...and upward!

My wonderful friend, Bob Birdsall, was in town from Chicago over the weekend. We got to canoodle together here in Marin, and I got to meet his brother Bill, as well as some friends they grew up with in the mid-west. It was a real pleasure hanging out with them. Dylan-the-Yorkie is staying with me again this week, and he enjoyed meeting everyone & playing as much as I did. I was able to test my energy levels, as well as my vision. One thing I learned is that being in the sun causes loss of vision, even with sunglasses, an UV eye cover & a brimmed hat. Fortunately Bobby & his friend Pat were able to drive me home both evenings. They had me laughing so hard that my eye hurt! There's certainly something to be said about the restorative power of laughter, good food, and good company!

Aside from a myriad of headaches from vision strain, I don't have any pain in my new eye, and I'm able to function. After seeing an optometrist on Friday to be fitted for a new lens, my eye started weeping. It continued doing so for about 24-hours, which was weird & a little concerning. Fortunately I was able to speak with one of my physicians at UCSF, and we kept a proverbial eye on the situation and it's healed again.

As far as energy, I'm slower than normal, however I'm working hard to gain strength each day. I'm exercising daily, eating healthy, drinking lots of water, and getting plenty of sleep. As for my eyes, I am wearing one contact in my good eye, and none in my new eye, which makes for unusual vision. My good eye is dominating my new eye, so I'm able to get around, although my vision is diminished. While I am still sensitive to light in general, I no longer feel shooting pain in my left eye, so I'm not having to wear the eye patch unless the eye hurts from strain, which is nice. Functioning with an eye-patch is difficult, and I don't think I have the strength yet to take-on that challenge. Knock on wood that I won't have to. The coolest thing is that if you look at my new eye, every now and then you can catch a weird glimmer if the light hits it right. It's totally a trip! It seems to happen if my eye is twitching, and I see funny internally when it occurs!

Since I'm running out of PTO time, I tested my skills behind the wheel this weekend to make sure I can drive, because I'm going to have to return to work. I'm able to drive in the daytime okay. My new eye doesn't like direct sunlight, however, so I tend to shut that eye to avoid glare if necessary. My vision is too poor to attempt driving at night. I'm planning to go back to work tomorrow. Hopefully it won't wear me out too much. I know I can drive safely to work in the morning when I have more energy. I just hope I'm not too exhausted at the end of the day to drive home safely. Time will tell. In the mean time, I'm resting up for my work week.

Onward & upward...

;-)