image source: dappermane.com
The Immigrant Diaries series is curation of real life stories of real immigrants sharing their unique experiences as they navigate their Canadian immigrant journey. Names have been changed to maintain anonymity of some of the storytellers.
I arrived in Canada with my wife in December of 2017. We’ll be three years by December 2020. My experience here has been really good to be honest. Of course there have been some struggles – settling in, getting a job, house, having and raising a baby here which is very different from Nigeria where there’s a lot of support but to the glory of God, I can say that in three years, we have been able to settle in fully.
I have been using glasses for the last 10 years because I am shortsighted. I’ve however never had any issues with my eyes. While in Nigeria, I used to go for regular eye checkups, checked my eye pressure and it had always been within the acceptable range. These were done at reputable eye clinics. Coming to Canada, I had not had the time to do a proper eye checkup. I had been busy job hunting, settling in, moving houses and starting a family. I also later started studying for my MBA and juggling that with work and other commitments, so my plate was quite full. I noticed I started feeling a bit tired and was sleeping less. I told my wife I needed to go for a proper eye checkup as I had not had any since I arrived in Canada. She agreed with the idea. I wasn’t experiencing any eye pain but I noticed sometimes I felt really tired and my eyes began closing but I attributed it to being tired from studying a lot. I also noticed on a few occasions, I would see a slight shadow at the corner of my eye. I also attributed these to lack of sufficient sleep.
I eventually went to an eye clinic for the checkup. They asked if I had done previous checkups prior. I told them I had but not in Canada. The optometrist identified that behind my left eyes, the lower part of my retina was detaching. He was a bit worried that this had not been spotted in my previous checkups. The optometrist said he would like to get a second opinion. He said he was going to schedule me for an appointment Downtown Toronto at St. Michael’s hospital. I thought the appointment was going to be in a couple of days or so. I was working from home that day, so after seeing the optometrist, I went back home. Not long after I got home, I got a call asking me to go to St. Michael’s hospital Downtown for my appointment. I was surprised they scheduled me immediately. They explained that they were worried and needed me to have it checked out by the surgeon as soon as possible. I called my wife to inform her of the new development. She was also Downtown Toronto at the time. I went Downtown and after several checks, they confirmed that the lower part of my retina was actually detaching. The diagnosis is called a Retina detachment. Why I didn’t notice anything was because it was the lower part of my retina and the centre of gravity was holding everything downwards; so even though it was detaching, it was also closing up. The surgeon told me that this could lead to blindness in my left eye. I was so scared, confused, anxious and going through several emotions at the same time. The surgeon said they had to treat this as an emergency as I could go completely blind in my left eye if the retina detaches completely. They wanted to admit me immediately and schedule a surgery the next day. I explained to them I had to go home to inform my family about the situation and also digest everything that was happening. They insisted on proceeding as soon as possible. I spent hours pleading with them. By 9pm, they finally allowed me to go home and I promised them I was going to be back by 11pm to check-in and have the surgery the next day.
On my way home, I reached out to my manager to explain what was going on and he told me to take all the time I needed to get better. I went home, took a shower but I was still nervous. My wife tried to calm me down and I felt better. We prayed after which I kissed my wife and son and started heading back to the hospital. It was such an emotional moment. A lot was going through my head. I was still so young and still wanted to see the world with both eyes. I took an Uber back to the hospital and checked myself in preparation for my surgery scheduled for the next day. On the day of the surgery, my wife took the day off the next day and came to join me at the hospital. Before she could step out of the elevator, I was already being wheeled away on a stretcher to the theatre. I tried delaying a bit to see my wife before the surgery but we were on a schedule. I asked the doctor the worst case scenario, he said even if I lost one eye, I could still drive with the other eye and he wasn’t joking. I became nervous again as I tried to see my wife possibly for the last time with my two eyes. One of the nurses noticed I was nervous and began cracking jokes we both laughed at to calm me down. She suggested I walk into the theatre with her if it will make me feel better which I did. The theatre looked really nice, well equipped and organised. There were nurses, doctors and surgeons who were all attending to me and running different tests – my pulse, heart rate and other tests prior to my surgery. They then injected a substance under my left eye that froze the eye and blacked it out. The surgery was painless. I could feel the pressure but no pain. The surgery went on for an hour. I got exhausted and asked if it was okay to sleep off for a bit. I slept for a little while and by the time I woke up, the surgery was being wrapped up. They told me it was successful. My left eye was held tight with a plastic covering taped down tightly. They rolled me to a recovery area. The recovery area was a massive space with other people coming out of different surgeries. There was a nurse assigned to me who checked on me every minute to ensure I was fine, constantly checked my temperature and ensured I had all I wanted. There were nurses assigned to each patient in the recovery room. It was busy and fully functional. Lying there, I really appreciated the process, organisation and structure of the facility. I was at the recovery area for another 40 minutes after which I was rolled back into my room. My wife was there and we were both excited to see each other. I and my wife spent one more night at the hospital. I felt some pain during the night. The pain was mostly from my eyes being taped very tight. I was taking pain killers at different times of the night.
In the morning, I went down to the eight floor to see the surgeon. He asked how I was feeling after which he removed all the tapes and plastic covering over my left eye. He asked me to open my eye. I was so nervous and scared. I began to wonder what would happen if I opened my eye and couldn’t see. I went through emotions I had never experienced in my life. I then remembered all the reassurance that I’ll be fine from my wife and friends which helped me calm down. I was also comforted by the fact that the surgeon who operated on me was not just an eye surgeon but a retina specialist. I eventually opened my eyes and was super grateful when I could see sunlight coming through the eye. I hadn’t even opened it wide enough to make out figures, but the joy I experienced from seeing the sun rays filter through my eyes was overwhelming. I opened my eyes fully and I was able to see. The surgeon checked my eyes and asked me to read some letters which I was able to. I was so happy!
I was given several eye drops I was to use at different hours of the day. I was also given an eye covering to help cover my eye before going to bed to protect it from infections and contact. I was discharged and I went back home with my wife. I had to stay home to fully recover. I was away from work for six weeks. I was on the recovery path and with the help of my wife, my medication and support from family and friends, I gradually recovered. I went for a one month, eight week and six month checkup. I am fully recovered, back to work and able to drive again.
In all, I am really grateful for the Canadian medical system and the urgency in which my surgery was treated. The best part is that I did not spend a dime on any of the treatments or surgery. I am also grateful all this happened at the beginning of March just before Covid-19 got serious. My wife and I had heard about some people in Nigeria who had retina detachment as well but went blind suddenly before it was diagnosed despite spending millions of Naira. There are some things even money can’t buy in the wrong environment. This experience I had was just another reminder that my decision to move to Canada was one of the best ones I have ever made for me and my family.
