday. And, I felt that IF I had to drive, I could probably do it. The vision in my left eye had gradually improved…..but only to about 80% to 85% of what it was before the surgery. Not good enough. On Tuesday, the doctor looked at it, examined it, put eye drops in it…..and more or less proclaimed it was healed. Of course….it wasn’t his eye.

Probably the most helpful advice came from my cousin. She had been a surgical nurse for an ophthalmologist for more than twenty years. She told me that it was probably the various eye drops that were preventing the vision from improving. As soon as I stopped using eye drops, she thought, the vision would improve quickly. And…..she was right. Send your bill to Medicare! Your advice was worth it.

So…..here I am one month later. I can see again. Not any better than I could before all the surgery…..but, nevertheless, I can see. And, thank Heavens for that. I strongly suspect that I never needed any of the surgery in the first place. If I did, my results turned out much differently than all the other people I talked to who had cataracts removed. Their stories…..one hundred percent of them….were glowing testimonials of how wonderful the surgery had been…..how much better they could see in the aftermath of the surgery. For me, it simply didn’t turn out that way. My eyesight is back to where I started the entire process. Certainly no better than that…..and I think I can honestly say….no worse.

What did I learn from all this misery…..and for over a week, it was misery? I learned very few medical lessons. Maybe to always get a second opinion before plunging into such a serious procedure. I also learned that just because something goes smoothly the first time….it doesn’t necessarily mean it will go smoothly the second time. And, I learned that I am glad that I have only two eyes.

However, I think the memory I will probably have of both of the surgeries is that I have a friend who cheerfully….and without complaint…..sacrificed his Spring Break to help me…..to act as driver, cook, doctor, friend…..and made life infinitely easier at a time when I needed it.

Looking back….I was probably never in danger of losing eyesight in my right eye. I am sure the doctor had dealt with situations like this before. But, that was a little bit difficult to understand while going 3 long days with not a hint of vision. We made the best of a bad situation….and it ended happily ever after. And there were other things to be thankful for, too…..During the last surgery, we had a lot of snow. Fayez “entertained” me by treating me to a snowball fight. Now it was March. No snow like the last time. No more snowball fights. No more being pushed to the ground and being bombarded mercilessly with snow, as I lay helplessly in a foot of snow…..by a Saudia Arabian desert dweller, of all people. Yes…..it ended happily ever after.

Yeah…..I can see, said the (almost) blind man…..and what a fun Spring Break it was!

And my next step is to buy stock in the company that manufactures and sells those eye drops.