Re the pain aux raisins--There may be a glaze on some of them, mostly the crust just seems to be brushed with butter before baking. The dough and raisins are sweet which is probably enough.

I think you should write about your eye surgery, anyone going through something similar would probably be interested. I've been following someone who chronicled her knee surgery--interesting for me to see the difference between France and the US and also to get an idea of recovery times.

I'm not sure about the pain ranking--an 8-9 to me might be a 6-7 to a more stoic type. Just my opinion of course. Give it a try though . . .