The Fort Worth “appointment” turned out to be an all-day thing. A fascinating process. Got into the office at 8:45 a.m. Paperwork done by 9. At 9:05 the ocularist (Donnie Franklin) sits down with Nancy and me and explains the process.  

Digest version: He took an impression of the eye socket. When it was “set,” he made a wax model of the prosthesis. I had to wear the wax model for a while. Somewhere in the middle of all this he started doing the eye color / measurement thing, getting the color and such from the good eye.

Once the wax model had  shaped itself to the orb and socket, he did a couple of positioning things.

We got about 90 minutes for lunch.

He had two other patients throughout the morning. While the wax model was curing, he sent me into the waiting room and saw someone else. So we shuffled in and out.

The afternoon, I think I was the only one left.

At 1 p.m. he inserted the “rough” of the prosthesis and warned me that if I looked in a mirror, I should not be too frightened. I did, and I thought the thing was pretty cool, really. But he devoted himself later to doing a lot of finishing touches. I never noticed before, but I have a ring of blue around my iris. So does the prosthesis.

Donnie created “blood vessels” using cross-stitch thread that he shredded. By about 2:15 or so, he had that part done. He gave me about four pages of reading material, dismissed me, and told me to come back at 4:15 with all the reading material mastered.

He and his office staff now know what journalism professors do. I handed back their copy, marked up for corrections.

Sometime shortly after 5 p.m., he dismissed us with a maintenance kit and an acrylic prosthesis that looks remarkably like the other eye. 

Nancy and I were both tired, but we had agreed to meet our son Ben and his fiance and her parents for dinner in Grapevine. So we braved traffic, got to the Grapevine Mills Mall on time, had dinner, and drove back to the hotel in Fort Worth and crashed. And slept late.

Friday morning we celebrated. We decided after breakfast that I did not need to return to the ocularist for “adjustments” (attitude notwithstanding).

The socket and the prosthesis still have some “adjusting” to do, but we are on the right track.

And oh, I did all the driving!!!

The pathology report confirmed that the tumor was malignant melanoma and that it had reached the outer layer of the eye. However, it had not broken through the outer layer. Dr. Gombos voiced a few concerns in his “limited concern, hedge-your-bet” voice, but said he is not recommending radiation for me.

Those words, of course colored all subsequent perceptions, and I’m not too sure what all else he said.

Except that there is still some edema, and some other healing to do in the eye socket. Things look “good” (not perfect), and he wants to see me in three months. I think he was talking about six month intervals after that for a couple years, assuming everything goes well.

Dr. Gombos said we can cut back the ointment in the eye to once a day (hooray) and that my Lubbock ophthalmologist will have to be alerted to a couple of tissue issues and other concerns. He gave a qualified go-ahead to start the ocularist associations.

We are working on some short term follow-up stuff now and will be free to go home this weekend. I have some local testing and diagnoses to follow-up on Friday, and blood to give and a CT scan in Lubbock later this month.

We don’t have a complete sign-off on this phase yet, but the scariest part is over.

Prayers of thanksgiving in order.