A Few Laughs

We all need to laugh now and then...I know I do as too many strange things have happened to me recently--so laughter is good medicine.

My friends have been sending me funnies...I hope they give you a laugh too!

I'm doing this -- and I'm taking one day at time...seems to be working

 Is this truth?

Be careful of silent letters?

There are are times when I need this blanket

Oops?

You would think, with thousands of channels to watch there would be something decent on TV?

--and finally for my cat-loving friends...

It's good to laugh!

Busy Hands

Now that I can see, I've returned to crocheting. I made some false starts with toys, but I did not have the acuity to make a toy--and that made me sad. BUT, I did have the acuity to make a blanket. So I've made 3.  I made a blue and white teddy bear blanket for Linda's great grand baby.

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A heart blanket for Darlene's birthday and

Then a pink and white teddy bear blanket for my niece's grand baby

And finally, after all that practice, I had the acuity to make a toy. A tiny teddy bear for the blue and white blanket.

Never again, will I take vision for granted. It's a very special gift that needs to be cherished.

Wintertime in the Desert

It's winter in the desert. And the good news is I can see it clearly. Regular vision returned about a week ago and it's a wonderful thing. I can see the snow in the mountains. I can see the traffic in the street. I can see well enough to read. I can see -- I can see -- I can see! 

We all know the blessing of good vision, but for several weeks I had double vision.  It does not sound like a "bad thing" but trust me, it is a bad thing. One eye sees one image and the other eye sees the same image only doubled. People had 2 heads. People had 4 eyes, 2 noses and 2 mouths. Fingers seemed to grow out of hands everywhere--as a hand with 10 fingers and thumbs is NOT a good thing. Wearing an eyepatch allowed me to see single images but it was definitely limited.

Driving was of course difficult to impossible. As you already know my neighbors are a huge help and they helped me out...but as soon as I got the eyepatch I started practicing walking. Baby steps -- relearning to walk before relearning to drive. With one eye vision is limited to 120 degrees instead of 180 degrees--peripheral vision is very limited with one eye. SO when I felt like I was ready to drive I was extra careful. Thank goodness our town is small and the speed limit is low. I could make it to the store and back. Last weekend, I felt strong enough to drive all the way to the big city nearby on the interstate highway. It worked out well. I even drove to a doctor's appointment there too later in the week. 

It's a slow process. Some days I have energy...some days I don't. I think I might be healing. I want to heal faster but that's not happening. One day at a time. One day where I can enjoy looking at the snowy mountains. Where I can see a slight scree of green on the hillsides saying spring might be coming. I saw a hummingbird in my backyard the other day--I actually saw it--one pretty little hummer--flying ever so quickly thru the garden. I need to take each day as a fresh start. Go slow and enjoy what I can do and not beat myself at what I cannot do. My body is not ready for "normal" living yet, but it's getting there. It had an "event" and now I'm trying to recover from it. Thank you all for giving me encouragement and hope. Remember, we're all in this together.

Life in Geezerville: Maybe Edition

I'm feeling a bit hopeful tonight. Let me tell you why. This afternoon I drove the other DrC to the store and I waited in the car. It's far too exhausting to go shopping right now (I tried yesterday and it was not any fun). So, I stayed in the car while he bought groceries. 

While waiting for him to return, I pulled out my iPhone and started to play a game...but the car was in the shade and with my sunglasses on, it was too dark to see the screen...I took off my sunglasses. Guess what? I could see the screen without a blur or without double vision. At first, I did not believe what I was seeing, so I closed one eye and looked at the screen...then I closed the other eye and looked at the screen...then I looked at the screen without both eyes and I could see it clearly. No double vision! Then I bravely looked out the car window to see if I could see things outside without double vision and sadly, the double vision was still there--only it was better. Instead of the two images being about 8 inches apart, they were about an inch apart. This is different than what I saw on Friday at the eye doctor's office. It was a LOT different. Since Friday my eyes have started to improve.

When the other DrC came back to the car I told him of my little experiment and he was delighted. I put on my sunglasses with the patch and drove back home. All afternoon I experimented with single vision with both eyes and I've determined that I have single vision to about 30 inches. Past that mark, the double vision returns...but I can feel my eye muscles trying their best to get both eyes in focus on a point.

This evening the other DrC did a "vision test" of having me follow his fingers moving up down right and left. He said both eyes were tracking. Maybe, just maybe, my eyes are on the mend. I'm still energy-free--and I have an excuse for that now. My body is working so hard to get my eyes to work, it does not have time to give me energy too. That's my story and  I'm sticking with it. Remember, we're all in this together.

Life in Geezerville: I'm Okay Edition

 I know, it's been a while since I've written. This blog is meant to talk about my life and times in upbeat situations. It's been hard to write about upbeat situations when I'm feeling pretty low. BUT now I have something upbeat to talk about...it's about time too.

I've seen most of my doctors (one more to go on Friday) and they seem to agree on everything. I had an "event." They don't know what the "event" was, but it happened. I did not have a stroke. I do not have any serious diseases like cancer, or MS or anything else...they have all been ruled out. I just had an "event" that caused some problems and now the "problems" have to be worked out and that is going to take time. In other words, all the tests came back "normal" and I need the precious gift of time to heal the rest of the way.  Well, that's good news. I have an idiopathic condition that will get better in time. In other words, I'm recovering from something and they have no idea what it was. It's called the "art and science" of medicine and all doctors have a "practice." There--I've said it over and over again...I'M OKAY. Yay!

Given that, I should be bouncing back to my "normal" self relatively quickly, but that's not happening either. I still have double vision, (it is getting better BTW), I still get wobbly on my feet and use my walker for stability, and worst of all, I have the energy of the slowest snail or slug. I have great intentions to do something around the house only to find I have to sit down and rest every few minutes. The bottom line is my body took a huge hit and I'm on the mend. I need time to get back to where I was.

Through all of this I have two sets of folks to thank: My husband aka the other DrC,  and my wonderful friends and neighbors in  Geezerville. These folks are exceptional--bar none. The other DrC has taken on all of my "jobs" as well as his and I'm wearing the poor guy out. He's chief cook and bottle washer and everything that makes a house run. I can't do the work right now and he is. As for my friends and neighbors, they are so helpful and kind and loving and generous. I've been blessed to live in this wonderful place. Thank you all. I hope you all have a steadfast partner and wonderful friends too. Remember, we're all in this together.