Over the decades I have had the privilege to treat patients, there have been several encounters that stand out. Some have been accidental, others more deliberate.
Many years ago I was called to the ER of a hospital in New York City. I was the chief of the ophthalmology section.
A patient had slipped on the ice while opening a car door. Unfortunately, as he lunged forward the edge of the door, and essentially “gauged” his left eye, causing severe damage and loss of vision.
As I approached the patient, it was apparent that this was a severe injury that was going to leave him without vision in that eye.
He looked at me and said, “Is it serious Doc?”
I had to tell him the truth. It was a difficult moment.
I treated a patient that had tugged on a shirt in his closet. The hangar spun around and the hook engaged with his eye. I think of that episode every time I (gently) pull something off a hangar.
Several moths later, a resident called me to discuss a patient with extreme swelling of her eyelids in one eye. He couldn’t open her eye. I rushed in, saw the patient, and I was unable to open her eye. She had a terrible headache, felt a “pop” and soon her eyelids were swollen and fixed.
The CT scan showed the eye itself was intact. She had an infection of her frontal sinus, which eroded the bone, causing a cellulitis in the lids. After treatment with IV antibiotics she eventually overcame the infection with no permanent damage.
There were some injuries that occurred during “sporting” events. A fishing hook embedded in an eye ( I removed it in the OR), two patients attempting to hit their golf ball out of the woods had the ball ricochet back at them and severely damage an eye. A mountain biker had a branch hit him in the eye, which caused severe damage to the optic nerve.
And there were the non-accidental injuries.
A gentleman had lye tossed in his eyes. I flushed the eyes, but he eventually needed corneal transplants.
A woman having a night out was shot by a jealous boyfriend. The bullet went through one eye, ricocheted off the nasal bone and damaged the other eye. An incredible tragedy.
There were two separate incidents in which an innocent pedestrian was hit by gunfire, which damaged an eye.
I primarily performed LASIK and Cataracts surgery, but these episodes from long ago still pop up in my memory.
Each patient is sacred.
Although these episodes occurred many years ago, they had a profound impact on my journey.
Dr. Richard Fichman lives in Hartford County.