Surgery--Again

I downloaded the new java, and I still can't see the snowball!

Back from the burbs. Had a wonderful day. Really enjoyed myself, but no games. Tomorrow is a work day. Everybody had to get home at a reasonable hour. Buncha wusses.

Glad you had a good time with Sheila and family. Amazing how a few good laughs can make you feel good for days afterward.

I just got back from having the stitches removed on my chin. He pronounced it as healing nicely, better than expected at this early date. Just have to keep rubbing in some neosporin for the next week or two to help keep the scar soft.

Recommends I have 3-month check ups for a year with my dermatologist to monitor this spot and to be sure I don't have any other skin cancers popping up anywhere.

The swelling and redness reduced almost immediately when I removed the bandages and kept them off. My allergy to the bandage materials was making it worse than the results of the surgery. There is still a large indention on the corner of the chin but I'm going to wait a few months and see if it fills in on its own. Now that I can move my chin more freely without worry of stretching the stitches, I can probably massage some of the layers of fat under the skin back into place.

Glad to hear that things are healing nicely. Also glad to hear that you can keep the bandages off and avoid the allergic reaction.

Went to sleep yesterday at 3 a.m., early for me. Got up at 8:15 p.m., late for me. I guess I was tired.

Back from Bellevue.

Saw the internist. He scheduled a bunch of tests for me plus the ones I already had scheduled.

Nothing to report until I have the tests.

Going again on Friday to get my eyes checked. Waited a long time for this appointment, and it's one I desperately need. It better not snow.

Querida, how have you been managing in the snow with the appts?

So glad you had a lovely time with Shelia.

Must go to bed now, v. early start...

please do take care

thinking of you and always holding your hand Boida. love you xxxx

We didn't have any new snow here. We had a bit of an ice storm, but then it got warmer. Slush, mush, and ice. Slip sliding away.

I missed one appointment because of the weather. Trying to get to as many as I can.

Thinking about you too, Iz. Sleep.

Crossing fingers for Friday weather.
Sheila is a peach.
Sending you virtual chocolates.


A little good news, that slightly scary mammo (because of the tech's behavior, sort of excitement) is a negative, less cautiously worded than usual, got the letter today. Different facilities have different reporting styles.. I'm used to cautious around-the-block.

osso, Glad to hear the good news about the mammo. Relieved.

Sheila is, indeed, a peach. She and I are almost opposites. She sees the bright side of everything. I don't.

Back from Bellevue. Saw the eye doc. Can't see too well at the moment. My pupils are dilated. I don't have glaucoma. I do have cataracts. However, they're very small and do not present a problem with my vision.

I need new glasses. I require three pairs--seeing, reading, computing. I have to go back next week to get two prescriptions; I have only one now.

I asked a social worker a few weeks ago whether Medicaid pays for frames for glasses. She assured me that the people in the opthamology department would know. I asked. They're clueless. I also asked if I was the first person who ever asked. Oh, no, you're not.

Instead of leaving, I went to see the social worker. She's investigating for me. By the time I get the other two prescriptions, she assured me she'd have an answer.

All in all a frustating day, but glad there's nothing more wrong with my eyes than a vision change.

I couldn't see what I wrote clearly. Sorry about the possible mistakes.

Ah, dilated eyes. I know them well.. in my case, once I get inside my home and away from the freaking sun, I kind of like them being dilated since everything is suddenly much brighter for my badly dark adapting eyes. (Except, Oh! the floor is dirty!) Hard for a while to read all that well on the computer, but that passes, at least for me, in not that many hours.
Glad there's no glaucoma, and cataracts when they do develop further are usually a snap, and people are generally much much happier with their vision after getting rid of them. But one has to wait, something about them growing or hardening enough to have the cataract easy to extract.

Do you have any old frames? One optometrist back in northern california would fill prescriptions to my old frames, though I suppose most won't. That is, if medicaid doesn't just pay, you may be looking for inexpensive ways to do this.
We have a thread here somewhere about getting glasses cheaper online. I've never tried that since my prescription is for trifocals. I remember people (some?) on that thread being happy with those.

I hate to recommend it, but Walmart, where I gritted my teeth and checked it out, often have at least one row of inexpensive frames, as in ten dollars a pair. I even found a pair I liked... but they don't do trifocals either. But that lady in turn sent me to some guy (Diane and I called him the geezer) who did do trifocals at relatively little money.

3 different prescriptions!? Holy cow.

Yup, three pairs. Trifocals really wouldn't work well for me, which is ok cuz I'm not sure I want them.

When I'm working on hard copy, I could be reading for hours. When I'm working at the computer, I could be working there for hours.

Dedicated glasses make my life easier.

Also, my prescription is very complicated. Best not to get too fancy with the lenses.

Here's to working prescriptions!!!!

I found that old eye glasses thread - http://able2know.org/topic/136642-1


and here's an online place mentioned by Drewdad & Sozobe
http://www.zennioptical.com

Back from Bellevue. I had two appointments. The first was with the phychiatrist (not the therapists). I told him that I was having trouble focusing/concentrating and that I was tired all the time. He decided to put me on a very small dose of Ritalin, the med they give kids with ADD. If it helps, fine. If not, I stop taking it.

The second appointment was with the eye doc. I now have my three prescriptions. The close focus was at the max. If my eyes get worse, tough noogies on me. I'll see the social worker on Friday to get the info about what Medicaid covers.

It was a rare day. Before I went to Bellevue, I managed to get myself to the post office to pick up a check from India. Then Bellevue. Then the bank. Then the drugstore. Then the supermarket. I rarely do these kinds of things all in one day. I rarely am physically able. Today I did it.

Had to get and deposit the check. My landlord is after me. I'm three months behind in the rent. And I'm two months behind in my utility bills. Gonna be writing checks with a stomach ache.

Feh on money. Well only if you don't have any. Otherwise unfeh.

While I was waiting to see the psychiatrist, I was enlisted by the head of the Cancer Clinic to show up at a jewelry making session. The people who fund the program were in for a visit, and she wanted bodies in seats. I ended up hitting it off with one of the VIPs. And I'm making a lovely turquoise necklace. Love dat bling.

Now I'm gonna have breakfast and go to sleep.

Roberta, it's a good sign you got all that done! Walking and breathing are easier for you, then?

Good day in many ways.

Feh on money.

littlek, I walked to the post office. Three blocks. I wasn't panting when I got there. Aside from schlepping around Bellevue, that's all the real walking I did.

Not much walking, but not all that long ago, I would have been panting after one block.

An improvement.

osso, Not a bad day. I agree with the feh. I'll be able to pay my utilities bill and one month's rent. There won't be anything left--like for living. But I'll have lights and a phone and a roof over my head if the landlord doesn't get fed up.

Back from Bellevue. Saw the throat doctor. This was a new one. What a handsome young man. About six feet tall. Light brown wavyish hair. Handsome features (not pretty, but manly). Beautiful long graceful fingers with a wedding band on one of them. Did not ask him if he was old enough to vote. He almost made the three hour wait worthwhile.

BTW, my throat is fine.

BTW, again. Did I mention that the doctor was good looking?