Nov. 11-17, 2018
Detached Retina, Hunting Season Dropped, Botox for Migraine
Hello Friends!
Snow, Snow, Snow! It was a very cold and snowy week. It is very much WINTER here! It started out nice, but then the snow arrived!
Hunting & Dh & Immediate Care:
It started out as any ordinary week, as they often do, and by the end of the week, our little world was really upended. Thursday was the opening (gun) day for our hunters in Michigan.
Saturday was the opening day for Indiana, and Dd and Dh were scheduled to arrive Friday night. I'll type up this post a little backward with the big events first even though they happened at the end of the week and into the next week.
This health scare happened between two weeks so I'm breaking my own rule by adding in some *future* events into this post so it makes sense.
Saturday was the opening day for Indiana, and Dd and Dh were scheduled to arrive Friday night. I'll type up this post a little backward with the big events first even though they happened at the end of the week and into the next week.
This health scare happened between two weeks so I'm breaking my own rule by adding in some *future* events into this post so it makes sense.
Friday morning Dd put her suitcases and bags in the van before Dh dropped her off for her co-op classes. The *plan* was Dh would pick her up after her last class and they would drive straight down to Indiana, but Dh got the idea he should stop off at the Immediate Care (kinda like the Emergency Room) after dropping her off. Dh had been complaining about his head hurting and seeing swirling auras for the past three weeks and I'd been telling him to 'go to the doctor' each time. He thought it might have been his new glasses, reaction to cold medicine, blood pressure medication...and kept trying to fix it himself. He was totally surprised when the Immediate Care doctor told him his retina was detached and he needed to see an ophthalmologist immediately; like THAT day! The doc scheduled him to see a specialist at 3:15 pm. Dh thought the doctor might prescribe a medication or something simple so he came home and spent the day packing the van with all his hunting equipment for his upcoming week's vacation hunting. I had to drive and pick up Dd from her classes as he met with the ophthalmologist. He called us and had us meet him at the office; the vacation to Indiana was officially off. They told him to go home and lay on his left side for the whole weekend and try not to move much at all. Then Monday he was scheduled to have his cataract lens removed to make it easier for the second surgery - reattaching his retina on Tuesday. He had two different surgeons to do the two different procedures. He was told he would have to keep his head down for the next 2-3 months and had to sleep on his stomach with his head straight down. He quickly put together a table with two shelves--the top shelf with a hole in the middle for him to stick his face into to breath fresh air and the bottom shelf to put his laptop computer to watch movies. He did it really fast and built it well then got on his side and stayed there all weekend. They wanted him to stay on his left side so his torn retina wouldn't tear more and worsen his prospects of correcting his eye.
Before the surgeries, the doctors really scared us. Dh could have gone blind, could lose his eye, and all sorts of scary prospects. We were really worried, to say the least. Praise the Lord, both surgeries went well. I won't bore myself with the details of the surgery, but the important part is that the doctor filled Dh's eye with gas to hold the eye in its correct shape---kind of like refilling a basketball---and then he has to keep his head down to keep the pressure on his retina perfect for healing. Eventually, the gas will be absorbed and I guess his eye will produce more fluid to fill that space. His eye had been leaking fluid for a while before the surgery and after the surgery due to the tear and correction.
He can walk around our house, head down, but outside of our home, he has to be holding hands and being lead as he walks since he can't see where he is going. No driving, no working, plus he can't see very well out of one eye that is strained right now. I've been helping him do pretty much everything. The hardest part, so far, is nighttime. He really can't get comfortable and moves around every few hours, mostly laying his head on the dining room table in a pillow as he dozes. Prayers appreciated.
11-11-18 Drove Home From Indiana
By Sunday morning we had all thawed from our miserable experience at the wedding reception in the barn the night before. We didn't know it at the time, but Giz eventually develops pneumonia from this. Happily cozy at our hotel, we had breakfast and chatted with Giz, Grampy, and Uncle Greg from 7 am to 11 am; that is a lot of chatting and catching up. Since Uncle Greg's wife stayed up in her room and it Grampy eats lunch at 11, we decided to check out and head out for lunch and more chatting. I was ready to head home after breakfast, but Dd *really* wanted more family time and voiced how important this was to her, so we stayed. I was glad we all stayed and had a nice visit all together with Greg, April, Giz, and Grampy. I was nice to chat and get caught up on how everyone in the family is doing in detail. Usually, we only get to catch-up briefly at the annual Christmas party; which is just once a year.
11-12-18 Botox
I've been suffering from migraines since I was 12 years old and feel like I've tried everything under the sun. One thing I haven't tried is Botox shots, but I had never been offered the chance to try them either! Monday I had something like 30 shallow shots in my forehead and around my head. So far I haven't seen any difference to the amount of level of my migraines, but the doctor said it may take until I've had two more sessions for the help to arrive. There is a three month time between each session. So, maybe in 9 months I'll see improvement, if at all. I'm hoping I might be in the percentage of people that benefit from these shots! Life could be SO much better if I weren't constantly enduring so much pain. Hoping this might help; though not yet. I had migraines 4 of the 7 days this week.
Chickens:
The temperatures have really dropped this week; it is COLD! I've had to turn on the heat lamps in the chicken coop. I know the hens would all be fine without it, but poor Zeus is just a heap on the floor and really does perk up when I put the heat lamp on. He stays right under it, except for a few brief visits to the feeder. Besides the cold temperatures settling in for the season the chickens are all doing fine and laying almost as much as they were in the summer.
Play Practice:
I'm enjoying being helpful to the actors for our Christmas play for church. I have a lot of props I need to make and have been procrastinating...oops.
Garden:
I've decided to cook down/crock pot the tomatoes that have finally turned red from our summer garden and chop up all the rest that are still green for the chickens. This was my last batch of tomato paste for the year. I know I could wait another week or two for all the tomatoes to turn, but honestly, I want my sunroom back!!! I feel 'done' with gardening and processing veg for the year.
Dd 'hunting':
Saturday, Dd was *supposed* to be in Indiana hunting beside Dh. Now that he will be basically bed-ridden for weeks the trip was canceled. Dd asked Hailee to come over to our house at 6:30 am and they sat out in the woods *looking* for deer!!! They did see a buck, but it was a little guy. This might be as close as she is going to get to hunt this year.
Academic Progress:
Bible: Church, Sunday School, and Youth Program
Word of Life Bible Study each day
Volunteering:
1 1/2 hours at library
1 1/2 hours at church, Olympians program--Games
Next Week:
Monday Dh has cataract surgery.
Tuesday Dh has his Detached Retina surgery.
The healing can begin.
.......
By Sunday morning we had all thawed from our miserable experience at the wedding reception in the barn the night before. We didn't know it at the time, but Giz eventually develops pneumonia from this. Happily cozy at our hotel, we had breakfast and chatted with Giz, Grampy, and Uncle Greg from 7 am to 11 am; that is a lot of chatting and catching up. Since Uncle Greg's wife stayed up in her room and it Grampy eats lunch at 11, we decided to check out and head out for lunch and more chatting. I was ready to head home after breakfast, but Dd *really* wanted more family time and voiced how important this was to her, so we stayed. I was glad we all stayed and had a nice visit all together with Greg, April, Giz, and Grampy. I was nice to chat and get caught up on how everyone in the family is doing in detail. Usually, we only get to catch-up briefly at the annual Christmas party; which is just once a year.
11-12-18 Botox
I've been suffering from migraines since I was 12 years old and feel like I've tried everything under the sun. One thing I haven't tried is Botox shots, but I had never been offered the chance to try them either! Monday I had something like 30 shallow shots in my forehead and around my head. So far I haven't seen any difference to the amount of level of my migraines, but the doctor said it may take until I've had two more sessions for the help to arrive. There is a three month time between each session. So, maybe in 9 months I'll see improvement, if at all. I'm hoping I might be in the percentage of people that benefit from these shots! Life could be SO much better if I weren't constantly enduring so much pain. Hoping this might help; though not yet. I had migraines 4 of the 7 days this week.
Chickens:
The temperatures have really dropped this week; it is COLD! I've had to turn on the heat lamps in the chicken coop. I know the hens would all be fine without it, but poor Zeus is just a heap on the floor and really does perk up when I put the heat lamp on. He stays right under it, except for a few brief visits to the feeder. Besides the cold temperatures settling in for the season the chickens are all doing fine and laying almost as much as they were in the summer.
Play Practice:
I'm enjoying being helpful to the actors for our Christmas play for church. I have a lot of props I need to make and have been procrastinating...oops.
Garden:
I've decided to cook down/crock pot the tomatoes that have finally turned red from our summer garden and chop up all the rest that are still green for the chickens. This was my last batch of tomato paste for the year. I know I could wait another week or two for all the tomatoes to turn, but honestly, I want my sunroom back!!! I feel 'done' with gardening and processing veg for the year.
 |
| Lots of deer tracks in the snow |
Dd 'hunting':
Saturday, Dd was *supposed* to be in Indiana hunting beside Dh. Now that he will be basically bed-ridden for weeks the trip was canceled. Dd asked Hailee to come over to our house at 6:30 am and they sat out in the woods *looking* for deer!!! They did see a buck, but it was a little guy. This might be as close as she is going to get to hunt this year.
Academic Progress:
Bible: Church, Sunday School, and Youth Program
Word of Life Bible Study each day
Grace Subjects:
Geography: BJU (Bob Jones Textbook)
Algebra I: Saxon
Spanish I
Graphic Design
Introductory Logic
(Dd is doing really well in all the classes.)
Volunteering:
1 1/2 hours at library
1 1/2 hours at church, Olympians program--Games
Next Week:
Monday Dh has cataract surgery.
Tuesday Dh has his Detached Retina surgery.
The healing can begin.
.......
thank you so much for posting the apologia experiments! they were very helpful.
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