everything once dear to me...

http://tinyurl.com/6octdz

Today has been a good day! I'm trying my best to take less Vicodin (6-8 a day, plus other medication is too much for my comfort). I've made it thru today until 4pm! That's a huge accomplishment, and now I'm seeing if only one vicodin will help, or if I still need 2 to curb the pain? Not that today was easy. The headaches, nausea, and dizziness are still there. I've just found that if I don't use my eyes too much for detail work, I'm able to get by longer without crippling pain.

I went to the public library & picked up an audio copy of 'Rose' by Martin Cruz Smith, which has fascinating character studies within an interesting historical mystery. I tried re-reading the book recently, however the eye strain doesn't let me read more than a page or two at a time. When I was at the Univeristy of Michigan I utilized books on tape a lot, so I decided to revisit them again. I've been missing reading so much these past three months, and it's nice to get work done while listening to something interesting. I was always the kid in gradeschool who was too restless to sit thru 'Story Time' without being able to color... an early multi-tasker I suppose. It's been great to keep my mind focused away from feeling disabled, etc.

An acquaintance of mine who had successful double corneal transplants has highly recommended me to see Daniel F. Goodman, MD. I have an appointment tomorrow to meet with him for a second opinion. I'm still waiting to get in to see the neurologist, so I'm glad to have some traction here. It's so true that you have to really manage your own medical treatment & recovery.

For anyone who is new to my blog, I was blinded in my left eye by the cork of a faulty champagne bottle several years ago. Recently I underwent lens replacement surgery to help correct diminished (and double) vision by removing a 'traumatic cateract'. My recovery has taken much longer than anticipated. I've only been able to wear a contact in my new eye for less than a week (I was legally blind in the eye the past 2 months), so I've been experiencing excruciating headaches the past two months. My surgeon wants me to see a neurologist, so I'm waiting to get in. He's concerned that my eye isn't the only thing causing the headaches. In the mean time, I'm doing my best to heal, stay positive, and feel human.

To that end friends, exercise, music, and audiobooks are a wonderful, healing distraction. :-)


The Clockwise Witness
performed by Devotchka
http://tinyurl.com/6octdz

Onward & upward!