So much has happened in the last few weeks…
The Mid-Atlantic States have been jolted by a 5.8 earthquake,
The entire Eastern Seaboard has been pelted by wind, rain and storm surge of Hurricane Irene,
Our nation is still reeling from the effects of the hottest July on record,
A wide-spread, devastating drought lingers in the mid-South,
Which in itself has contributed to fires that have consumed vast swaths of land and hundreds of homes.
For all that has happened in these last 56 days, and the after effects that thousands of people will be left to sort out, it simply boggles the mind. And although it makes what follows pale in comparison, when it’s your world that’s upside down, nothing else matters.
My Life Changed Overnight
One of the rules that I made for myself when I embarked down the path of creating this website was to avoid being too personal. I’m a bit private by nature, so that isn’t a stretch for me. But something happened that temporarily halted my progress with this website, just as I was getting it underway, and I feel a note of explanation is due you, my readers.
The last post was finished on the evening of July 13th and was set to publish automatically on the website, on the following morning. I had been swatting at a gnat in the office that unwittingly owed its longevity to what I began to realize were floaters in my left eye. These were new floaters and this had been going on for a couple of weeks.
When I awoke on the morning of the 14th, there was a black semi-circular object in the bottom right corner of my left eye. It was stationary. It was there with the eye lid open. It was there with the eye lid closed. Uh, oh!
I called my ophthalmologist and was promptly scheduled to see him the next day. He performed his examination and gave his diagnosis: detached retina. Then he read me the riot act for not reporting the floaters sooner, before sending me on to a retina specialist in Salisbury.
I’ll spare you the details, but over the course of these past 56-days, I’ve had surgery at PGH, out-patient laser surgery, and several office visits. But the most difficult thing I’ve had to do was lie in a fixed position for 16-hours every day, on two occasions, for 6-days and then 10-days, respectively. Whew!
Life Must Go On
With the majority of those events behind me, I felt I needed to get out of the house for a few days. So, I scouted around and found a Bed & Breakfast that appealed to me, and I reserved a room. What a great weekend it was! Although not very far removed geographically, it was a world away in terms of location and ambience. And my hosts were most gracious and accommodating. I’ll cover this experience in an upcoming post.
The surgeries have not only repaired the retina, but distance vision in my eye has been improved. However, not so for close work, and the lens prescription for reading needs to be changed. Since the laser surgery on August 5th, and with noticeable improvement every day, I have nonetheless been forced to limit the amount of reading or close-up work I’ve been performing. Because my left eye is slightly out-of-focus, headaches soon develop if I prolong reading or computer activity. Hopefully, the office visit on the 9th will result in an approval to proceed with replacement lenses for my glasses.
Then I can resume my schedule…that is until the next event. Circumstances beyond our control can suddenly change our lives, and we can only make the best of what we have at the moment.
