I’ve known for years that I have cataracts. At my age, everyone has cataracts. I’ve also known for years that because edged of the retina in my right eye being glued down with a laser twice, I’m at a high risk for having that retina completely detach. Because I’m severely nearsighted, I can’t see the E on the top of the eye chart, cataract surgery is high risk for something going wrong surgery. For years, my eye doctor has been tweaking my prescription so I could put off cataract surgery for as long as possible. I get to see well for a few months, than my vision gradually gets worse until after six months I can’t read street name signs and it’s harder to see close up. Naturally, my vision insurance will only pay for one eye exam a year, one pair of lenses a year, and a pair off cheap frames every other year.
This week, I discovered I can no longer see close up for more than about 20 minutes. After that, whatever I’m looking at is a blur and everything I look at will be a blur for about a half hour. I’m having difficulty reading. E-mail. My text book. Anything where I can’t get the text size increased significantly. After much mis-information from my HMO, I had Jim call. For some reason, he gets accurate answers. I have an appointment with an ophthalmologist next month. Maybe there’s a way I can have the surgery I need without going blind.
I had said I wasn’t going to have cataract surgery until I needed a dog. Last week, I sent in an application and deposit on a future Labradoodle puppy. The breeder thinks that she’ll have a litter ready for permanent homes in the fall. First, the doodle dog gets puppy training. Don’t pee on the rug. Don’t eat the furniture. The cats are not chew toys. And later, the doodle dog gets trained to be a psychiatric service dog for me.
I can only sew for brief periods of time. I’m working on some echo quilting, and I had to stop. I know I’m not going to remember the settings on the sewing machine. So I used my phone to take a photo of the settings.
I’ve been battling depression lately, and I decided that if I can’t see to quilt, I can see to pick out fabric. Nothing really jumped out as the perfect combination, so I laid the possibilities on my sewing table yesterday. In another day or so, I’ll look at the selections again. Maybe one of the choices will be right.
As for the depression, I’m above suicidal but well below center. I’ve had my psych meds tweaked and tweaked and tweaked. The ideal is to have a high enough dose that I stay stable, and a low enough dose to keep from being a zombie. I’m not screaming and I’m not suicidal, but I’d like to have more stability than that.
Deb's Art 