Health
Carl Is In Pain Again
05 10 08 04:11
Back pain this time. He thinks it’s from built-up scar tissue from surgery earlier in life. He’s had this before, but not this bad. Last time he opted not to have them surgically address it. Fingers crossed. Knock on wood. Hopefully it passes this time without needing surgery. It’s hard to see him in so much pain. I suppose that’s why I am up so late - or early, that is...
Spring Fever, Glaucoma
02 04 08 06:21
Spring fever has started to settle in! I hardly feel like being in the computer lab these days. Yesterday Patti wanted to go for a walk, so she and I walked to Euclid and back (Carl and I have a PO Box there so I could have an ulterior motive for the walk). It barely helped. I have a hard time concentrating.
I have been helping Carl plant cacti and weird desert plants in the yard. To keep up my interest, I have asked him to give me an achievable task when I am doing yard work, so it tends to be 'put this cactus in the ground here' or 'dig a big hole with the pick here' or 'bury this irrigation tube,' but that way I feel like I have accomplished something when I'm done rather than being overwhelmed by how much yard work there still is to do. It's been working. I've plated several plants and what we have done looks nice.
Our 100 dollar vacuum broke this weekend. Cheap piece 'o crap, like lots of American made stuff in the past couple decades. We used to be land of the free, now we're land of cheap shit, selfish attitudes, and stupid voters. Sigh. Anyway, I pulled out a good old Electrolux we had in the garage and ordered parts from totalvac.com ... wow, what a great company! Here's a link if you have been looking for vacuum parts. I'll be able to fix up the Electrolux and have a great vacuum that will last another 50 years without spending too much, so that's a relief!
My 39th birthday was a couple weeks ago. Quite uneventful. Carl gathered a couple of my friends, Bobbi an Kathy, and took me to dinner. Mom and Dad sent me a check, which I used to upgrade our home telephone system. It was just a nice, regular day...
Last week I was diagnosed with glaucoma. Mine does not exhibit the usual high ocular pressure. They found it last year by examining my retina. This year they confirmed it. Bummer. I went in for more tests Monday. Hopefully I have not started losing vision yet. My ophthalmologist's office is terrible, though. The staff is so rude and they are disorganized, and if something happens for which they ought to be embarrassed, they glower and fume at you like it's your fault! I have yet to have a visit with them that isn't creepy for some reason or another, and that's not an exaggeration. I've been four times and every time they have been assholes! For example: last year I was sent the results of my field of vision test, and it wasn't even filled out! It made me less confident when I got the 'normal' results, they could have been covering up for misplacing the test or something after such a stupid lapse! This year I was given a follow up appointment, they didn't data enter it, and when I showed up for my afternoon appointment I had to fish my appointment card out of my bag. If I hadn't saved it, they would have turned me away! So I am grateful they caught my diagnosis so early, but I will be looking for an office I an trust for my ongoing care now. Try to avoid Eye Associates of Tucson... oy!
OMG! LOL... I just previewed this blog entry and I come across as such a crabby capitalist! Lauding and complaining about various businesses... LOL. I'm going to leave it as is. Guess this kind of moodiness is to be expected due to Spring Fever!
I have been helping Carl plant cacti and weird desert plants in the yard. To keep up my interest, I have asked him to give me an achievable task when I am doing yard work, so it tends to be 'put this cactus in the ground here' or 'dig a big hole with the pick here' or 'bury this irrigation tube,' but that way I feel like I have accomplished something when I'm done rather than being overwhelmed by how much yard work there still is to do. It's been working. I've plated several plants and what we have done looks nice.
Our 100 dollar vacuum broke this weekend. Cheap piece 'o crap, like lots of American made stuff in the past couple decades. We used to be land of the free, now we're land of cheap shit, selfish attitudes, and stupid voters. Sigh. Anyway, I pulled out a good old Electrolux we had in the garage and ordered parts from totalvac.com ... wow, what a great company! Here's a link if you have been looking for vacuum parts. I'll be able to fix up the Electrolux and have a great vacuum that will last another 50 years without spending too much, so that's a relief!
My 39th birthday was a couple weeks ago. Quite uneventful. Carl gathered a couple of my friends, Bobbi an Kathy, and took me to dinner. Mom and Dad sent me a check, which I used to upgrade our home telephone system. It was just a nice, regular day...
Last week I was diagnosed with glaucoma. Mine does not exhibit the usual high ocular pressure. They found it last year by examining my retina. This year they confirmed it. Bummer. I went in for more tests Monday. Hopefully I have not started losing vision yet. My ophthalmologist's office is terrible, though. The staff is so rude and they are disorganized, and if something happens for which they ought to be embarrassed, they glower and fume at you like it's your fault! I have yet to have a visit with them that isn't creepy for some reason or another, and that's not an exaggeration. I've been four times and every time they have been assholes! For example: last year I was sent the results of my field of vision test, and it wasn't even filled out! It made me less confident when I got the 'normal' results, they could have been covering up for misplacing the test or something after such a stupid lapse! This year I was given a follow up appointment, they didn't data enter it, and when I showed up for my afternoon appointment I had to fish my appointment card out of my bag. If I hadn't saved it, they would have turned me away! So I am grateful they caught my diagnosis so early, but I will be looking for an office I an trust for my ongoing care now. Try to avoid Eye Associates of Tucson... oy!
OMG! LOL... I just previewed this blog entry and I come across as such a crabby capitalist! Lauding and complaining about various businesses... LOL. I'm going to leave it as is. Guess this kind of moodiness is to be expected due to Spring Fever!
Final Appointment with Dr. Siegel
11 09 07 20:27
I am so grateful that I was referred to Dr. Siegel at Southwest Shoulder, Elbow and Hand last year after I was hit by a pickup truck on my bicycle on my commute home from work. I had my last post-surgery visit today. If it weren't for Dr. Siegel and his staff, my shoulder would not be good-as-new. Something for my 'Grateful Journal,' for sure. When I had my last X-ray, I asked the tech if I could keep a copy. He was so nice about it! He made a copy and left it at the front desk for me to take on my way out. No charge! I shook everyone's hands as I left and expressed how thankful I was for the care they gave me. They are the BEST!
Dreams
26 08 07 20:59
So much has happened in the past few weeks: Staff Days at OSCR, the beginning of classes, a weekend vacation in Puerto Peñasco, Mexico, a pool party with Carl's friends, and rafting on the Salt River in Phoenix yesterday with BOTOP... but I have limited time to write as I have more homework to prepare for this week, so I just want to mention something about my dreams that I am noticing.
I used to almost never have dreams... I have always had more lucid dreams than most people I know, but I almost never was able to remember my nighttime dreams.
That has changed since my accident. I thought at first that it was because I didn't sleep well after the accident. I now sleep extremely well, though. In fact, I can sleep more than 8 hours and still crave more, which is also a new development.
My dreams are more vivid than ever before too. Last night I had a dream that I was in a chorus and could not remember my part, and in my dream I could hear the music in vivid detail, so I decided to just follow along instead of trying to read the part.
One of the best things, though, was a couple weeks ago I took control of a dream for the first time. I was looking over a precipice, I knew it was in New Mexico but didn't know where I was. Then I looked down and realized I had stepped off of the cliff. For a moment I panicked, but then I realized I was in a dream and I could do whatever I wanted, so I gently lowered myself to the ground far below, looking at the changing scenery as I descended. I woke before I reached the ground.
I used to almost never have dreams... I have always had more lucid dreams than most people I know, but I almost never was able to remember my nighttime dreams.
That has changed since my accident. I thought at first that it was because I didn't sleep well after the accident. I now sleep extremely well, though. In fact, I can sleep more than 8 hours and still crave more, which is also a new development.
My dreams are more vivid than ever before too. Last night I had a dream that I was in a chorus and could not remember my part, and in my dream I could hear the music in vivid detail, so I decided to just follow along instead of trying to read the part.
One of the best things, though, was a couple weeks ago I took control of a dream for the first time. I was looking over a precipice, I knew it was in New Mexico but didn't know where I was. Then I looked down and realized I had stepped off of the cliff. For a moment I panicked, but then I realized I was in a dream and I could do whatever I wanted, so I gently lowered myself to the ground far below, looking at the changing scenery as I descended. I woke before I reached the ground.