Birthday and Other Updates

So yesterday, March 3, 2010, I turned 29. [yes, n was = 28, and now n = 29].

The birthday was fun, including a ton of wishes, online (on Facebook, Orkut, Twitter, Buzz, etc), on the phone, and in person. I got a gift from E, which was pretty and useful [reminded me of the cute-and-useless bunny from the Vidushaks in 2008 :)], and Leesa is going to bake a cake this Saturday :).

After work, a bunch of us work buddies went for drinks in Paris, with @jasminf and @lafauxvaisienne joining us. This was followed by some yummy take-home lebanese food and desserts. Good times overall :).

Previously, on March 1st, we celebrated Holi at work. Here are some pics [embedded below for your convenience]:



And tomorrow morning, I am going for my 3rd and final eye injection [those who do not know why I am getting these injections, please click here]. Will tweet about it as it happens.

That's it for now. Back to paper writing!

Santa and the Eye

[Update: Doc appt postponed to 30th. Flying into Chennai on 27th, coming back on 1/1/10]

First of all, Happy Santa Day to you! May the bearded rep from Coca Cola grant you all your gift-related wishes :).

Moving on to the second topic - My eye. [those who don't know about my eye issues, please click the link]

On Monday, December 21, Dr. Lingam Gopal of the Sankara Nethralaya examined my eye. After looking at my fresh angiography, he said there there is more trouble in my eye than there was on Nov 3, when my last angio was done in Paris!

Apparently, there are new blood vessels forming behind my retina, or technically:

The fundus fluoresciene angiography was reviewed and showed very clearly a choroidal neovascular membrane beyond the existing chrioretinal scar.

Basically, if they don't stop this, my vision could further deteriorate.

The good news: treating this will only take three injections of Avastin, once a month.

The bad news: the injections need to be given directly in the eye!

So, yeah, on the 27th of Dec (this Sunday), Dad and I will go from Patna to Chennai so I can get a shot on the 28th. The other two will be given by my doc in France, who is in agreement with Dr. Gopal's diagnosis and proposed treatment.

Other than that, life is good. Had a good time at HiPC in Kochi, and then in Chennai. Currently enjoying with mom and dad at Patna. Let's see what eye-related gift Santa brings for me. Maybe this?

:)

My Eye: Latest Update

[Those who are not aware about the context of this post, please check here for an older post with more detail]

Am writing this from the train to Versailles, my eyes still dilated.

Met Dr. Cassoux this morning. She is a retinal surgeon specializing in my ailment, and came highly recommended by my ophthalmologist, Dr. Zeghidi. (Huge thanks to @k_sam for accompanying me.)

After looking at my retina, she said, like the previous retinal surgeon, that my loss of vision is due to the scar itself, and in her opinion, it will not be wise to perform surgery, given how little it will possibly achieve for the many risks in the operation.

So yeah. I'm f*&ked.

But wait, there's more. Apparently there is a high chance (50%) of this infection's relapse, and she recommended I take an antibiotic (Bactrim) once every three days for the next two years to bring that risk down to 20%. 

Well, I guess that is a good motivation for me to eat right, exercise, and meditate to keep my immune system strong.

-A
--sent from my Google HTC Magic--