One of my colleagues was out for several weeks on medical leave. He didn’t share why he was out, but I assumed a minor procedure. This person is of Asian descent and I noticed before that he had rather droopy eyes. A tiny voice in the back of my mind wondered if he was getting a similar surgery that I had to lift my eyelids. It turns out he did have a similar surgery! I was so curious because from my surgery, I think I had surgery towards the end of the week and I returned to work on Monday. I also think I was on a plane the next week (not optimal, but it was okay). He was having some issues and a part of me wanted to say  – I had this surgery too! I held my tongue though because of his complications and I also assumed his surgery had to be more complex than mine given the longer recovery period. Although, who knows. I was fine to return to work, but I had slight bruising. I put on coverup and a baseball hat and went back to work. I am fortunate that my workplace doesn’t have a dress code. I also had minimal bruising. Maybe he had more significant physical effects and wanted to take more time to heal before coming back to work. None of my business. Granted my colleague does not have BPES, it felt so weird to encounter someone in my life having the same strange surgery I had.

I take great comfort in the idea that what we worry about most won’t be what gets us in the end. I really hope so because I worry a lot that I will have to have surgery again. It was necessary and I am glad I did it, but I also hate that I had to do it. Hearing about his surgery made me stare at my drooping right eye, laugh, and pray to a higher power that everything will be fine and I won’t have to undergo the knife again in this lifetime.