Big Red Dot

This week eye #1 was done.  Was I nervous, absolutely.  After all, I had never had cataract surgery before so it was all a new experience.  No matter how many times someone tells you it is the easiest surgery you will ever have, you won’t believe it until you experience it.  We were up early as we had to be at the surgery center by 7:30am and it is a 45 minute drive from here but you never know about traffic or delays so we allowed an easy hour to get there.  I have to say they were very efficient.  Check in, bracelet attached to my arm, papers signed and I was ready to go.  There was no waiting around at all.  I like that because waiting around just makes my blood pressure go up.  Next step was to get prepped.  The nurses were terrific and full of energy but also were very kind knowing that this was my first time round this block.  They put me in probably the most comfortable chair I have ever been in and then covered me with heated – yes – heated blankets.  I could have gone to sleep for a week at that point.  They put a BIG RED DOT over the right eye and I had to wear a hair net.  They put in a thingy so they could give me some happy juice and I was all set.  The doctor came in and said hi and he’d see me shortly and then the anesthesiologist – Mike – came in and said all was good and to watch for bright colors like I had never seen before.  He said some patients do.  Yes, I did.  Pretty amazing actually.  Also saw some weird square things with wiggly lines and off to the side a circle of some kind.  I did not feel a thing.  My blood pressure went from 166/80 to 114/42 thanks to the happy juice.  It seemed it was over before it began and I was wheeled out to the car and we were home by 10:30.  I slept for the rest of the day courtesy of the happy juice I think.  I could, however, see quite well out of that new eye.  It has now been 3 1/2 days and I really can see very well out of that new cataract free eye.  It just makes the contrast with the other eye much worse though.  The eyes don’t work all that well together and I think part of that is because I have been using the right eye to read for the last couple of years and the left eye for distance.  Now the shoe is on the other foot so I guess I actually did this backwards.  The only thing that is a real nuisance is all the eye drops and this is going to go on for ever.  Right now three different kinds of drops one of them 3x a day, one 2x a day and one of them at bedtime.  I have a fancy chart and I check off when I do the drops so I am keeping track fairly well.  The right eye will not be done with drops until April 12th and I get to start this all over again with the left eye in 10 days.  How confusing is that going to be?  All in all, I am very happy with the way things went and I am more anticipating the next one than dreading it.  That’s a good thing.

Exercise and Goals

I really need a goal when it comes to my walking and am getting bored with the 100 mile challenge.  Pursuant to last week’s mention of wanting to do a 1/2 Marathon walk, I have signed up for my first timed 5K which is to be held April 8th in Savannah.  I am walking with some friends from church who are also going to do this.  We hope to be able to get in some training walks.  I really have to up my game as I have gotten very slow over the last couple of months from walking Wyke with John in the mornings and we spend more time training him and talking to people than actually walking.  So I will walk with them but then I need to go out and do 5K (3 miles) of the fastest walking I can do and Bruce Springsteen is going to help me to it.  I can easily to an 18 minute mile but that is too slow to even qualify.  I need to get below 15 minute/mile which I know I can do but it would really help if I had someone like my daughter who walks fast to push me along.  However, I don’t think she can come down here for a month!  So it’s Bruce and me for awhile.  I have a few offers from folks here and I am going to take them up on it because it is always fun to walk with someone.  Maybe time to get the sticks out again because I think I walk faster with them too.  March will fly by I am sure.

It is very pretty here right now as all the flowering bushes are blooming.  I would say at least three weeks early if not a full month.  I wonder what they are doing up in Augusta to keep the azaleas from blooming before The Masters.  Our golf hole looks like Amen Corner only prettier I think.  The Great Blue Herons are very active going back and forth to their nests don’t know if they have eggs or babies in them yet but they are very busy.

 

Puppy and Kitten Update

Winchester and the kittens are getting along extremely well.  Cleo, the white one, is his favorite and she loves him back.  Most of the time she is all wet because he is always slobbering all over her.  She gives it right back and then gets him to chase her.  I love it when they are all tired out and sleeping peacefully on the couch and dog bed.  When John and Wyke went out the door this morning to start our walk, Cleo followed them to the door and howled when she couldn’t go with them.  It was quite funny.  Maybe I should get her a harness and leash so she can go with us.  I have heard of people doing that.  The neighbors will just think I have lost my mind so perhaps I better rethink that idea.  Immy was very quiet in the beginning but she has come into her own this week and is very affectionate and cuddly.  She does not play with Winchester and he doesn’t bother her at all.  I think she hissed at him once and that was the end of it.

We have made friends with the other puppies on the island and have even taken a few walks with Abby and had a play date with Chance.  All the dogs are in puppy school together and they are really doing well.  We are very lucky to have a calm and happy dog who just seems to be growing before our eyes.  All the dogs were born within days of each other and are now six months old.  Teenagers I guess.  The house feels just right with our four footed family as it is.  I hope they grow up together and stay friends.

 

Recipe of the Week

I have a request for the recipe from the dinner of last weekend which was the Pollo al Chilindron (Spanish Chicken with Sweet Peppers).  Since I did little or no cooking this week for various reasons, we were out for a Mardi Gras evening and then the surgery and we ate leftovers Sunday and Monday, I don’t have anything that I tried to cook to share unless you are interested in oatmeal.  Trying to eat that a few times a week as it is supposed to help lower cholesterol.  The delicate balance that I have is to not lower the good stuff but keep it high as it is now and just lower the bad stuff.

So I am happy to share the recipe with you.  It comes once again from The New Mediterranean Diet Cookbook Enjoy!

 

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