Getting Hit With the Different Stick

I once worked with a student who had a whole stack of unusual health issues.  I'd list them, but they are so unique that I should keep my mouth shut about them for the sake of confidentiality.

I used to say that he got hit with "the different stick"- a play on the expression to get "hit with the ugly stick".   It wasn't meant in a negative way...  I was just amazed at the chances of being that different in that many ways.  I've often felt that way, myself.

A former coworker once visited my garden, and I pointed out a raspberry sport that I had found with gold foliage.  "How did you even see that?" he asked.  He said that he would have assumed it was sick and pulled it out.  He then went on to observe our respective attitudes toward students with cognitive differences.  He said that he was more like to look at what was "wrong" with a student- whereas I was more likely to think, "what a wonderful mutation!"

I think he was on to something.

I was hit with the different stick a few times, myself.  This summer, I've been dealing with a mutation that I have.  I figured Id talk about that this time :)

This is a picture of my fouth great grandmother.  Notice her left eye.  The condition is known as ptosis.  It has a few different causes.  I don't know if hers is the same as mine or not.  I have another female ancestor on the other side of my family who had the same issue.  I don't recall if it was in the other eye or not :)

I have ptosis in both eyelids.  Mine was caused by the my eyelid muscles failing to develop when I was a baby.

When I was a kid, I was able to raise my eyelids by raising my eyelids.  You can't get them very far open that way, so I always had very droopy eyelids.  When I was 14, I had surgery to correct it.  The doctor used silicone slings to tie my eyelids up to my eyebrow muscles.  I can raise my lids by raising my eyebrows.  It still doesn't look all that natural, but I have a much larger field of vision.

Over the past few years, the sling in my left eye failed.  I couldn't open that eye very far, and my peripheral vision was getting pretty restricted.  I finally mentioned it to the doctor, and I was scheduled for surgery to repair it.

The procedure was performed while I was conscious, but sedated.  I can't say it was pleasant :)

The doctor made an incision across my eyelid, and then stitched the silicone band to the tarsis (the firmer, inside tissue of the eyelid).  Then, he used HUGE needles to thread the silicone under the skin to the small incisions above my eyebrow.  The doctor actually complained about how dull the needles were several times.  At one point, they had to increase the tranquilizer they were giving me, because it started to hurt a lot.

It healed up fairly quickly, and it looks better than the other eyelid does.  I almost want the right one to fail so I can have him redo it :)