Life in Geezerville: I Can Drive

You read that title right..I CAN DRIVE! Now I'm not driving far and I'm not driving alone--but I can drive my car. I've not tried to drive the truck as it's a bit bigger--but it is newer and has all sorts of cameras to help me out. Maybe tomorrow I'll try driving the pickup. 

We live in a small town. The round trip to the grocery store, the mail box and Walmart is 11 miles. The speed limit in town is 25 or 35. Since most of the folks in town are geezers (like me) they ride about town going 25 mph or less. I fit right in. Driving with one eye is a challenge but I'm learning how to judge distances. In addition I'm very very very careful.

To that end, we went to the store! What a treat. Before venturing out into the streets of town, I drove around our cul-de-sac learning how to judge distances. I practiced stopping at a specific place before I went in to the street...and even there I practiced driving in a straight line and making a U-turn. When I got onto the main road, I knew what I was doing. I drove to the store without any problems. I parked the car,  and then I backed out of the parking space.  I drove to the gas pumps without a problem. 

I'm making progress. I still have double vision. I still don't know why I have double vision. I wear an eye patch and I can see clearly with one eye. Don't worry--I'm not speeding and I am being careful. The other DrC is with me all the time. I'm taking it easy while enjoying a new sense of independence. In addition my friends and neighbors are proud of what I can do. That's a neat thing. This "getting old stuff" is not easy, yet with friends and family it's so much better. Remember, cherish these folks as we're all in this together.

Life in Geezerville: Testing Edition

 It's been 3 weeks since I've written in my blog. Please forgive me dear readers as it's been a weird three weeks. If you are brave read on...if not...skip to the end where I say "We're all in this together."

About a month ago I had the headache from h*ll. I wrote about that last time. The headache is gone and it's replaced with double vision. What we don't know is why I have double vision. I do not recommend double vision.

Remember we had planned a cruise to Hawaii? Needless to say, the cruise was canceled. I had more tests. The tests were inconclusive. I was put in the hospital and I had more tests (this is why I call this edition the testing edition). I've been "tested" in so many ways!

As of now, I had 5 CT scans, with and without dye, 2 MRIs with and without dye, and 1 lumbar puncture (which used to be called a spinal tap in the old days). I am waiting for the tests to be completed and interpreted. Thank goodness for insurance! What we do know is significant. I did not have a stroke. That is great news. However, what I have is unknown as I write. I do have double vision.

Double vision is correctable with glasses and I'm ready for that to happen. I hope the reason for double vision is correctable too. I have an appointment with an ophthalmologist in early February to find out more. Slowly I'm getting depth perception and that's a good thing.For now I'm relying on my wonderful friends and neighbors in Geezerville to take me to the doctors, to the store and everything else. My family is helping too...my niece came down for a week and I wished it was longer. I'm blessed and lucky to live in such a wonderful place. In the meantime, I'm wearing an eye patch and I look like a pirate.

As you might know, I like to write about upbeat things and this is certainly as "un-upbeat" as it gets. That's why I've not written. I'm learning how to navigate my house with and without the walker. I'm finding that the walls are not jumping in front of me as they did at first. It takes awhile to adjust to seeing with only one eye. I'm trying to wean myself away from the walker but it's a great security blanket, for lack of a better phrase. The walker gives me extra support as I get wobbly once in a while. Gees...I'm sounding like an ancient person with all my maladies. I do know that I went from "abled" to disabled in a nanosecond. Things change quickly. 

Think of that the next time you take out your best clothes and you say "I'll save them for later." DON'T DO THAT. Dress up now. When you think I'll wait to go to the lake or the mountains or see the kids...don't do that...do it now...things change quickly, I know. I just had it happen. Enjoy stuff NOW as now is where we are. Enjoy what you have. I'm enjoying my life and I have at least one more cruise to go on...and I'm gonna do my best to go on it. You need to do that too. Remember, we're all in this together.