Bleeding Perseverance - Episode 27

Autobiography Fridays

CHAPTER 11

In A Mountainous Town With One Eye

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Being the wannabe Indian she was, Mom started talking about wanting to live in a more natural environment. Star, one of Fred’s inmate Indian friends who had recently been released from prison, was living up north in the small mountainous town of Greenville with his wife and three step kids.

After a few letters Mom decided Greenville was now where she wanted to live. With her split-decision ways we were packed and ready to move by the first of July. Payday.

A small part of me felt a little relief, as I would no longer be so close to Lupe, yet so torturously far. The rest of me felt sorrow that I would no longer be near her. What if Robert left her for good and I wasn’t there for the rebound?

I couldn’t bring myself to go see her in person to say goodbye. I would have fell apart. So I wrote another letter. The last one. Angie had told me Lupe was now pregnant by Robert. In the letter I told her it was just a matter of time before he’d leave her, and when she was ready I’d be there for her and her baby.

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The old station wagon we had was done for, so Mom got another used car for the move. A Dodge Dart. As the old saying goes, ‘You Get What You Pay For’, so as long as she kept going for the cheapest deals the car troubles would continue.

We had a few cats that were coming along as well, starting with Punani, who we had got when we first moved into the complex in Sacramento. It was a name from Hawaii which meant a certain part of the female anatomy. She had babies, so we kept a few of them as well, including my new little kitten, Two Bits.

During one of our stops on the way up to Greenville we had the car doors open to get some fresh air for everyone, including the cats. Punani ran out and took off. After a few minutes of looking we had no choice but to leave her and continue with the trip.

Star lived in a house that was up on a high slope. We were introduced to his wife Loraine and his three step kids, John, Joe and Sara.

We were housed in the basement. Star said we could stay there for as long as we wanted to, but that’s because he didn’t really know Mom. The very next day Two Bits was missing. Everyone claimed to know nothing, and Star said it had probably become a snack for some wild animal.

Also that morning, it seemed I had a little haze in my left eye. At first I thought it was just the morning fog, but once the day cleared up the haze was still there. After some Visine and exploring the small town of Greenville I went to bed that night thinking everything would be fine the next morning.

Once the morning fog disappeared not only was the haze still in my eye, but it was actually a little worse. With the next few days, every day seemed to bring an increase in distorted vision. We went to the local doctor at an Indian clinic, but he couldn’t figure out the problem and suggested we go back down to Sacramento for me to be checked there.

Star and Loraine said they had no problem watching the three kids while Mom and I went down to Sacramento for a couple of days. And so we were off to see what was going on with my left eye. Up to that point, the only eye problem I ever had was a minor surgery on the right one for Amblyopia, also known as lazy eye. It was before I could remember, and the problem was corrected.

One of the main freeways going in and out of Sacramento passes the Rosemead exit, as in the Rosemead by our old apartment. Given the fact that Lupe lived not too far from there, my heartbeat began to speed up when we passed that exit. Maybe I’d ask Mom to stop by on the way back.

After a lot of poking and prodding, including using this device that looked like an eagle claw in order to bulge my eye out, the doctors came to one conclusion. They didn’t know what was going on.

I thought it rather suspicious that this problem occurred simultaneously with the move to Greenville, but they believed the two were not related. They said it might be a virus left over from when I had chicken pox, even though it had been five years since. Whatever the case was, I could hardly see anything with my left eye anymore. They recommended I get to Jules Stein Eye Clinic in L.A. as soon as possible, for there were specialists down there.

Once the Jules Stein Clinic learned of my case they wanted to see me at once. Arrangements were made with Angel Flights, a group that helps the ill get to where they need to go, and next thing we knew Mom and I were on a private plane to L.A.

It was like 10:30 at night by the time we got to Jules Stein. The specialists were there waiting for us, and before long a group of them had gathered to examine me. After doing such, as well as learning of my medical history, they discovered the problem. A virus called Acute Retinal Necrosis.

The only source of information we had as to how I contracted the virus was Mom, so this is what happened, according to her…

As a premature newborn I was especially susceptible to viruses and such. One of the nurses caring for me had Herpes Zoster, also known as Shingles, which she hid to keep her job. Basically, they’re these little outbreaks of lesions that were like rashes with bumps. Supposedly by handling me the nurse passed on the virus. Once she was found out she was no longer around. Mom said she thinks that when the hospital discovered it they just got rid of the nurse and kept everything hush-hush. Who knows.

As a child the outbreaks would come and go. They’d either show up on my chest or my ankles and were very itchy. After about a week they’d be gone. Nobody ever caught the virus from me, including my siblings who were always in close quarters of me. So although the nurse passed it on to me, I couldn’t pass it on to others. After about the age of ten the outbreaks never returned.

According to the specialists the virus never goes away. It can be dormant for many years, then suddenly out of nowhere awaken. Stress can be a contributing factor, but I think such was not the case with my situation, otherwise it probably would have happened when Lupe left me.

For some reason when the virus awakens it often attacks the eye’s retina. Although it had only been like a week since my eye started acting up, it was already too late to save it. I only had one of two options.