SUMMER of 2008--'TAKING IT EASY'!!!!!

This one's about MY LEFT EYE! Yep, if you hadn't heard, I tore my retina AND it was ALSO 'partially detached' & I ended up with 2 'Laser' surgeries & one, BIG, lay-you-down & knock-you-out surgery, which finally fixed it--THANK GOD & Dr. Cassell--(pronounced 'Castle')!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We've found out MORE about our PRECIOUS eyes than I EVER KNEW was possible, which is good. The MORE we know about something/of ours/in our bodies, the MORE we APPRECIATE it/them for sure!!!!!!!

So, during all this time--the last 8 weeks or more--I've been TOLD to 'TAKE IT EASY'--well, it seems that I CAN DO THAT pretty easy, as it turns out, BECAUSE my SWEET, SWEET HUSBAND did a BUNCH of 'my' stuff, along with his stressful job of running a Printing Plant & driving almost 2 hours a day, just to get there & back--plus, to 'beat the traffic', he gets us EARLY & leaves here by 6ish in the AM & doesn't get back until after 5 in the afternoon--that's ALMOST a 12-hour day, every day of the week--HE'S A HARD WORKER, that's for sure!!!!!!!!!! GOD BLESS HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And, he was so EXTRA SWEET to ME during all this time. Some days I could see pretty good out of my left eye--other days, it was like there were 2 layers of WAXED PAPER over it!!!!!!!!!!
And, then, right after my 'Vitrectomy'/'REAL' Eye Surgery I had a patch for a day covering it & then my eye lid was SWOLLEN SHUT for another 2 or 3 days & SLOWLY opened up--THANK GOD--OH, there have been LOTS OF PRAYERS said, from us & ALL our family & friends--THANK YOU TO THEM & GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!--For giving me PEACE during all my HEALING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And, I learned a BIG LESSON along the way, too!!!!!--BESIDES how IMPORTANT our EYES ARE TO US/OUR LIVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have always been pretty PATIENT with others, especially children/ours, as they grew up, I learned that--BUT, for some weird reason, I never have been PATIENT, AT ALL, with MYSELF--especially when I can't 'do' something as WELL as I THINK I SHOULD!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WELL, I LEARNED through this HOW to be MORE PATIENT with MYSELF!!
YEA!!!!!!!! And, THIS should bode me well as I keep aging!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm not saying I've got it 'down'/LICKED, but I am doing SO MUCH BETTER with it/myself than usual/BEFORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And, THE BUBBLE. What a SPECIAL 'sign' I had IN my eye that NO ONE ELSE could SEE!!!!!!!!!!
The first bubble I had looked like a puppy's paw--black shape like the back of our hands in a fist & THEN with 4 little circles at the end of where each finger/paw would be--THIS was VERY COOL & the FIRST NIGHT I turned out all the lights, it TURNED PURPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Really BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, it's PURPOSE, of course, was to KEEP my retina LAID DOWN, so it would heal properly!!!!!
And, yes, Dr. Cassell put it IN my eye with a SYRINGE & YES, the FIRST one hurt so BADLY, for a SECOND, that I ALMOST came OUT of my CHAIR!!!!!!!!!!!!! They kept telling me the first 2 surgeries/laser were PAINLESS--and, I TOLD THEM, IT WASN'T!!!!!!!!!!!!! But, the 2nd BUBBLE, after the 'real' surgery--I call it that because it was the ONLY one where I laid down & GOT DRUGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!--It was SO BIG in the beginning that it covered ALL the inside of my eye & I didn't SEE ANYTHING out of my left eye for almost 2 weeks--YIKES!!!!!!!!!!!!! There's NOTHING like LOSING an ability that you've had for over 50 years to REALLY MISS IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And, I MISSED SEEING out of my LEFT EYE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And, I'll ALWAYS REMEMBER that day--Sunday, coming out of Cracker Barrel, when I realized I COULD SEE--halfway--OUT of my LEFT EYE, AGAIN--YYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!

BUT, during all this tme, was I SURE NOT to 'over-do' & NOT to lift more than 25 pounds--Larry got to telling others I was doing SO WELL that I MUST have decided that my ARM WEIGHED 20 pounds, because I wasN'T hardly lifting ANYTHING over 5 pounds--ha!!!!!!!!!!! CUTE!!!!!
But, as I quickly found out, there's a REASON for everything they TELL you--it HURT/I FELT big PRESSURE in that eye when I first leaned down to 'casually' pick something up off our floor.
So, your body/my eye TELLS you what you can & can't do, too!!!!!!!!!

And, they also told me I could NOT fly--like for our BIG VACATION to Myrtle Beach in August--WITH the BUBBLE--and, THANK GOD, AGAIN, since last Monday, it's now GONE--I do miss it!!!

Every day was different, in some way, and I tried NOT to get depressed & NOT to gain a bunch of weight--and, was successful in BOTH those things, which I'm VERY HAPPY about!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I ended up being able to READ quite a bit, so I 'tore though' some books & was reading MUCH MORE than 'normal'--which CLICKED my brain IN & therefore, I began THINKING about some PRETTY DEEP things--NEAT, huh??!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think I even surprised Larry a few times, with the THINGS I was thinking--maybe sometimes funny, I'm sure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And, I was able to BE/get into a 'QUIET' spot where I 'lived' most of the time--JUST 'TAKING IT EASY'!!!!!!!!!!!!! THANK GOD!!!!!!!!!!! And, there are GREAT things to be said for 'QUIET' times!
Most of us don't even GET the CHANCE to get/be there, most of the time--we're SO BUSY with things we HAVE to do or the other, 'URGENT' things!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SO, this Summer of 2008 & my 'TAKING IT EASY' because of my injured eye--oh, Dr. Cassell says these things 'just happen'/'AS WE AGE' (uggh!)--NOTHING I did or COULD have done DIFFERENTLY to change things--which is GOOD to know--has been a VERY GOOD SUMMER/time for me & has STRENGTHENED MY FAITH & TRUST IN & DEPENDENCE ON & LOVE FOR OUR AWESOME GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And, has REMINDED me what a SUPER WONDERFUL HUSBAND I've been BLESSED to have/live with the last (almost) 38 YEARS & ALSO what a SUPER WONDERFUL FAMILY & GROUP OF FRIENDS we also have--who PRAYED for me & ENCOURAGED me & sent me cards & let me know they were 'concerned' for me & LOVED ME/us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU to ALL OF YOU!!!

Hope your Summer of 2008 has been MEMORABLE--for different reasons, of course--TOO!!!!!!
GOD BLESS & MUCH LOVE TO YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MamaRose