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| On the way in from chores this morning. |
It snowed heavily all afternoon and evening yesterday.
I had an eye appointment at 4 PM for an in-office glaucoma procedure called selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT), and since I very much wish to retain my vision - and the volunteer driver was not at all worried about the driving conditions - I went ahead with the appointment.
During that ride I thought about all the years I travelled to Cambridge and back, working on my Master's degree and teaching sections in the evenings. It was 75 minutes each way on a clear day with no traffic. During those years I drove through countless storms - one semester I know it snowed nearly every Wednesday evening, because that was a teaching night for me and I drove through every one of those storms. Now being a passenger on a 10-minute drive to an eye appointment had me gripping an armrest and trying to speak normally to the driver who was not at all concerned about the inches of snow over slush on the roads, cars sliding sideways, and poor visibility. Maybe it's a matter of one's current "normal"? Regular commuters have probably been slipsliding through a lot of weather this year.
This is not a barncam image, it's me in the barn with Mallow and Violet.
Campion, Azalea, and Lily are beyond the fence.
We are all contemplating our options.
The laser procedure itself was painless; now just a few days of eyedrops and waiting for the blurring to diminish. The doctor has been tracking pressure in my eyes for several years and always decided it was "borderline" for glaucoma, so we decided against lifelong daily medication (eyedrops) until there was greater concern. However, during my 6-month post-cataract surgery checkup last week he saw a change and gave me the option of - right now! - either going on lifelong drops or having the SLT procedure first, which may turn out to be all I need. Now we go back to tracking.
Meanwhile, on this sunny Wednesday morning we've got several more inches of snow to wade through, and a forecast for temps in the low 40s (!) this afternoon. Cannot imagine what it will look like here in the hours and days ahead, but at the moment the entire world is coated with ice and the sun is shining and I'm enjoying the view.
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I'm very glad you had an intrepid driver. The years I had the petcare service I was out several times a day in any weather, barreling through snow and ice storms. Couldn't do it now.
ReplyDeleteI hope your procedure fixes the glaucoma.
Thanks, Liz.
DeleteIf it reduces the pressure in my eye, it will do all that the drops could do, and may have that effect for several years. Fingers crossed.
DeleteMy grandparents had glaucoma. My grandfather managed his with the drops, but my grandmother had the procedure which worked very well. But I doubt she had the drama of a perilous ride!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Leigh! It's encouraging to hear this. I didn't know anything about SLT until last week.
DeleteYay for vision. I hope you don't have to do anything tomorrow!
ReplyDeleteFriday update: Just cancelled my dentist appt (one hour from now) because the driver couldn't get onto her own road due to ice.
DeleteI hope the procedure does what it's supposed to. My mother had glaucoma and I sometimes wonder if I'm destined for that too but so far so good.
ReplyDeleteI'm told early warning and treatment is key, so a good reason to keep up with routine eye exams.
DeleteGlad your eye doc has been tracking you with regular exams. I'm two months out from cataract surgery and it's amazing how bright the world is (even without all that snow - not to mention the ice). Chris from Boise
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you are enjoying the effects of cataract surgery! I am also a fan.
DeleteLooks like a lot has happened while I've been AWOL from the blogosphere! I was on Twitter (yes, I'm stubbornly sticking with the original name!) just now trying to figure out what has happened to all the people I used to see there, and you popped into my head. No wonder I haven't seen your tweets, you haven't been on there! So I came on over here to catch up and was happy to find you still blogging. I posted last month for the first time in nearly a year. What with one thing and another. Hope your eye surgery does the trick for you. I know lots of people who have had glaucoma, cataract, and retina surgeries; and it's pretty amazing! YOU are amazing, you certainly don't let weather hold you back!
ReplyDeleteSo nice to hear from you, Jean! The twitter diaspora meant losing contact with many, many people, all around the world, so it's always lovely to rediscover friends. I'm on bluesky but only a bit and insta even less, but decided to try to keep comptonia going as long as i can string words together.
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