Just Another Pretty Face

 Two days along.  The eye is still pretty puffy.  And the pupil is still very dilated.

But I can see top to bottom, just not very clear yet.

Unfortunately, my apprentice seems to have taken over my job.

She has finished contouring the fill over the drain line, and today starting cutting grass.  Good work Kathryn!

So folks, if you start to get occasional streaks of light in your eye, head to the doctor for laser treatment.  Your retina is trying to tell you something.  And if a shadow shows up you're in the same boat as me, with surgery likely.

In the meantime, stay well.

Update

 An interesting few days! 

After the doctor visit on Friday I spent over 50 hours (less pee breaks) in bed, turning from east to west every hour or two (or three at night).  Unfortunately, the gas bubble in my eye, while interesting to watch, didn't solve the problem.

So this morning we left at 5:30 a.m. for Mississauga (the OCC Eye Clinic opens at 6).  Spent most of the 11 hour day getting eye drops, taking tests, and parking my butt in various locations.  Saw the doctor for a couple of minutes in the morning, and finally, got all dressed up at about 2:30 p.m. for the big event.

I'm smiling, did you notice?  

Probably not the first time I've had a target on my head, but it is the first time that I knew it was for real!

Finally, they did the surgery.  As you can see, they missed the target.  Probably just as well.

So, where do we stand now?  The patch stays on overnight and the doctor will take it off when we visit tomorrow afternoon.  That might tell us how it went, but he says it will be a few months before we know for sure if the problem has been solved.  Also, another visit scheduled for May 6.

In the meantime, no golf or greenhouse work for two or three weeks.  And NO CAFFEINE OR ALCOHOL!  How will I be able to cope when the Blue Jays keep losing?

Thank you all for your good wishes as I try to manage this challenge!

Stay well.

 

Closed For Repair

 Had a couple of interesting days!

Thursday was our first golf game of the season and we had some interesting results.

First of all, the weather was phenomenal.

More importantly, Matt got a hole-in-one of a sort.

He resisted cutting the tree down and settled for a penalty stroke.

All in all a good day.

But yesterday was not.  I'll let Mardi tell the story.

We spent yesterday at eye clinics.  First off, Bud told me Thursday after golf he had a gray area in one eye.  He had a 10am appointment scheduled for Friday and when I suggested we call Dr. Arora right away, he said no, we'll go in the am.  We went to the Friday appointment for laser on the eye only to be told he needed to see a surgeon and should have gone to the hospital right away.  Dr. Arora then made 2 calls.  The first call resulted in finding the eye surgeon at St. Joe's is away so he called a doctor in Mississausa.  The second call resulted in no satisfying answer -Dr.s phone was busy so we were sent to St. Joe's  eye clinic.  After a considerable wait, (we arrived mear noon so there seemed to be many lunch breaks) we finally saw a resident about 1:30 and half way through her examination, she received a phone call from a Dr. Armogan telling her to get Bud on his way to Mississauga now!  

Off we went and arrived there about 2:55 and after the paper work was taken care of, we sat waiting with a room full of others waiting.  By this time the gray area had increased to cover about half of his sight line.  

The trip and worry was worth the wait.  Bud saw Dr. Armogan close to 5 and we were both very impressed with this young man.  Pleasant, detailed in his very specific instructions, explained procedures in detail and he wore a pair of shiny pinky gold sneakers.  Quite the character.

He agreed, detached retina.

After the examination he decided to inject gas into Bud's eye to "crush the loose retina back to where it should be".  We were sent home with a prescription for antibiotic eye drops and  instructions for Bud to lie down for 2 days - I hour on the right side, 1 hour on the left and repeat. We are to return to see him at his clinic on Monday at 6:30 am.  He thinks we should be able to avoid traffic that early. Also he thought he might give us a call on Sunday to check in.  Bud may still need surgery.

Bud put the passenger seat down and dozed.  A quick stop for the eye drops and home.  Instructions:  into bed.  Needless to say, We made that hourly turning into <2 hours through the sleep hours.

His vision is still blurry this morning but he thinks it is a little better this am.

There!  You have chapter and verse of our scary day yesterday.

O.K.  a few things to talk about.  I feel sorry for Mardi.  She has been dealing for several months wlth health issues of her friend Mary as she descended into an angry, turbulent dementia.  And she has been taking Joyce to her medical appointments, and fretting that she can't spend more time with Barb.  And now she has me on her hands.  She needs a break!  Sorry my love!

Now for my situation.  The gas bubble option is successful 60-70 percent of the time.  If it hasn't worked by Monday morning then surgery will occur.  That is successful 80 percent.  So it seems to me that blind in one eye is successful 20 percent.

We'll see (get it?).  

Stay well my friends.  That is what I'm trying to do.

A Good Day

 The first item of business is to wish my buddy of over 80 years, Wayne Hilts, a happy birthday.  Have a great day my friend!

-------------------------------------------------------

Yesterday, Kathryn and I made good progress - one more session should finish our earth moving project.   And I have found a good place to put some of the dirt that we are removing - to cover up the holes that Muskrats are creating on David's side of the neighbour's pond.

One of the holes was a foot in diameter and two feet deep.  Others were about four inches wide and deep.  It took three wagon loads to fill them.

That's just the first step, because there are horizontal tunnels connecting these holes, so the earth will settle in as rainy conditions turn it to mud.  Some day I hope to be successful in convincing the Muskrats to dig on the other side of the pond and leave this side to the Snapping Turtles.  I don't mind them making their nests here - those nests are easy to refill after the young ones hatch.  But the Muskrat network puts the mower at risk.  I could get swallowed up!

-------------------------------------------------

Today I started on the next project.  As the Pine trees along the driveway grow, they spread.  So sod needs to be removed to make it look pretty.  Started here........

........and moved it to here, where the erosion occurred.

With the new drain line that problem should be behind us, so it's time to repair.

-------------------------------------------

Tonight was our Optimist meeting, and we headed to Mount Hope to see how T.E.A.D. (the therapeutic equestrian folks that we support), does its good work.

They work with the folks in the arena.....

.........and when the weather is as good as it was tonight, they also head outside.

Depending on the situation with the rider, there may be as many as three volunteers for each one.

We got a wonderful demonstration of what the staff, and over 200 volunteers, do for the clients, day in and day out.

And after the horses were put back in their stalls, they had some fans show up.  Both Kathryn......

.......and Mardi, enjoyed meeting their new friends.

If you ever get a chance to go to the T.E.A.D. facility you won't regret it.  Great work that they do!

------------------------------------

Blue Jays lost again!  If this keeps up I may have to start watching the Leafs! 😟

Stay well.

Yoda's Friend

 A very special birthday today - my Mardi's!  No numbers allowed.

The crazy lady that I love.............

...................and the beautiful one who stole my heart!

We'll have a toast or two tonight to celebrate.

--------------------------------------------

I think that I've mentioned the work that Pat does in our building for the benefit of the Food Bank.  She diligently goes through the building's recycle to remove and cash in the bottles and cans that can be returned to the LCBO and Brewers Retail.  Look at her results for 2024 (the lower results from January 1 to April 30 are, no doubt, the result of Mardi and I not being here and contributing our empties).

Save the environment and help the needy at the same time.  Well done Pat!  

------------------------------------------------

Apparently, it turned out to be a very exciting afternoon for me.......

.........following which, Mardi and I headed up to Pat's apartment for our weekly dose of Boston Legal.

It takes a committee to tune up her TV....

.......but we did get to watch some of the show.

------------------------------------------

Unfortunately, the day ended with the Blue Jays suffering their third loss in a row.

Stay well.

Bon Voyage S.J.

 I've come to the conclusion that weather forecasts are as accurate as my golf swing!  We were expecting to have to wait until Monday to play in the mud again, but Kathryn and I managed to get in an hour yesterday morning after a pretty dry night.

Then I headed home in time to watch the Blue Jays lose to Seattle in 12 innings.  

--------------------------------------------

Today it was back to the greenhouse for another stint.  We're making good progress.

Then, Mardi and I headed to Hagersville to visit her brother Greg and Diane.  Had a nice visit.

We also went to Hagersville Cemetery to visit her parents' graves, and Stoney Creek Cemetery to visit my family's graves (Mom, Dad and Stepdad, and sister Lorraine).  An emotional time for both of us.  

Fortunately, those activities kept us from seeing the Blue Jays lose 8 - 3.  Small mercies.

-------------------------------------------

Tomorrow will be a mixed emotional day.  Granddaughter Sarah-Jean and her mom are heading out early as they start their trip to Campbell River, B.C. where Sarah-Jean will begin the next leg of life's journey as a nurse.  Exciting for S.J., but the rest of us will certainly miss her😘.  

Sarah-Jean R.N. as the sweatshirt says.  Campbell River is certainly a lucky place!

My three daughters have nixed Florida for next year and plan to instead spend the winter in a rented house in Campbell River, visiting Sarah-Jean.  Poor S.J 😏!

Stay well folks.

Teamwork

 I spent my usual hour at Trillium Hill again today.

But this time I had some help.  Kathryn is looking for exercise (silly woman) and helped me with some digging.

She dug and filled the wagon, I spread the dirt and levelled.  We made good progress.

And we met a new friend.  The Killdeer are back and on the nest already.  This is the prospective dad trying to lure us away.  

They lay their eggs on gravel where they blend in - we saw the mom in the Mum field (mom-Mum, how appropriate).  

Based on the weather forecast, it will likely be Monday before we get back to work.   No panic - I just want to finish moving the earth before the lawn cutting season begins.

--------------------------------------------

After leaving the greenhouse (with six free Lilies) I headed to the advance polling booth and cast my ballot.  Took about twenty minutes, a small sacrifice for democracy.

--------------------------------------------

Didn't watch the Blue Jays game tonight - it was on Apple TV.  But I got live updates on my computer via their website.  They beat Seattle 3 - 1.

Stay well.