Al Grogan

[Duane in Bakersfield]

A lot of you 'old timers' know Al, and the ordeal he's been having fighting glaucoma. I knew he had had another surgery and hadn't heard of the results, so I dropped him a note to see how he was doing. Following is his reply.

Hi Duane,

Gosh I am so sorry that I have not gotten back to you before this. Been a lot on the old plate recently.

In a nutshell, the surgery went fine from what the doctor had to say right after it.
The next morning I went down to have the dressings removed and the pressure checked and to see if I could see out of it.
Good news: The pressure went from 24 before the surgery to 8-9 the next morning (BTW 11-14 is considered normal. The lower drop is expected for a few days. And yes....I could see out of it, not well, but I had vision.
This last Wednesday I went back in for the recheck and the pressure was 13...PERFECT. I see him again on the 24th of this month for another recheck so we will see what I have then. I assume that I will have to have this checked weekly for the next 6 weeks or so.

I have started having a problem though. I noticed a bit of double vision out of the eye. I think this is caused by the surgeon having to rotate the eye so far forward and downward towards my nose to attach the shunt he used and then again this last time doing the same movements to insert the drain tube. I mentioned this to him and he said he would keep track on it. I may have another not-planned problem here. I don't know yet. He said if it was severe, then another surgery might be required to correct that. If it remains small, then a new pair of glasses can help with some of it.
The surgery was a snap, but starting the next day when the joy juice wore off, the recovery has been anything but. Very, very painful. Eye all bloodshot and I am black and blue all around the eye. Looks like I got sucker punched and forgot to duck. I am also using several very strong eye drops in it as well as the left eye, but those are different and I have been using them before. You do have some side affects from them, but I can live with that. I am just so thankful that I do have "some" sight out of it and didn't loose it because of the surgery (a real possibility).

I thank God and all of my friends especially the both of you and Gary and Mikey, John Lord and so many others for all of their prayers. I could feel them going into surgery and they were a tremendous comfort. I will admit it, I was scared big time.

Again, please allow me to apologize for not getting back to you before this. I'm just a dumb Irishman who needs a good old fashioned slap up the side once in a while to keep me going in the right direction.

If you would like to condense this and post something on the Board I wouldn't mind.
I do find it very difficult to stay on this computer for more than a few minutes at a time and still have trouble seeing the keys, so there are bound to be some typos. Please forgive me and my using the larger type style.

May God Bless you and Peggy. You are both in my prayers each and every day ever since I first met you some 4 years ago at WS. And one more thing...I am going to hold you to that ride to WS with John Lord liked we talked about some 2 1/2 years ago when all of these surgeries first started (8 of them since then and hopefully no more),. That would be a real ride of honor for me. I have been dreaming of that day, and so help me, I will make it. Maybe I could even get to see some of the old gang and hit Rick up for at least one box of donuts. LOL

I also would like to make your ride that you are working so hard on in the coming months, but it is too early for me to know just yet. I have some healing to do first. Yes, I do check the board almost daily, but too hard right now to enter in the fray.

My love and most sincere thanks to everyone and to both of you for slapping me awake again. Sorry ole buddy.

Love Ya,
Al
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2003 Hot Rod Yellow GL1800

[Son of Thunder]

Thanks for posting this to the board, Duane. I've been meaning to get to Al for an update. In the mean time, will keep praying!
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John

[Jim B.]

Thanks for the update, Duane. Sorry you are still dealing with the glaucoma, Al. I hope things get sorted out soon.
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2005 GL1800A Metallic Blue
2009 Harley Davidson Road Glide
NRA Endowment Member
It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers, we band of Wing riders