Head To Toe

andeverythinginbetween

Storiesofsuccessandtriumph

HowI’vemanaged

COPYRIGHT 2020
MICHAELDARDENELLE

HEAD TO TOE In The Beginning - Prologue

I seem to remember as a child maybe 4, 5, 6 years
old that I had various childhood diseases. I had measles,
mumps, and chickenpox. I'm sure I had the occasional
cold or the occasional flu that kept me home from school.
I remember whenever I stayed home from school when I
was sick, I would always watch episodes of "I Love
Lucy" and eat my tomato soup with crackers. I used to
put so many crackers into the soup that it turned into a
mush. I'm sure to others it was rather nauseating to watch
me eat that, but to me, that was my "sick soup" and that's
what I wanted to make myself feel better. And it usually
did. Oddly enough I still do that today. And I'm sure
there were times my mother thought I was faking an
illness, and maybe sometimes I was. Tell me a kid who
didn't.

I went through the standard childhood diseases:
Measles chicken pox, stuff like that, so there is no point
in dwelling on those. What I want to write about are
some of the stupid injuries I have sustained that were

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HEAD TO TOE In The Beginning - Prologue

needless, but they in fact happened. My first real injury
that I can remember was when I was about 7 or so. We
lived at the Vose Street house, and during the summer,
my brother and I were left alone - gee, maybe I was older
than 7 but it hardly matters. Anyway, it was one of
those summer days we always got her in the valley, and
the natural thing to do was to go barefoot. I also enjoyed
going to the local market that was a few blocks away.
This is one of those markets that as you walk in, a quick
turn around and you've seen the entire place. It was on
the order of a 7-11 but as I recall, it was real old and has
since been torn down because of the airport.

Well, this one summer day, I decided to walk down to
the store, The Odessa Market, (so called because it was
on the corner of Van Owen and Odessa). In order to get
to the store, I had to walk down Odessa Avenue, which
was a street lined with willow trees that were so thick, no
sunlight penetrated through the leaves and branches.
There were no sidewalks on the street; only slight

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HEAD TO TOE In The Beginning - Prologue

embankments from the street leading up to the lawns of
the houses. The street was always filled with leaves and
bits and pieces of branches. Not that it was a dirty street,
but because of the trees, it was just never clean.

As I'm walking down the street -- barefoot - I stepped
on a piece of wood that pierced the arch of my left foot.
If ever there was a first recollection of pain beyond pain,
it was then. I can close my eyes and hurt all over again.
I went home, or should I say hobbled home, as best I
could, and called Mom at work. She wasn't too far
away, so it didn't take too terribly long for her to show
up. She got her trusty tweezers, scissors, and other
implements of destruction, and started to play doctor, as
most mothers would have done. All she could pull out
were bits and pieces of tiny slivers. She and I both knew
there was something else in there, but she couldn't reach
it, so she called our next door neighbor, Helen Mindlen
(God, I really remembered her last name!) who was a
nurse. Well, she dug and prodded and got nowhere. She

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HEAD TO TOE In The Beginning - Prologue

told Mom she had better get me over to the emergency
hospital.

The hospital was the Valley Doctor's Hospital in Van
Nuys which was only a couple minutes drive from our
home. I remember sitting in the waiting room for a few
minutes while the paperwork was being completed and as
they called my name, I limped to the table where I was
helped up and "prepped" for the ordeal. The doctor
came in and he, too, started prodding and digging, never
minding about the pain, which was unbearably
excruciating. I was not about to take this lying down.
When I say I was screaming, you'd best believe I was
screaming. If you thought I screamed a lot as you two
were growing up, that was nothing. I looked over to my
left in the middle of all this only to see a picture of a
nurse, obviously a model posing as a nurse because she
was quite pretty (not that nurses aren't but this one was
NOT a nurse!!) She had her finger to her mouth and
underneath this picture was the caption. "Shhh". Get

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HEAD TO TOE In The Beginning - Prologue

real!
The doctor pulled out this piece of wood that was

approximately an inch long, laid it on a piece of gauze
for all to see, and proceeded to give me a tetanus shot to
ward off any infection, and send us on our way. I don't
mind saying that if It happened again, I would probably
react the same way. God, that hurt!

A few years later, I spent the week during the
summer at a cousin's house in Hawthorne. Bobby
Hartstein and I didn't know each other well; he and his
sister Karen had come to live in Hawthorne after having
been involved in an accident that killed their mother and
father. Their mother, Sally, was Grandma Irene's sister,
which made Bobby and Karen my second cousins, Bobby
and I were about the same age-maybe 6 months apart, so
it was nice to have someone my own age to play with -
even though it was so far away.

One of the things we liked to do the best was go to
Alondra Park where they were having a carnival. Now,

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HEAD TO TOE In The Beginning - Prologue

this sounds like it's building up to something real
dramatic, but it isn't. All that happened was, as we
bought some balloons - those real skinny long kind that
clowns make animals and puppets from - I tried and tried
to get that stupid balloon blown up and for the life of
me I couldn't. The harder I tried, the more frustrated I
became. I could feel the strain on my cheeks and jaws,
when suddenly, all the air I had within me was going into
the balloon. Having completed my task, I had this
balloon that was 2" in diameter and about 4' long. But
man, did my face hurt. And after an hour or so, it hurt
even more. I could barely swallow. We went home, and
that evening I still hurt. How could this be? All I did
was blow up a balloon. Well, what had happened was that
the strain from the balloon caused my glands in my
cheeks to become inflamed, and I came down with the
mumps! See, I told you it wasn't much. I really don't
think the balloons caused the mumps -. I would imagine
that I was coming down with them, which was why it

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HEAD TO TOE In The Beginning - Prologue

hurt so much to blow up the balloons in the first place.
Lets see: Another injury. Oh. here's a stupid one

and one that won't take long to tell. I was riding my bike
(we had since moved to Woodland Hills, so I was about
11 or so) and as I rode through a puddle of water (again,
barefoot), my foot slipped off the pedal and into the
spoke and WHAM! Broken big toe. There's not much
they can do for broken toes - they don't cast them, so it
was a bit painful until it healed, which took several
weeks.

During the summer of 1956, my mother noticed
some changes going on with me. I was only nine years
old and I was losing weight and getting up in the middle
of the night to go to the bathroom three and four times.
Personally I think she simply dismissed this for several
months and really didn't give it much thought. I was a
little boy who was very active and I drank a lot of water.
Naturally I would go to the bathroom that many times
every night.

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HEAD TO TOE In The Beginning - Prologue

When I started to lose weight, she took me to the
doctor to find out what the problem was. His name was
Dr. Oscar Entin and he had been our family doctor for
many years. He knew exactly what the problem was but
did not want to say anything to my mother until he ran
some tests. Of course my mother knew nothing.

He ran me through a series of blood tests and one
test in particular was called a glucose tolerance test. Of
course only being nine years old I had absolutely no idea
what was going on. I knew that I was being stuck with a
needle in my arm and I knew that it hurt. I was nine years
old. Of course it hurt.

Diabetes. A death sentence. God. Fucking.
Damnit.

I can't even begin to think what my mother must've
felt when the doctors told her that her nine-year-old son
was a victim of this dreaded horrible disease that would
last for the rest of my life. Back then, treatment for
diabetes was in its infancy. Insulin had been discovered

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HEAD TO TOE In The Beginning - Prologue

in 1921, only 30 years prior. At-home blood testing was
not even discovered yet. It was practically a death
sentence.

The doctor recommended hospitalization
immediately to regulate my diet and to regulate my
insulin. I knew from nothing about going to a hospital. I
have never been in one and barely knew what it was. "A
hospital? What is it?"

It's a big building with patients, but that's not
important right now.

I was released and came home on a Friday night. I
was taken to Uncle Bob's and Aunt Esther's house so they
could see me. Uncle Bob had just been released from
another hospital where he had undergone an emergency
appendectomy. It was a secure feeling to be home again.
My next problem was to learn to live with my disease
and adjust to its requirements.

The next few weeks proved critical. I had
experienced severe insulin shocks, as my body was

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HEAD TO TOE In The Beginning - Prologue

adjusting itself to the disease and its treatment. An
insulin shock can be induced by several things; overdose
of medication, overexertion, or not enough food. The
body needs a certain amount of carbohydrates and a
certain amount of insulin to burn up these carbohydrates.
If the body cannot produce enough of its own insulin,
additional must be supplied by means of an injection. If
the body has too little carbohydrates, it starves the
insulin, and a reaction and shock is the result. The
symptoms of this include hunger, sweating, incoherence,
and finally unconsciousness.

'The only method of revival for insulin shock is some
form of sugar, whether by means of candy, orange juice,
or some other food containing pure sugar. The outbreak
of an Insulin reaction is considered a medical
phenomena. Yet even more phenomenal is the way the
body reacts to the sugar treatment during a reaction.
Within 15-20 minutes. the body and mind are completely
restored to normal.

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HEAD TO TOE In The Beginning - Prologue

In my younger years as a diabetic, the insulin and the
medications and daily urine testing became annoying and
inconvenient. I had not taken the disease seriously and
had not realized that I should face reality and stop
playing games with my health. There had been times that
I had cheated on myself by substituting water for urine
specimens. Naturally, the tests were constantly negative.
I had therefore lowered my Insulin doses to meet these
false urine test readings. My dosage had gone from 80
units daily to 3 units. When my mother checked the
REAL urine, however, it took only one test to reveal my
three week secret. I would constantly eat candy and
other sugar foods, not realizing that it would show up in
any test I went through. Still my body had not felt the
effects of this constant cheating. Yet, I would always feel
left out, and sorry for myself at Easter time and
Halloween when all the other children would be eating
their treats and I could not.

The many years passed. Dr. Entin had passed away,

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HEAD TO TOE In The Beginning - Prologue

and I had gone through many small injuries such as
broken legs, toes, nose, etc. Dr. Stein, who was Dr.
Entin's associate had taken over my case and was
becoming familiar with my particular situation. The
school years came and went. Jobs also were numerous,
and in November of 1966, 1 started a job that I had hoped
would become a career. I was employed as a credit and
new accounts supervisor for a major department store in
Los Angeles. By this time, my entire body was so far
out of control, it was only a matter of time to tell when a
serious problem would arise. I had experienced
reactions and insulin shocks almost every day. I would
take insulin in the morning, and then not eat anything for
4-5 hours afterwards. As I mentioned before, once the
insulin is administered, it is imperative that it have food
to burn off. By not eating, I was not feeding the insulin I
had injected.

Then one day in June, 1968, it happened. I had not
felt well for a couple days, and as I drove into work with

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HEAD TO TOE In The Beginning - Prologue

a friend, I became ill halfway to work. I had him drive
the remainder of the way, and when we got to work, I had
told Phil that I was going to lie down for a couple hours.
Two hours later at 10:30 I felt worse. Anything that I ate
or drank would not stay down longer than 3-4 minutes. I
went to the nurses office and laid down for another 2 1/2
hours. By this time, I had to call Phil and have him take
me to the doctor's office. I progressed so far into my
illness. still not diagnosed, that I fell unconscious the
entire 45 minute trip back out to Granada Hills. When
we arrived at the doctor's office, Phil had to carry me in.
The doctor took a blood test and found it to be extremely
high in sugar. By now. I had lapsed into diabetic coma. I
am told that had I gone untreated, I would have been
dead within 36 hours. I was rushed to the hospital where
insulin and medications were given intravenously for a
24 hour period. I was maintained on a strict sugar free
diet of 1000 calories the first day, 1500 on the second and
third days, and 2500 for the following five days. Once

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HEAD TO TOE In The Beginning - Prologue

again, as before, I was in the hospital a total of eight
days. Again, Thursday to Friday. The only difference
was the wheelchair races.

I returned to work 6 weeks later, for a 3 week period,
and quit my job. and took a two week camping trip to
New Mexico, where I had experienced more reactions,
but knew how to properly treat them. When I returned
from the vacation, I started a new job at a major credit
card firm in Beverly Hills. Two weeks after I started, I
had an insulin shock in my sleep. When I was awakened,
and tried to get out of bed, I fell and hit my head on the
bed frame. I bit my tongue seriously, and wound up with
a concussion. Back to the hospital again, the second time
in 8 weeks. I was treated for skull injuries, given x-rays
and a brain wave. When they found everything negative.
I was released in 3 days.

Since that time, my insulin has been lowered and I
have experienced little in the way of reactions. I am
given a blood test on the average of once a week that

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HEAD TO TOE In The Beginning - Prologue

proves to be extremely beneficial
I do not especially enjoy being a diabetic. I do not

enjoy the needle once a day. But every day I thank God
I am alive to be writing this. And I count the blessings I
have for having a home and a family that loves me. And
that in itself is enough to be grateful for."

And eight years later. in 1975, another story.
"Having been a diabetic for almost 20 years, I've had
my share of problems that diabetes can cause. The most
common problem that I've had would be a hypoglycemic
or low blood sugar reaction. But, on occasion I've had
the opposite, which is hyperglycemia, where my blood
sugar rises so high that massive doses of insulin are
required to bring it back down to normal.
"This happened to me on May 13, 1975, and it nearly
cost me my life. Had it not been for the prompt action
from my doctor of over 20 years, I surely would have
died within minutes. On May 13, I became ill at home
and didn't go to work. I was sick all day, and slowly

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HEAD TO TOE In The Beginning - Prologue

becoming dehydrated. I called the doctor on Thursday,
May 15, and explained that for 3 days I had been ill,
thinking I had come down with the flu, and when I knew
I wasn't getting any better, I had a feeling that it wasn't
the flu, but something far more serious. I knew at this
point that I needed immediate medical attention. I
explained to him, since I hadn't seen him in a year and a
half, that I had been under the care of another doctor who
was closer to my home at that time, and that this doctor
prescribed some oral anti-diabetic therapy. I had never
been considered a likely candidate for pills, as I had been
taking insulin all my diabetic life. But since this doctor
said that I might be a GOOD candidate for the pills, I
went ahead and took them under his supervision. This
blood sugar lowering pill was to aid my pancreas into
secreting insulin into the bloodstream to maintain the
sugar level. It also causes an acid-type (keto-acidosis)
substance within the body and slowly over the 6 weeks
that I had been taking the pills, it was producing enough

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HEAD TO TOE In The Beginning - Prologue

acid in my body to prevent any healing process of any
infection that I developed. I told the doctor that I hoped
he would admit me to the hospital, because I could feel
myself becoming gravely ill.

"Admit me he did, and Georgia took me there at 5:30
that afternoon, and I was taken to my room on the 3rd
floor. I didn't see the doctor that afternoon, though he
did order routine tests to be taken, and marazine
injections for nausea. I had no dinner that day, nor had I
eaten for 3 days prior. That night, all I wanted to do was
sleep, but I couldn't because I was so ill. and getting
sicker. I had an extremely restless night. Georgia came
in to see me, though I don't remember her being there.
My family came, too, though I don't remember them
either. I do remember, though, waking up 5 times during
the night for injections.

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HEAD TO TOE In The Beginning - Prologue

To be very honest, I think I took my diabetes for
granted. I was only in the fourth grade and so many years
ahead of me. I can remember episodes of low blood sugar
while I was going to school and I was learning how to
take care of myself with those. But still, I took it for
granted. I don't really remember any serious
complications as I was growing up, but again we are
talking over 60 years since this all happened. Now at 70
years old, I can barely remember what I had for breakfast
today, much less problems that I had when I was nine.

As I grew, and eventually went to work, I can
remember times where my blood sugar was so low that I
had to be taken to the hospital. I can remember working
at night and coming back to my cousins house to sleep. I
remember that I had a low blood sugar reaction in the
middle of the night and when my cousin, Rosemary, tried
to wake me, I would not wake up. This scared her. She
would bring me a glass of orange juice to try to revive
me, and I guess she did because I'm still here.

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HEAD TO TOE In The Beginning - Prologue

In the 70s, I went to work for 3M Company, and
while there, I saw a golden opportunity to get off the
insulin shots and start oral therapy. I saw a doctor in
Norwalk, I believe, named Dr. Zane. He was an
endocrinologist who gave me hope that oral therapy
would change my life. I felt this was too good to be true,
so without checking with my family doctor, I became a
patient of Dr. Zane.

He weaned me off insulin injections gradually,
over a period of weeks, replacing the insulin with oral
medication, and the more he took me off insulin, the
sicker I became. I called him one day complaining that
the only carbohydrates I could tolerate was one piece of
bread a day. He told me, “Suffer. It’s good for the soul.”

One Thursday when I was so sick I could not raise
my head off the pillow; my wife took me to the hospital,
thinking I was suffering from a severe case of the flu. As
it was, I was suffering from the effects of DKA…diabetic
ketoacidosis…a life threatening complication of

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HEAD TO TOE In The Beginning - Prologue

extremely elevated blood sugars. My blood chemistry
was so out of range that it’s a miracle I survived.

A call to the doctor with me asking to be admitted
to the hospital.

And the consulting physician's report that followed.
Re: Michael Dardenelle May 16, 1975
Attending Physician: Norton Stein, M. D.
Consulting Physician: Howard Rosenfeld, M. D.

A 26 year old man was hospitalized as an emergency
in the early morning hours in the intensive Care Unit of
Memorial Hospital, Panorama City with a three day
history of nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea with a known
brittle Diabetes Mellitus, insulin dependent, (20 units
Lente and 10 units Regular, daily). Patient stated that he
had been taking his insulin. On admission, he was noted
to be markedly tachypneic, and hyperpneic, and his
morning laboratory work shows a severe acidosis with
Ph 7.0, bicarbonate 2, potassium greater than 5, and the
patient has appeared gravely ill. He was started on push

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HEAD TO TOE In The Beginning - Prologue

doses of Sodium Bicarbonate and given 20 units of
regular insulin in addition to his usual insulin dosage.
Blood gasses are adequate.

Patient has known Diabetes Mellitus since childhood.
He has not had known target organ complication i.e.
retinal or renal disease. Past history and family history
are not available at this time. There are no known
significant features.

PHYSICAL EXAMINATION:

General: Reveals an acutely ill male who has 41
kussmaul respiration, with a respiratory rate of 44 per
minute, blood pressure is 105/70, pulse 150 and regular
with sinus tachycardia on scope.
Significant findings: No purpura or other skin changes.
Lungs: clear
Heart: A regular, rapid rhythm with a short systolic
murmur along the left sternal border, no gallop or

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HEAD TO TOE In The Beginning - Prologue

pericardial rub arc audible.
Abdomen: Soft with no evidence of gastric dilatations.
Bowel sounds are hyperactive.
Back: No UVA, or spine tenderness
Extremities: Known edematous with some muscle
wasting. General appearance is one of dehydration.
Neurological: Not tested.
Impression: Diabetic ketoacidosis
Recommendations: 1. I would increase the rate of IV
fluids with rapid infusion of bicarbonate followed by
Saline with bicarbonate. I have taken the liberty of
giving more regular insulin intravenously, and 2.
Electrolytes of sugar and acetone have been ordered
frequently throughout the day, and I will help adjust
insulin dose-age accordingly. 3. I have alerted the
nurses to watch for a break in Serum Potassium on the
cardioscope as acidosis is corrected and subsequently to
watch for possible hypoglycemia when insulin takes hold.
Good urine output is evident and should help facilitate

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HEAD TO TOE In The Beginning - Prologue

correction of his problem. There is some concern over the
marked tachycardia, and we hope that there is no
myocarditis or other cardiac disease present.

I appreciate the opportunity to share in the
management of this acutely ill patient, and will follow
with you.

Sincerely,
Howard L. Rosenfeld, M. D."

Nowadays, I am really obsessed with this disease
and caring for myself the way I'm supposed to take care
of myself. It seems to be working. I have a lot of people
in my life who depend on me.

I'm not ready to go yet.
So. Enough about me and my problems.
Let's talk about me and my problems. . .
Head to Toe: And everything in between.

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HEAD TO TOE Eyes, Ears, Nose and Throat

 

 

 

First of all, there is nothing wrong with my hair,

except for the fact that it is pure white and there is not

very much of it. I do not know how long these chapters

will be, but I cannot devote a chapter on my hair. And the

reason I mention my hair is because this whole work is

called “Head to Toe” and it has to start somewhere.

But starting at the top: I have been experiencing

dizzy spells lately; well, actually, for a couple years. I

first started to notice them around 2016 or so, when I was

sitting at the computer, home alone, and with no

provocation whatsoever, got so dizzy that I couldn’t even

walk into my bedroom without some sort of support. I

used the office chair to lean on and wheeled myself to my

bedroom and flopped down on the bed.

I really didn’t give the episode much thought and I

don’t remember it happening anytime soon afterwards.

But as the years progressed, they became more frequent:

Maybe once every few months or so but when it came to

 
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HEAD TO TOE Eyes, Ears, Nose and Throat

 

 

 

be around 2018, I started noticing them again, after a

brief absence.

Now they are coming every few days, maybe a

couple times a week and we still don’t know why so I’m

being examined by several doctors. Chances are I won’t

be able to post a diagnosis while this journal is being

worked on.

But that’s what's going on with the head.

 
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HEAD TO TOE Eyes, Ears, Nose and Throat
 
 
 

OW! MY EYES!
(Inside joke)

I have always been concerned about the health of
my eyes because I know there can be serious diabetic
complications with eyes. As I was growing up, I really
never gave my eyes much concern although I knew they
could present problems in later years. I remember when I
was 16 years old I got my first pair of glasses. I
remember at that time I was a new driver but I had to
drive downtown to the May Company where I got my
glasses. Little did I know that three years later I would be
working for the May Company. I remember how strange
it felt for me to have to wear something on my head to be
able to see better. Certainly everyone was staring at the
geek who had to wear glasses. Black framed glasses.
Nerd. Geek. Dork. But I could see.

As the years went on, I really did not like the way I
looked in glasses. When I was 20 years old, I decided to

 
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HEAD TO TOE Eyes, Ears, Nose and Throat

 

 

 

get contact lenses. At that time there were only hard

lenses. Soft contact lenses had not been invented yet. As

much as I did not like the glasses, I did not like the

contact lenses even more. They hurt my eyes and were a

pain in the ass to put in and take out.

I guess I took my glasses for granted because I

never really had any problems with my eyes. All through

my years of being a diabetic, I knew that complications

from the disease could affect my eyes. I guess throughout

the years I have been very lucky that nothing has ever

happened to my eyes that would cause any major

concern. I would have prescriptions changed for my

glasses over the years, but that is very common as you

age.

Again,  taking life’s challenges for granted, I really 

didn’t  give  much  thought  to  my  eyes,  but  in  the  early 

1980’s,  during  a  routine  eye  examination,  an 

ophthalmologist  noticed  some  hemorrhaging  behind  the 

 
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HEAD TO TOE Eyes, Ears, Nose and Throat

 

 

 

eyes, and became kind of suspicious of them. He ordered 

a  test  that  included  injecting  some  dye  in  my  arm,  then 

taking  pictures  of  my  eyes.  The  dye  made  the  blood 

vessels  very  predominate,  so  they  would  photograph. 

The  pictures  revealed  acute  hemorrhages,  especially  in 

the  left  eye,  and  the  doctor  indicated  that  it  should  be 

surgically  corrected.  The  thought  of  eye  surgery 

devastated me, even though it was on an out-patient basis 

with  laser  applications.  The  laser  treatments  were  to 

coagulate the blood vessels and stop the bleeding.  I was 

scheduled  for  surgery  a  few  weeks  later,  so I had plenty 

of  time  to  do  what  Jewish  people  do  best:  Worry.  I  was 

working at the phone company at this time, so the routine 

of  getting  up, leaving for work, putting in a “hard day at 

the  office”,  coming  home,  dealing  with  home 

issues…etc…you get the drill…the two weeks seemed to 

go by pretty quickly. 

I didn't know what to expect with this surgery, so I 

 
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HEAD TO TOE Eyes, Ears, Nose and Throat

 

 

 

was  very  nervous  as  the  doctor  explained,  as  best  he 

could,  what  would  happen.  He  was  an  Indian  (from 

India)  doctor.  And  his  bedside  manner  left  a  lot  to  be 

desired.  He  was  very  much to the point as he explained 

that  if  I  let  the  surgery  go,  I  would  more  than  likely  go 

blind.  This  was  a  bit  much  to  take,  so  I  came  home, 

knowing that in a couple days, I would undergo the laser 

surgery.  I  called  my  wife,  explained the procedure and 

the  findings,  and  cried  and  cried  and  cried.  The  very 

thought of this whole thing was more than I could handle. 

She  came  home  from  work  and  we  talked  about  this 

mess,  and  decided  that  I  really  had  no  choice:  The 

surgery  was  indicated,  and  I  bit  the  bullet,  and  went 

through  it.  I  recall  the  procedure  well.  To  begin  with, 

prior  to  laser  application,  he  wanted  to  inject  me  with  a 

local  anesthetic.  The  injection  was  to  be  in  the  cheek 

area, right below the eye.  I refused.  It was bad enough 

that I was about to undergo this procedure to begin with, 

 
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but  I  was  not  about  to  subject  myself  to  a  needle  in  my 

face. He put some drops in my eye to dilate the pupil, and 

when that was done, he put some topical anesthetic drops 

in  the eye to deaden the nerves.  Next, he inserted a lens 

that  helped  magnify  the  area  so  he  could  aim  the  laser 

light  directly  at  the  hemorrhage.  This  lens  forced  my 

eyelid  open  and  would  not  let  it  close,  even  if  I  tried. 

During  this  entire  procedure,  I  was  petrified.  As  he 

began the treatment, the laser shot through my eye to the 

bleeding vessels, and 600 spots of light later, which took 

a matter of 15 minutes or so, he took the lens off my eye 

and  let  me  relax.  Although I was told to bring someone 

to  drive  me  home,  I  didn't,  because  I  didn't  want  to  put 

anyone out.  So I drove home, only being able to see out 

of  my  right  eye.  I  really  didn't  give  it  much  thought, 

because  Kaiser  Hospital  was  less  than  10  minutes  from 

home. But it was the most excruciating 10 minutes I have 

ever  spent.  The  slightest  bit  of  light  that  leaked  into  my 

 
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eye  was  pain,  pain,  pain.  The  anticipation  of  it  was  far 

worse  than  the  procedure…as  is  typical  for  most  things 

someone has to go through. 

The  procedure  is  called  PRP:  Pan-retinal 

photocoagulation.  Its  purpose is to stop blood leakage in 

the  eyes  and  destroy  abnormal  tissue  growth.  The 

abnormality  is  another  diabetic  complication:  diabetic 

retinopathy.  

The  PRP  was  done  in  1983.  Had  I  not  had  the 

procedure, chances are I’d have lost my sight completely. 

So while it was disturbing that I had to go through it, I’m 

grateful  that  here we are 34 years later and a recent visit 

to  my  ophthalmologist  indicates  no  hemorrhage  even 

after  all  this  time.  She  said  that  the  PRP  was  done 

beautifully  and  there  is  no  indication  at  this  time  that  I 

need more. 

What  the  surgeon  failed  to  tell  me  was  the  side 

effects  of  the  surgery  itself.  Over  the  next  few  days,  as 

 
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my  eye  was  healing  from  the  surgery,  I found that I had 

lost  half  my  vision.  I  went  back  to  him  the  following 

Monday,  3  days  later, and complained that I had to wear 

one contact lens plus my glasses in order to see.  He said 

that as the eye heals, that is normal.  Of course, he didn't 

bother  to  tell  me  this  before  the  surgery,  so  over  the 

weekend,  I  suffered  needlessly.  Within  2-3  weeks,  my 

vision  was  back  to  normal,  and  it  was  now  time  for 

surgery on the other eye.  Knowing what to expect, I was 

less  apprehensive  than  the  first  time,  although  still  a  bit 

nervous.  I  was  prepped  as  before,  and  given  another 

600-650  spots  of  light  in  the  right  eye.  This  time,  I 

experienced  headaches,  eye  aches,  and  when I looked at 

any  red  light  (LED lights on the clock, red signals, etc.), 

it  was  as  though  there  were  no  lights  at  all.  Having 

worked  in  photography  for  a  while,  I knew that in order 

to filter out a color, you must put a filter of the same color 

over the lens.  Well, I was sure that because I couldn't see 

 
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red  lights that I was looking through blood.  This didn’t 

happen with my left eye, so I was convinced that my eye 

was bleeding internally, and I panicked.  Again, I spent a 

weekend  in  terror,  waiting  for  Monday  to  come  around, 

so  I  could  go  back  to  the  doctor  and  give  him  hell  for 

putting me through this nightmare.  He examined my eye, 

and  told  me  that  there  was  no  blood,  it  was  merely  a 

reaction  to  the  surgery, and he kept a close watch on the 

situation  for  a  couple  weeks.  Again,  my  vision  had 

deteriorated, but slowly was restored. 

I see the ophthalmologist once a year, and in the 4 

1/2  years  since  the  surgery,  there  are  no  new 

hemorrhages, and the eyes have healed nicely. 

I  will  continue  to  monitor  my  condition,  and  give 

thanks  more  than  you  can  imagine  that  for  now,  all  is 

okay. May it always be. 
Fast forward: After a routine ophthalmological

exam in 2009, the doctor informed me that I have

 
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cataracts in both of my eyes. Cataract surgery is very

routine and as one doctor said, “it's a shame to call it

surgery because it is so mundane.” It took about 10

minutes to perform and I was home within the hour. It

amazes me how well I could see after a few days of

healing.

After a couple months, in August, it was time for

the right eye. It too went without complications but after

a few days, I still could not see clearly. We waited

another couple weeks for the eye to heal, and when I told

the doctor I still could not see, he said that we "have a

problem." Actually, in his words, “Oh shit.” This is

something in my estimation, the doctor should never tell

a patient. I asked him what was wrong, and he said that I

had the wrong size lens in my eye. It seems I was 3

diopters off in the power of the lens and he said it needed

to be replaced. He said this is an urgent matter so the lens

doesn’t “freeze” to my eye, making replacement difficult,

 
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if not impossible, to do. Another surgery was scheduled

for three days later, and on September 11, I was back in

for another surgery. You would think that three cataract

surgeries on two eyes would be a bit much. When that

replacement lens surgery took place, I very clearly

remember being on the table for nearly 2 hours. I was

under conscious sedation so while I didn’t feel anything

and was a tad groggy, I remember the entire procedure. I

remember asking him for more anesthetic because I felt it

wearing off. I also remember asking him what is taking

so long. He had the unmitigated gall to tell me that his

assistant had to go next door to the hospital to get an

instrument he did not readily have. WHAT?? You’re

operating on me and you don’t have the right

equipment??

Finally, surgery was over, I was sent to recovery,

and Katie came to bring me home.

 
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I rested for the balance of the day, but at 11 o'clock

that night I awoke to excruciating pain. I was by myself,

alone in the house, because both Mom and Art were

away on a trip for that weekend. I don't think I have ever

had so much pain in my entire life. I did not know what

to do or who to call. I took a couple of aspirin to help

ease the pain but nothing worked.

The next morning, Saturday, I called Carlos at 7

o'clock and he rushed over to take me to an emergency

ophthalmologist. As it turns out, the pain was caused by

elevated eye pressure, which was caused by the doctor

leaving something in my eye during surgery. As it turns

out, what he left in my eye was a gel called Viscoat that

is used during surgery to keep the eye hard and round.

After the surgery, the gel is to be removed from the eye.

Looking back, I attribute the oversight to the length of

the routine procedure. I feel he may have been distracted

and failed to remove the gel.

 
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At 3 o'clock that afternoon, Carlos took me back to

the surgeon’s office who, at that point, had no idea there

were complications. I had been vomiting all day long so

when Carlos took me to the eye doctor, I was completely

dehydrated. The vomiting was violent and because I was

dehydrated, diabetic ketoacidosis had set in. The doctor

did not recognize these signs of dehydration and DKA so

he sent me home. He told me, “I thought I removed that

gunk.” Gunk. A new medical term I learned.

I continued the vomiting all through the night and

into Sunday morning. By 4 o'clock on Sunday afternoon,

I was so ill that paramedics were called to take me to the

hospital emergency room.

I was admitted to the hospital on Sunday afternoon

and released the following Wednesday. That Tuesday, I

called the doctor’s office from my hospital room, spoke

to him, only to be told, “I didn’t realize you were

diabetic.” Kind of surprising when my charts were filled

 
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with notes about my health condition and history. My

diabetes is something I never hide from anyone. Ever.

It was not until the first week of December that I

started feeling decent again, and luckily my eyesight

came back to normal. Now it was time to consider legal

issues because I honestly felt there was medical

negligence.

I began a lawsuit against the doctor because none

of this would have happened had the doctor not

implanted the wrong lens in August. I feel very lucky that

I was not permanently blinded by this. During my

hospital stay, I had to ask Carlos several times if my eye

was open because I could not see.

I continued to see other ophthalmologists for

second, third and fourth opinions as to what happened

and what could be done to help me. All the doctors

agreed that this was professional negligence and never

should have happened.

 
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I began a lawsuit against the surgeon in February,

2010, and after discussing with the attorney, we both

decided that a medical malpractice lawsuit was in order.

Months and months and months of testimony,

depositions, and statements by the doctor and me went

by. He maintained that he "did nothing wrong". In one of

his statements, he actually accused me of not “following

his orders” for post-op care.

Always the patient’s fault, right? I don’t think I

recall asking him to insert the wrong size lens.

The way this all came about with my finding out

about the wrong size lens, was my examination of my

chart.

The chart clearly indicated previous operating

room notes that said, “removed the Viscoat gel, made a

one stitch watertight suture; patient was sent to recovery

in satisfactory condition.” That was the right eye.

 
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The original surgery for the left indicated the same.

The notes also indicated that he had requested one size

lens to be placed, but the label from the lens dispenser

indicated another size, 3 diopters difference. (Hence the

“oh shit” comment). Typically the label from the lens

container is put on the operating report as evidence of the

size of lens used in the procedure. It clearly asked for a

15, but inserted an 18. The attorney and I concluded this

as professional negligence and but for that fact, a 2nd

surgery would not have been necessary. The attorney told

me, “if it’s not written down, it didn’t happen” so even if

a doctor SAYS he did it, if it wasn’t dictated and

memorialized, it didn’t happen. The third procedure

simply said “closed with one suture water tight” and

mentioned nothing about the removal of the Viscoat, as

the first two procedures did… and like the attorney said,

“if it’s not written down, it didn’t happen.”

 
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The lawsuit came to an end in September, 2012.

Certainly, I prevailed as I thought I would, but not for the

amount of money that I feel the claim was worth. It really

was not the money, it was the idea that when someone

makes a mistake, they must pay for it...or at least have

the balls to admit you made a mistake. Is that what we

learned as kids?

I guess not being a lawyer, I really don't

understand why it’s acceptable to lie. In his response, he

states, “Plaintiff’s complaint fails to state facts sufficient

to constitute a cause of action against the answering

defendant”.

Huh???

“The answering defendant is immune from liability

pursuant to California Codes”.

Huh???

“Any injury, damage or loss suffered by plaintiff

was caused by plaintiff’s negligent or willful failure to

 
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follow the advice and instructions of attending physicians

and nurses and in otherwise failing to exercise ordinary

care on his own behalf”.

Huh???

“Plaintiff was fully informed of the risks and knew

the hazards involved in the surgical and medical

treatment rendered to him”.

HUH???

Well, the plaintiff didn’t conduct the surgery.

Plaintiff did not ask for a wrong size lens to be inserted

in the first place. Plaintiff did not ask for the Viscoat to

remain in the plaintiff's eye.

But this is all the plaintiff’s fault.

Isn’t it odd, though, that nothing was mentioned by

the doctor that he was negligent in performing his duties

by the preponderance of the evidence that clearly shows

he inserted the wrong size lens in my eye. I guess I

should have been more careful before he started the

 
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operation by saying, “please remember to put in the

RIGHT SIZE LENS!

What he failed to realize though, was that I had

copies of my chart from his office that clearly showed

that he ordered one size lens and put in another.

Yes, that was clearly my fault.

Just as I thought the situation with my eye was

settling down, and that my life could get back to some

semblance of order, June 21, 2012, found me with a

major diabetic complication with my eyes. This is

something I have dreaded all my life. At approximately 4

o'clock in the afternoon, while driving home from the

supermarket, I noticed my right eye clouding over

instantly. I saw visions of a fluid type substance in my

right eye. I knew what this was, but I did not want to

admit it. I came home and I panicked. This was my

mother's 91st birthday and we were scheduled to go out

for dinner. Between my tears, I was able to tell her that I

 
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could not make it for dinner and I had to go to the eye

doctor immediately. There is an emergency. I explained

to her that I have gone blind in my right eye.

I called the eye doctor's office and arranged to go

in to see a doctor immediately. I was in his chair at 4:45

that afternoon. The ophthalmologist had gone for the day,

but the optometrist was still there. In a routine eye exam

he asked me to speak the letters on the eye chart. Not

only could I not see the eye chart, I could not see the

wall. He held up two fingers and asked me how many

fingers he was holding up. I told him I could not even see

his hand yet he was only a foot away from me. It almost

reminds me of the scene in “My Cousin Vinny” where

Joe Pesci asks Mrs. Riley (“and ONLY Mrs. Riley…”)

how many fingers he was holding up. She said in her

southern African-American voice and accent, “Foe”.

"You have a vitreous hemorrhage in your eye”. I

asked him what that was and he explained that the blood

 
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vessels in my eye have ruptured and the clear gel in the

blood vessels is leaking out. That's what was causing the

blindness. He assured me that they will take care of me

and everything will be okay. Personally I think he was

telling me this blindly (blindly….get it?) but I had no

way of knowing. They suggested that I see the

ophthalmologist first thing in the morning.

The next morning, which was Friday, Carlos drove

me into Glendale to visit with a retina specialist. I must

say, I was an absolute wreck. I do not like health

problems as most people do not, but when it comes to

something like my eyes, that is a hotspot for me. I guess

we take our eyes for granted and when something goes

wrong with our vision, it's time to panic.

The doctor examined my eyes and confirmed what

the optometrist had said the day before, that I am

suffering from a vitreous hemorrhage. He said there was

an injection he could give me that would stop the growth

 
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of new cells and prevent more problems. I was desperate

even though I knew that the injection would be in the

white of my eye. He assured me that there would be no

pain involved with this injection because he would

number my eye with an anesthetic. I really don't care

what they say about “no pain” when they "stick a needle

in my eye" so I was very nervous about this.

As I felt my eye becoming numb, he brought his

medication in, asked me to open my eye as wide as

possible, look to the left, and in went the needle. The

whole process was over in less than 10 seconds.

He explained to me that I will more than likely

need a surgical procedure called a vitrectomy which is a

procedure where they anesthetize you, put a needle in

your eye, and drain out the fluid that has leaked out. My

primary care physician said that if I had this done, it

would be an instant fix. "By all means, do it," he said.

 
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Actually I felt like I was cheated a little bit because

my eye was still blinded. He said this type of condition

could last for months and months. Is this what I have to

look forward to? I have a life that must continue, and I

must continue with two working eyes. That’s the way I

was brought into this world, and I wasn’t quite ready to

leave it yet so I needed both of my eyes.

This was chorus concert weekend. This was not a

time for me to have a health issue. That evening was

dress rehearsal at a theater in Beverly Hills with the

entire chorus and our guest artist LeAnn Rimes. This was

definitely not a good time to get sick.

LeAnn and I had met earlier during the week when

she came to our rehearsal. That evening on Friday, when

I went backstage to see some of my friends in the chorus,

she came up to me and asked me if I was okay. I guess

my despair showed on my face. I explained to her what

had happened, and asked her to dedicate a song to me.

 
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She said, "Mike I cannot do that because I will start to

cry." She genuinely felt bad that this had happened to me

and hoped that everything would be okay.

I have never felt so much love from so many

people at one time as I did from the chorus. One of my

best friends, Michael Graham, knew about this situation

because I had told him earlier during the day. When he

saw me come backstage, he came over to me and gave

me one of his famous hugs and I felt so warm in his arms

that somebody was treating me like this. He nestled my

head on his shoulder, stroked the back of my head, and

just let me cry. He told me that we will get through this

and not to worry. You simply can't ask for anything better

than that.

The chorus concert that weekend helped ease my

pain a little bit as it was distracting from my own health

problems.

 
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The days went by, the weeks went by, and within

three months I went back to the ophthalmologist for

another exam. When this first happened, I was blind. I

literally could not see out of my right eye. Nothing. Two

weeks later, when I went back to the eye doctor, my

vision was 20/400. 20/200 is considered legally blind. A

month later, my vision had improved to 20/70. This told

the doctor that the surgery would not be required. I

breathed a sigh of relief and wondered how long it would

take before my vision got back to normal. He told me

that my eyes were healing as though I was a man of 35.

That was good to hear because that tells me that my

diabetes is under control as best as I can do it.

My final visit with him was in November 2012 and

he told me that I did not have to come back to see him for

another year. That was music to my ears. Although I still

suffer from the effects of it, my vision has returned to

normal.

 
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