Thursday, October 25, 2012

Going Blind

Stray cat on the main island of San Juan.  J and I actually went to the animal shelter on San Juan to inquire on how to take care of the stray animals in our neighborhood.  We were told to get in touch with our shelter/clinic here and ask for a trap so that we could bring them in for a check up.  So I guess just random feeding of the stray cats is not a good thing.  As soon as we get a chance we'll stop by the vet clinic here and ask about their have a heart traps and why we need them.

Before I get into the title of my blog post for today I'll say that I took some much needed me time for myself today and dyed my hair.  I'll get back to work later today.  I'm trying to make as much stock as possible for my shop for the holiday season.  I like to give my customer base a nice choice of items.  J finally finished another chain maille bracelet that I'll be photographing and posting at a later date.  I have more jewelry and baby items to list too.

I forgot to take a picture of the roast last night.  J was fairly salivating last night as he walked in the door.  I have to admit, though I'm not a beef eater in general, it did smell good.  It tasted even better. 

J actually helped with the making of the gravy.  After I removed the roast from the dutch oven and strained out the vegetables I prepped the corn starch with the water and added it to the drippings of the marinade.  J was more than happy to stir until it came to a slight boil and thickened.  He has never made gravy from scratch before but doesn't mind learning.  Truly he isn't a gravy person at all but he does love my sauces.  Not sure what he was used to at home, maybe the jar stuff?  I know my mom would often make up the jar stuff too.

I boiled down and mashed up red skin potatoes to go with the braised beef, carrots, and onions.  Plenty of leftovers for J to nosh on tonight and tomorrow from the 4 pound roast.  Hey the meat was reduced for quick sale so I couldn't pass up the 50% off price.

Okay I guess I procrastinated enough on the post title.  So okay I'm going blind.  Don't panic I'm not going to.  It isn't going to happen fully for a long time, or I hope it won't.

I have two blind spots in the left eye.  I rather knew they were there as well I can't see out of the two spots!
My buried optic disc drusen is slowly progressing.  I now have a thin spot on both eyes with a thickening on the opposite side.  The calcification hasn't gotten worse yet but I do have to go back in a year to make sure things aren't getting even worse.

Here are a few links on the subject to tickle your brain:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22446716

http://bmctoday.net/glaucomatoday/2012/02/article.asp?f=optic-disc-drusen

http://www.albanyeyecare.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=eyecyclopedia.main&Criteria=Results&ID=194

Because I'm still young, not yet 60 when this usually hits, and the fact that my father is blind in both eyes the optometrist is worried.  Seriously there is nothing I can do about this.  Why should I worry.  I take plenty of vitamins and try to eat healthy.  Sometimes shitty things just happen. 

If I go blind at age 90 I'll be content in knowing that I've seen most everything I want to see in life.  1.6% progression rate is normal.  So it will hopefully be a while before I do lose my vision entirely.


5 comments:

  1. Sorry to hear that about your eyes :( I hope that it's a slow progression or doesn't happen at all. Hoping!

    I'm not much of a beef person, but sometimes a roast is nice :)

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    1. I'm not much of a beef person either. Tonight I'm going to make meatless lasagna.

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  2. I am very sorry to hear about your eye disorder. I work for an optometrist and have only seen one other case where a person as young as you started this slow progression. I'm hoping and praying you still have many many years of sight left! One way that may help to look at it is to think this is just another little something that makes you unique ;-) Sending you big hugs

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    1. Thanks. I too am hoping that I have many more years of sight left. If not I'll just steal my dad's braille books.

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  3. Oh no, I'm sorry. Just one more thing to add to your list of ailments. I think your outlook is to be admired. If there is not much you can do, then just enjoy all the things you can until then. I wish you healthy days ahead.

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