Greetings from Iowa!
The graphic above is a tribute to a successful driving adventure that I enjoyed today with my SIL Bellie.
In the Philippines, Bellie was able to utilize public transportation and she didn’t need to drive. Now she is in America and has decided that though it works OK, public transportation is not the ideal way to travel to her favorite store! GOODWILL!! She is an avid Goodwill shopper and has a beautifully decorated home that demonstrates her sharp eye.
So I convinced her, after hearing about her previous driving instructor, and … well, if you are married you can imagine that pulling your own teeth out one by one sans Novocain is almost preferable to the excruciating pain of enduring the dread ‘back-seat-driver’ of a husband turned driving instructor… ‘nuf said!
So after my dentist appointment today, which coincidentally WAS Novocain free, Bellie and I took off. She did very well and I know I enjoyed the beautiful day and the good company and … we both lived to tell the story and TA-DA!! We’ll do it again soon!
All in all – I would rate this week as a 10.9 (out of a possible 10). Why? It’s easy. My cataract surgery on Wednesday was the greatest thing EVER! It was fun! I didn’t expect it to be a big hairy deal and wasn’t nervous about it ahead of time. I just didn’t expect it to be so fun!
I had to be there at 6:45 am. They showed me a recliner in a room of recliners. Randy made sure I was in good hands and left. The nurse got my eye dilated, my vitals taken and my gown (over my clothes) and then I basically waited. The dr. eventually came in and magic markered my eye so he'd know which one. (More on that later)
Then I waited my turn. This dr. does 8-10 surgeries in a morning. WOW!! $$cha-CHING$$ Of course there is a lot of hospital staff there, but I'm thinking I'm gonna see a bill from that side of things too. So I guess $$cha-CHING$$ still holds.
They took me into the operating room in a wheelchair. Whee!!! and I climbed on the gurney. Got positioned with my head on the little head thing. Then the person in there says "I'm going to put a little tape on your forehead. Okay? Well, she proceeds to TAPE ME TO THE TABLE! All the way round my head and under the table - at least that's what I think she did. I asked her "Are you taping me to the table?" She said she was! I wanted to laugh so bad. I told them that it was just too funny of a mental picture!
The surgery was sort of cool. I've never done drugs, but PSYCHEDELIC KALEIDOSCOPE was what I've named my surgery! Started by seeing the little colored light in the shape of a mushroom (THERE should have been the clue!). It was entertaining.
I called Randy when I got done so he could come get me. They took my vitals again, fed me a couple pieces of toast and gave me drops and instructions to go with it all. Then I came home!
I took a little nap, because they did give just a little med in my IV that made me relaxed, not out of it but relaxed.
I went back the next day at 10:30 am SOOOO happy because my world had visually changed. Before the surgery it was like looking thru a lens with a grey tinted Vaseline over it. You could see there was something on the other side, but the image was not clear. Turns out my eye now has 20/30 vision (and that’s with the basic lens that my insurance pays for – nothing enhanced).
I told Dr. B that I wanted the other one done right away. He looked at it and tho it does have a cataract he didn’t think it was big enough to warrant surgery (which I interpreted as ‘your insurance won’t make my house payment for that’). He said he’d have the test run to be sure tho. And I failed the test – which means my insurance WILL make his house payment! So I’m scheduled for April 1st on eye number two.
I wore my contact lens in my non-operated eye today and it has actually better vision than the operated one, not a lot – but it is better. It’s just a greyer image and sort of foggy. Hard to explain. Still want the surgery to brighten things!
The one thing I’m ‘dealing with’ is that I can’t rub on or around my eye. So HOW do I get the SHARPIE mark (about the size of half of a dime off of my eye? They said it will be gone in a few days. Okay, I repeat HOW DO I GET IT OFF NOW???? It’s not AS obvious as it was the first day, but it’s still there.
On Thursday evening my mom and a lady we’ve known forever put together a really wonderful seminar on BAKING BREAD. They worked so very hard getting it all planned and coordinated. I couldn’t have been more impressed!! The samples were yummy and the recipes look good (I like to bake bread when I DO bake). Of course my mom never does anything ½ way – so it was great.
They did it in one of my units at the Welch Apartments. The apartment is located just off the community room and had a real ‘cooking show’ feel to it.
Nick is not feeling well this week. He came home tonight and slept on the couch until about 9:30 pm, ate a sandwich and then went up to bed. I think he’ll live, but miserable in the interim. Hope he doesn’t make ME sick. (I’m a selfish mom(me) aren’t I?)
Probably everyone at the club will be sick too – but he has faithfully gone to infect them each day.
We are all elated to announce that Nick’s puppy TIDAS has finally gotten the idea of potty training. He is actually asking US to take him out. Previously we were watching him with eagle eye and taking him out every 12 ½ minutes or so.
Auntie Joy, Cousin Maggie and a lady from church (Lynn Tavener) had a wonderful shower for Rhiannon on Sunday. Wow! This little Jaimee girl … she is taken care of for several months. Such pretty little clothes she received and a nice quilt and some other blankies … tho Aunt Mary’s pretty crocheted one is the one that accompanies her wherever she goes.
Several (three) of Rhiannon’s college friends were able to be here (from Lincoln, Virginia and Tennessee) and one of her forever friends from next door on 5th Street was there (with her 3 little ones!!). It was great!
I hadn’t seen Jaimee for nearly a week – and she’d changed SO much. Crazy Uncle Nick saw her during the week and proclaimed her “such a cute baby”.
Well, look-ee at the time. It’s late. One of the unfortunate benefits of improved vision is that I can see that I truly DO need beauty sleep more than ever. I’ll have to tape my blue eye shield over my eye and head to bed! I have one more drop to put in here in a minute first tho.
I hope you all had a SPEC-tacular week, I know I did!
Love to all. Hope to hear from you if you have time!
V
