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Latest on My Eyes

david — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 07:32:46 +0000

For the last several days, I was thinking about what I was going to write for this blog entry. My eyes weren’t going to be part of the post. One year ago today I started paying attention to what and how much I was eating. Through mid-summer, I lost about 80 pounds. I’ve been in maintenance mode since then, eating about 1800 calories a day. I will create a post dedicated to how I did it and a spreadsheet to track your daily caloric intake. For now, just know that this scale was instrumental in my weight loss. It’s $25 and you get free shipping.

The thoughts on my post changed once I went to see my retina specialist, Dr. Garg. I figured in the last couple of days, there might be a conflict on what to write about because of my appointment, but only if there was anything new with my left eye (the one that sees more than light.) Sure, I’ve noticed my vision getting worse over the past months. It’s been brutally frustrating, but when we left for my appointment I thought I’d get a, “Everything looks okay, I don’t know why you’re having these new troubles…” Today, Dr. Garg noticed three things that are most likely causing the decrease in my vison and only one of them has to do with my retina.

It seems that the only issue with my retina is from folds that developed from my pressure being low for a long period of time following a trabeculectomy (glaucoma surgery) back in 2003. Dr. Garg told me that even though my pressure has been in the “normal” range (for me) over the last five years, the folds will never go away (just like you can never get a piece of paper completely smooth again after it’s been folded.) This will slowly take my vision. Dr. Garg said if that were my only eye issue, it really wouldn’t be too big a deal. The other issues Dr. Garg saw today were both cornea related. One is corneal edema, or swelling of the cornea. The other issue has to do with the transplant I had two years ago. He said there was some cloudiness behind the new (to me, 69 years old to the original owner) endothelia. Dr. Garg stated he thought that happens in about 25% of transplants. I’ll know more when I visit my cornea specialist in about 10 days.

When we left the appointment, I said to Eliz that at least there was something there and I wasn’t imaging it. I was somewhat happy. It seems that the cornea issues can be handled with meds and a “procedure” (which makes me think of City Slickers – “You’ll have surgery, but call it a procedure…”) After we returned home and I thought about it, I realized that for the first time in my life, I can’t keep my vision from getting worse. From the time I was a young boy, I was always told ‘there’s no way to improve your vision, we’re just hoping to maintain it.’ Of course, I had hopes and dreams over the years that something would come along… Now, my vision can’t even be maintained. I hope it’s not a slippery slope.

This post is sponsored by the EatSmart Precision Pro Multifunction Digital Kitchen Scale. It has an extra large LCD readout (which means that I can see it when I’ve got my reading glasses on) and an 11 pound capacity. I’ve used this product since last December to lose weight. I weigh everything in grams, because, to me, it is easier using a whole number. If you want to drop some weight, this is a tool that will certainly help you.

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Post tags: corneal edema, daily caloric intake, glaucoma surgery, post, pressure, retina specialist, scale, vision, Weight, year ago today

It’s Not Cuckoo Bananas, But It’s Not Good Either

david — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 05:31:29 +0000

It has been a busy week, so I haven’t had a chance, until now, to post an update on last Fridays appointment with Dr. Garg, the retina specialist. Unlike two weeks ago when I went to the glaucoma doc, this appointment was lacking most of the nonsense. By the end of the appointment, I wasn’t any closer to an answer than I was since late April.

The appointment started with the typical questions from a tech about how my vision was doing, if I was experiencing any pain or discomfort, etc. Then it was time to read the chart with my left eye. The E was not a problem. The next line, C and D, I could see, but if I didn’t remember it I might have said G instead of C. The next line, which I now know is DHN, I couldn’t see. With the pinholes, I was able to make out the H.

She moved on to my right eye. Good news there, I can still tell if a light is off or on if it is a foot or less away from my eye… Yippee. She then put, or should I say shot, drops into both eyes. God only knows how many, but it was sure more than one of each. One is to numb the eye to get IOP (pressure) readings, while the other was to dilate my eye. While she was doing this, she left the chart on, so I continued to try to read it. She then used a hand-held device to get the IOP (Dr. Ayres calls this device a glorified random number generator.) IOP was nine in the left and mid to upper 20s in the right. The previous week at my glaucoma appointment, it was eight in the left and 13 in the right using the standard device (the one that you put your chin in, press your head against the bar, and look at the blue light.)

She waited a minute or two and then tried to get another number on the right eye. Meanwhile, I’m still trying to read the 20/100 line on the chart. She then said I was cheating by continuing to attempt to read the line. Eliz didn’t like what she said and asked how I was cheating if I was just trying to read the chart. While the lady answered Eliz, I had my hand in front of my eye, trying to simulate the pinholes while still trying to read the line. Hey, if you don’t want me to keep trying, shut the effing thing off! As we got up to move to the next exam room, I glanced behind the chair where the chart is bounced off of a mirror and saw that the line was DHN. Now maybe that was cheating. How would that help me though? It’s not like I could get a drivers license for reading the 20/100 line.

In the next room, Dr. Garg came in and asked some questions and then had a look. He then told me that the only thing left to try were injections in the eye. Before we try that though, he wanted to get another OCT scan to make sure the risk/reward was worth the attempt (actually, attempts, as it would take several injections over the course of a few months for it to work.)

Tom gave me the OCT scan a few minutes later, then we headed to another exam room. After a minute or two, Dr. Garg came in and had a look at the scan. He said that it wouldn’t be worth trying the injections as there was only a 15% chance of them helping me see better. At that point, I said, “Okay, so there isn’t really anything you can do for me?” “That’s right,” he replied. He told me I could come back in five months (why?,) or sooner if I was having any other problems. He did tell me to make sure that I see him, Dr. Ayres, Dr. Pro, or Dr. Ruffini frequently to get IOP readings. Seems like ‘roids that I take 2x per day in the left eye could cause the pressure to rise. Maybe it’s time to see Dr. House, Dr. Riviera, or Oscar Goldman…

So while my vision is not cuckoo bananas (a technical term Dr. Garg used at my last appointment in June,) it’s not good either. So what do I do now? Some days, my vision is better than others. Today, for example, it sucked big time (I suppose that is a technical term I picked up somewhere along the way.) Maybe I’ll see a little better tomorrow. I’m not holding my breathe (but would if it would help…)

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Post tags: appointment, C. The, chart, Dr. Ayres, Dr. Garg, Dr. House, Dr. Pro, Dr. Riviera, Dr. Ruffini, eye, God, H. She, iop, line, Oscar Goldman, pinholes, random number generator, retina specialist, Tom, upper 20s

It’s Been a Few Weeks, Not Much New

david — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 05:27:18 +0000

I haven’t posted an update for about three weeks. In that time, my vision still sucks and I’m wondering if I made the right choice to have the surgery. I visited the retina specialist on Tuesday and was told that there isn’t much difference on the macular edema from the last visit about a month ago (and that was only slightly different from earlier this year.) Seems a bit odd since during my appointment in May, he was able to point out the differences with my OCT scan then and the one earlier this year. I was also told that I had a bit of swelling in my cornea (cornea edema.) I don’t recall if that was an issue at my last cornea doc visit, but I’m scheduled to visit him this coming Tuesday (22 June,) so I’ll ask. At this point, my vision seems to fluctuate between slightly better than before the surgery to worse than before the surgery.

It is so frustrating to me that nothing can be done to get me back to where I was just days after the surgery. For about 10 days from 18 April, my vision was the best it had been in years. Seems now like that was a cruel tease. I’m getting tired of running to the doctors multiple times per month and not making progress.

In other news, Jacob is in Japan with a group of students from Westtown. The last few days they’ve stayed in Kyoto and taken day trips by rail to other cities and sites (Hiroshima, Miyagima-guchi, Miyagima, Kinkaku-ji.) Sunday, they move on to Tokyo where they meet their host families and prepare for a week at Tamagawa, Westtown’s sister school in Japan. The family Jake is staying with has a boy a year or two younger than Jake and seems to live a bit of distance away from the school. Eliz and I hope Jake can manage the train transfers…

Jane is looking forward to meeting her favorite band All Time Low on Sunday at meet and greet during The Bamboozle Roadshow. Monday, she heads to softball camp at Villanova for a week. She is also doing two weeks at an overnight camp at Bryn Mawr College in July and going to the Outer Banks in August with Margaret, Meghan, and Chris. Did I mention she spent yesterday (Thursday) in New York with her friend Rachel?

Since Eliz and Jane won’t be here on Sunday, I’m planning a day of football… Well, at least the last two games (Azzurri/All Whites and Brazil/Ivory Coast (sorry Slovakia/Paraguay, I’m not rolling out of bed at 7.30am.) So, if you want to watch some footie, come on over!

Finally, I’ve lost another pound, which I am trying not to do. I’m trying to maintain 163 pounds, but have been between 161 and 162 the last couple of days. I’ve bumped to 1800 calories per day (from 1700) to try not to lose any additional weight. It’s been tough this week, because we’ve eaten out four times and I’ve had to estimate my calories once and calculate my calories after the fact another time. By the time I added ‘em up, I was short by 200 calories (ate 1600 calories) and it was too late to have anything else if I wanted to go to sleep by 2.00am. At 161, I’m down 73 pounds since I started on 10 December 2009.

More next week, after my cornea doc appointment.

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Post tags: bamboozle roadshow, Brazil, bryn mawr college, Chris, cornea, Hiroshima, Ivory Coast, Jacob, Jake, Jane, Japan, kinkaku, Kyoto, macular edema, Margaret, Meghan, New York, Rachel, retina specialist, surgery, time, Tokyo, vision, week, Whites

Wow, I was Wrong!

david — Wed, 19 May 2010 05:41:48 +0000

I say that like it doesn’t happen often. Today I had an appointment to see Dr. Garg, the retina specialist I visited several times in January and February. As far as I was concerned, he was my last hope of finding why I was having difficulty seeing over the last couple of weeks, after noticeably better sight after the cataract extraction on 15 April. I mentioned in this space last week that I didn’t think he’d spot anything. Fortunately, I was wrong!

After having difficulty reading the 20/200 line (their chart is different than all the others, the 20/200 line is CD not SL) I had my IOP taken (9 in the left, 28 in the right – that is high, but since there is no pain and virtually no sight, who cares,) I was given drops to dilate my eyes. After a 10-15 minute wait, we went to another examination room. Dr. Garg came in and asked me about the trouble I’ve been having and the surgery, then had a look. He noticed something and said he would like me to have an OCT scan. After another short wait, Tom called me in and did the OCT scan. After another short wait, we went into a different exam room.

Dr. Garg came in and immediately said that I have Macular Edema. I was pretty happy for a second. I thought, “Wow, he actually found something!” Then I though, “Uh oh, now what?” I asked the doctor how it is treated and then I was happy again. Eye drops (the name escapes me at the moment, but I think it begins with a D) four times per day. That is easy enough. He then showed Eliz and I (between my dilated eye and poor vision, I couldn’t really see much) the OCT scan from today and the one from 15 January. He pointed out the difference in the one today, which Eliz was able to see. After about two hours, we were done. I go back in four weeks.

Today was the first of three doctor’s appointments for the week. Tomorrow, I go to my general practitioner for a check-up. Perfect timing for me to visit her, as I’ve had a sore throat for about eight or nine days. I’m interested to see what she says about my weight. I was in the mid-180′s the last time I was there in March. I was 168 this morning. I know many of you have been asking about how I dropped a total of 66 pounds since 10 December 2009 and want to know my secrets. The short answer is 1500 calories a day and I weigh everything I eat at home (unless it is packaged, then I use the nutritional info on the package.) When we’re out, I use the restaurant’s own nutritional info. If a restaurant doesn’t provide the info, then I calculate it. If I can’t calculate it, we don’t eat there. Do you hear me Bertucci’s? I’ve kept a food journal since February and I’ll post it soon (I wanted to do it a couple of weeks ago, but my vision issues got in the way.) Friday, I visit Dr. Ayres for another post op check.

Lastly tonight, I went to Anthem Institute (formerly Chubb Institute) for a Graphic Design Advisory Board meeting. It was both good and bad. Good because I love talking about graphic design work, the industry, and the curriculum at the school. They’re making some positive changes there that will give students a deeper design knowledge that should translate into being better prepared to land a job once they graduate. The bad part about tonight was talking about new version of programs like Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and Flash. How is that bad? I so want to use them, start shooting pictures again, shooting videos (and editing them,) and cool stuff like that, but my vision is not cooperating. Maybe I’ll be able to get back to it once the drops work their magic…

Oh, and one last thing. Really. The parent daughter softball game is Thursday afternoon at Friends Central. I am hoping to get an at-bat. I will most likely strike out, if given the okay to hit, but I want to try. I’ll let you know how it goes. Fortunately, Lankenau Hospital is literally right around the corner…

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Post tags: cataract extraction, Dr. Ayres, Dr. Garg, info, last hope, OCT, perfect timing, poor vision, retina specialist, Today, Tom, vision, wait

Visual Fields Test

david — Thu, 13 May 2010 05:58:43 +0000

My appointment with my glaucoma specialist went well, except for the fact that I was back to the 20/200 line and even that wasn’t as crisp as a my second PostOp appointment on 27 April (I also believe it was slightly worse than my unscheduled appointment with Dr. Ayres this past Friday.) I’m glad everything looks great, but that isn’t helping me see better. As per Dr. Pro’s (and Dr. Ayres’) recommendation, I’ve scheduled an appointment with Dr. Garg, the retina specialist I saw earlier this year. I have a feeling I know how that appointment will go too. Everything will look fine, but my vision will still suck. Call me Nostradamus. I’ll let you know how things go on 18 or 19 May.

Central Vision Visual Fields Test at Wills Eye

One of the problem I’ve noticed is that I seem to have more blind spots, especially in my central vision. When Eliz and I were working with Jane at softball, I noticed I had trouble following the ball when Eliz would flip the ball to me from three to five feet unless I looked to my right. I’m not sure what the above test indicates, but since I don’t think I’ve ever had this particular visual fields test I don’t think there is anything to compare it to.

Visual Fields Test Machine in the Glaucoma Dept. at Wills Eye

After my appointment at Wills Eye, Eliz and I walked up Walnut Street and stopped into the Associated Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired. I had contacted them just before we moved Salon Supplies + Interiors and ForYourSalon.com out of that disaster of a building (which has been condemned, by the way.) Between the move and setup of the business and waiting to see how things went with the surgery, I didn’t follow up. Looking back, that seems dumb. As it stands now, I don’t think things will improve dramatically, if at all. You may say I’m a pessimist, but I disagree. I would call myself a realist. Sure, I can hope and wish, but I’ve been doing that since I was a small child. Maybe I learn something and gain some confidence.

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Post tags: appointment, caption, central vision, Dr. Ayres, Dr. Garg, Dr. Pro, eye, glaucoma specialist, Jane, retina specialist, test, Walnut Street, Wills, wills eye

Surgery No. 14 is Set

david — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 05:43:12 +0000

Over the past 10 days, I’ve been to three different doctors. I’m starting to feel like my parents. The most important of the three was two days ago. My appointment was with Dr. Ayres, the one who did the partial cornea transplant (DSEK) in December 2008. He thought that the cataract I’ve had in my left eye for sometime could be the culprit in my steadily worsening vision, but he sent me to Dr. Garg, a retina specialist, to rule out a retina issue. Dr. Ruffini also thought I should consider having the cataract removed.

I was not looking forward to another surgery on my left eye until things started going downhill in July. The problem was, none of the doctors knew what was causing the problem. The cataract didn’t seem much worse than a few months earlier, if at all. After going from one specialist to another, it was determined it wasn’t a glaucoma issue or a retina issue. Lets just hope it is the cataract that is the issue.

I’m having the cataract removed on 15 April (so I guess I’ll send our taxes in early…) There is also a possibility that I’ll have another DSEK (endothelial transplant.) The donor endothelia will be in the OR, just in case. Evidently, removing the cataract risks damaging my now 70 year old endothelia (along with the other common risks associated with this in most people and specific risks for unique individuals, such as myself, with other eye issues.)

I am disappointed that I have to wait that long for the surgery. I joked with Dr. Ayres that I was ready to have it yanked on Wednesday. I’m sure I have been less than pleasant to be around at home. Tonight, I was home alone while Eliz, the kids, and a few of Jane’s friends went to see Alice in Wonderland — I miss going to the movies. My frustration level is high and it takes me so long to do many basic things. I am so ready to get the cataract out, it is hard not to get excited. I’m trying to temper the excitement, since it only leads to disappointment after the surgery (at least after the last three.)

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Post tags: Alice, alice in wonderland, cataract, cornea transplant, Dr. Ayres, Dr. Garg, Dr. Ruffini, DSEK, eye, frustration level, issue, Jane, retina, retina specialist, surgery

This and That

david — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 06:11:54 +0000

I’ve been waiting for this week since the end of January, because I’m going to see the retina specialist on Friday. I’m hoping he can do a PAM test on me. No, it’s not part of the Aunt Jemima treatment, it stands for potential acuity meter. It will let me, and, more importantly, my team of eye specialists know how much of the “current” vision loss is due to the cataract in my left eye. I would hope it would come back 20/200 or better. If not, it might be time to rent a gun and buy a bullet. (Relax, I’m only joking. I’m worth far too much dead to take my own life.) Even without a PAM test, I’m hoping that Dr. Garg (retina) will give the okay for me to have Dr. Ayers (cornea) takeout the cataract. As much as I’ve loved the snow this winter, I don’t want it to foul up my 8:45am appointment in Bala on Friday. I see Dr. Ayers on 3 March and I’d like to schedule the cataract surgery then. I’ve gotta do something, it seems like my vision is getting worse by the day. My frustration level is extremely high.

On Wednesday, I’ve got an appointment with my GP. It was postponed from 10 Feb due to the little bit of snow we had (not to mention the lack of power and heat too.) When I saw Dr. Rist on 9 Dec, she told me to lose weight. Since then I’ve eaten only about 1500 calories per day. On days that I did some physical work like shovel snow, move our store inventory, etc., I would eat more calories as a reward. As of this morning, I am down 41 pounds. I’m interested to see what she says.

Jake is spending the week living at school, something he will have to do for his junior and senior years at Westtown. We dropped him off on Sunday and will pick him up this Sunday. He was really looking forward to it. Then, when we got there, he noticed a Super Nintendo game system (circa 1991.) The seniors whose room he and his friend are staying in left them a note saying that they could play with the system. We have a couple of games from the video store that Jake has always wanted to play, but we never had the system (well, we had it, but upgraded to something else before he was born.) I’m worried that school work might not be first on his mind this week. Eliz picked him up some candy from BJ’s the other day. You know, BJ’s doesn’t sell anything in small amounts. She got him a variety bag of candy bars (not the fun size, the normal size) and a bag with god know how many packages of Skittles in it. He posted today on Facebook that he was selling the candy. Prices were $.50 for candy available in the school store and $1.00 for candy not carried in the school store. I’m interested to see what he does with the funds, though his intentions could be philanthropic.

Jane found her letters from Tabitha tonight. Tabitha was conjured up when Jake literally lost his first tooth. It either fell out onto the ground or he swallowed it with his lunch that day at Granite Run Mall. He was disappointed because he was so looking forward to putting it under his pillow for the toothfairy. That night, after he went to bed, I wrote a letter from Tabitha, a toothfair from the North American office. I expected it to be a one and done sort of thing, but when he lost his next tooth, we was just as excited to get another letter as he was to get the money. And of course, if you do it for one, the other has to have it too… Jane actually got a letter or two before she even lost a tooth. She would sometimes leave notes for Tabitha under her pillow. Jane laughs at the letters now, but she had fun reading them tonight. She said each one had a little education, like Sesame Street. I also would include things that I thought would boost their confidence and nudges on nutrition. One day I’ll post them or publish them.

It is amazing how easy 700 words comes off my fingertips these days… So much for a short update. More later this week on the retina appointment.

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Post tags: aunt jemima treatment, candy, day, Dr. Ayers, Dr. Garg, Dr. Rist, Jake, Jane, Jemima, nintendo game system, North American, PAM, retina specialist, school, Sesame Street, shovel snow, store, super nintendo game system, Tabitha, week

Small Update on My Vision

david — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 06:19:16 +0000

I’ve been on the eye drop Xibrom for about 10 days now, along with an increase in the number of times per day I take Predforte (from 1x per day to 3x per day.) Not only hasn’t this regimen helped, but my vision continues to deteriorate. I visit the retina doc in about a month and the cornea doc a week later. I’m beginning to wonder what kind of shape my vision will be in at that point. It can’t be that my local ophthalmologist, the glaucoma specialist, cornea specialist, and retina specialist all missed something, could it?

I had a blood test last week to test for a whole bunch of things including Lyme disease, diabetes. According to the less than warm and fuzzy card I received in the mail on Saturday from my doctor’s office, everything was normal. I have to tell you that I get more personalized mail from Publishers Clearing House. I was kind of hoping there would be something in the blood test that might give a clue to my vision. No luck. I will call my doctor tomorrow to see if she can elaborate further on my test.

At this point, I’m also wondering about what to do about making a living. I would love to try to continue to build ForYourSalon.com, but that has become increasingly more difficult for me to do. I haven’t really worked for anyone but myself and Eliz since 1985. What could I do? More importantly, who would hire me? I’m interested in your opinion. Comment here or over at Facebook (www.facebook.com/davidbenj) if you are a friend.

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Post tags: cornea specialist, day, glaucoma specialist, publishers clearing house, retina, retina specialist, specialist, test, vision, Xibrom

A Long Day

david — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 06:41:21 +0000

It has been a long day. It started off with a trip to the retina specialist at 8:30 am. We were a few minutes late, so only had to wait about 10 minutes in the waiting room. Eliz had a cup of tea from the Senseo (or similar) machine, while I brought my own (my favorite Teavana mix: Queen of Babylon and Rose Garden Rooibos.) I was called back into the first exam room, where I would (try to) read the eye chart and go over my eye issues. Kelly asked about any of my eye problems and then noticed we were from Media. She said she grew up in Wallingford. When Eliz told her we did as well, she mentioned that she graduated from Strath Haven in 2002. I told her I graduated from Nether Providence and Eliz from Strath Haven and Kelly asked if I went to school with her mother since I was born in 1954. I laughed and asked if I looked 55… I guess if there’s going to be a mistake, that one isn’t bad at all. She corrected my birth year to 1964 and we moved on to the eye chart.

Again, I was unable to read any of it until I flipped the pinhole cover down. Like magic, the E appeared. I then said I know the next line is S and L, but I can’t see it. She told me I was wrong. What!?! It’s not S and L. Now I had to know. I moved the pinholes all around until it was as clear as it was going to be for me. I guessed O for the second letter. Try again. D!, I said next. That was it. The first letter (don’t ask me why I don’t read them in order) looked like it could be an O, G, or C. I guessed G in hopes of it being the GD line. No such luck. C was my next try and that was it. Kelly mentioned that this chart is made up mostly of similar letters that repeat often, so my usual deduction that I’ve got a one in 26 chance which increases with every letter doesn’t work. I’m actually going to have to read them.

Once I was finished with the eye chart, Kelly took us to another waiting room, where Eliz read me the story of the Penn State mascot in a recent addition to ESPN magazine. Before we could finish, we were called to see the doctor. Dr. Garg asked me about my issues and mentioned that he had spoken to Dr. Pro about me. He explained that even though my right eye doesn’t do much he still wanted to check it out. Since my cornea is really cloudy and I have a pretty mature cataract in it, they would use an ultrasound to have a look. He also explained a test they’d run on my left eye, to check for changes in the macular pigmentation. Dye is injected via an IV (that’s iv, not roman numeral for 4) and pictures are taken. After he mentioned the dye, I remembered that I had this test before. The images are wicked. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a flash drive on me to get the images.

I went into another exam room to have the ultrasound and then back to the second waiting room to wait on the angiography. After a 10 minute wait, Tom called me back to have the angiography. He took a couple of images of my eye before putting the dye in. The dye made me feel nauseous for about a minute. Tom took more images and left to give someone an OCT scan (which took him all of five minutes — about 1000x faster than mine took on Monday.) He then came back into the room I was in to get two more pictures.

I waited in the angiography room for a few minutes until they called me to see the doctor again. He explained what he thought was going on. He increased my use of one drop to three times per day and added another drop to try and get the swelling down in the retina and cornea. He suggested that I wait on having the cataract removed until I see him again in six weeks.

After three hours, we were out of there. We headed down City Ave to pick up Jane from school. She called me just before the ultrasound and said she wasn’t feeling well, which I knew when she left for school. I also knew we’d be right down the street from her and could pick her up after the appointment if she couldn’t last the day at school.

After I spent an hour, or so, at home (at which time I found out my mom had gone into the hospital — more on that below,) we headed over to Viva Salon in Springfield. They’ve been having a problem with a hydraulic base that was still under warranty. We swapped out the bad base for the good one that has been in our car since the move and headed to my next eye appointment.

I had scheduled this appointment with John Ruffini, another NPHS alum, to talk to him about the cataract surgery (and before I knew of any retina issues.) He had a look at my still dilated left eye and we discussed my options and the problems that could arise from taking out the cataract. He also thought it was best to see how the eye reacts to the increased drops and new drop. I have put off scheduling the cataract surgery because of moving the business and the fact that it could undo the partial cornea transplant. My left eye has endured seven operations over the years, with another one imminent. I’m tired of going through these procedures and the recovery with mediocre success. The risk/reward factor isn’t great, though I would do anything to preserve any sight I still have.

After leaving John Ruffini’s office, we made a delivery in Holmes and stopped by a salon in Milmont Park to look at a styling chair that needs replacing. We returned home at about 4:00 pm and had an alarm company tech waiting to convert our system. It took him about two hours (the whole story will have to wait for another time.)

We were finally able to head to Riddle to visit my mom. She went to the hospital at around 8:00 am this morning because she was having shortness of breath and chest pains. The doctor wanted to keep her overnight for observation. She seems to be okay, though uncomfortable because of the shingles. We are hoping to pick her up and take her home tomorrow.

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Post tags: 1964, C. I, cataract, chart, congenital glaucoma, cornea, Dr. Ayers, Dr. Garg, Dr. Pro, Dr. Ruffini, Eliz, espn magazine, eye, Holmes, Jane, John Ruffini, Kelly, L. Now, Media, Milmont Park, nether providence, Penn State, penn state mascot, Providence, Queen, queen of babylon, retina, retina specialist, Riddle, room, Rose Garden, Springfield, Strath Haven, StrathHaven, swelling, Teavana, Tom, Viva Salon, Wallingford, wills eye