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10:42 a.m. - 2007-03-18 Hi Y'all...I'm still aliveWow, it's been forever since I've posted and I really have had lots to write just that my job has swallowed me whole, I spend 11 hours per day on the computer and have only one eye to do it with. By the end of the day, I'm not only shot but my eye(s) are so strained that I can't bear to spend any more time on a computer. Our good buddy Boxx left me a nice note asking where I've been, prompting me to at least write a little bit, being Sunday and having a full day of eye rest. A recent eye exam has revealed cataract in both eyes, although the right eye has not progressed to the level of needing surgery yet. They are fast growing cataracts and I never noticed a thing until a routine Walmart exam showed "something" was amiss with the left eye, then new glasses made the difference between sight in the left eye and sight in the right eye very very noticable. I wouldn't let the Walmart Dr. do a dialation. He wanted to explaining wtih great zest all the nasty diseases that I could have, eye and otherwise. All he did was scare the be-jesus out of me...I don't do doctors. Hadn't had a physical in 15 years and I don't want to know if my blood sugar is high and I have diabetes or a brain tumor or anything...thank you....at least not diagnosed by a Walmart eye doctor young enough to be my son. OK....I'm a grown up and had to push childish fears aside. I went for a physical with all the blood tests. The doctor was appalled that since I had cervical cancer 15 years ago, that I had not been back for a pap test. I told her that I figured if it hadn't killed me in 15 years, that I was out of the woods. She gravely shook her head and implored that I have the test. OK....now I'm really scared. So....I go and have the blood test. I go and have the EKG. I tried to have a mamogram but showed up on the wrong day, then had the flu on the right day and never got around to going back for that. Blood tests showed that my blood, including the sugar content, choleserol levels and inflamation factors are all good. EKG showed that my heart is still electrically functioning. I felt super human. "That's enough doctors for awhile"...I told myself. Got the nerve to schedule that pap, then they cancelled on me telling me that doctor doesn't do them on Saturdays, and the appointment setter should have never set up a saturday appointment for that. "Screw it then." I said and never remade the appointment. Long story short...as I wrote in one of my last posts....gotta get outta that job, but I can't begin to go to another employer with one good eye. First step is getting that eye fixed. Plus...it's driving me nuts to see good out of one eye and a cloud out of another. So...off the the "real" ophthalmologist I go....terrified that he will find some other disease than a simple cataract in my left eye...brain tumor...eye cancer....my wild imagination got the best of me. But....it was a simple cataract. He says gravely, "I'm afraid you have a cataract." I joyously say "I'm so relieved." He can't understand why I am relieved I have a cataract...."because it's a relatively simple surgery compared to a brain tumor." He looked at me like I was a lunatic but understood that what I meant was that having a cataract was the lesser of all evils. "It's not major surgery." he said "but it is surgery none the less and you need a new physical and a more up to date blood test. So...tomorrow....I have taken the day off. I go back for yet another physical and will have that pap as long as I'm there (terrified and embarrassed...hate those things). It will be a chance for her to go over my blood test I had in October more thoroughly also. After that, I go to the eye doctor to get measured for my lens, then off to the hospital for my pre-surgical blood test. "Is this what life after 50 is like?" I asked my 55 year old husband. "Yep" get used to it" he said. Sorry...never...lets put this into perspective...this is nothing more than following through on two things...a complete physical long put off and a minor surgery and the preparations for it. But gosh....it feels like it just goes on and on and on. So....April 4th...I go under the knife. It is a simple outpatient procedure and I will be there at 6:30 am and home by noon...not a big deal. I could actually go back to work the next day and even drive myself home. Apparently, the results are instant. I will have to avoide lifting anything heavy for a month though....oh pooh...it's garden cleanup month in April...guess I will get to direct my husband and he will do the heavy lifting...if his heart holds up. God...maybe we are too old to have a house. Well....maybe I'll write a bit more tomorrow seeing as how I have yet another days repreive from staring at a computer screen all day. TTFN P. I. Yarnsmith
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