Had an early morning appointment

with my ophthalmologist, Dr Kielar, today.  I started seeing him twice a year several years ago because I had a little ocular hypertension--not glaucoma, or even high enough for drops, but the pressure in my eyes was just a bit too high.  He also follows me to see if there are changes in my retinas or eyes due to my diabetes.  This was just a brief exam--no field of vision test or picture of the optic nerve this time.  They basically numbed my eyes with these yellow drops and did the pressure check, after just running me through a quick exam to make sure I was seeing well.

He said the pressure was a little higher, but not enough for drops as if it gets too high and I'm put on the drops I'll be on them the rest of my life.  But apparently, it reads a little higher anyway because I have thicker corneas, which is genetic.  He said that's better than if they were thinner as they'd have higher pressure than the readings.  He also gave me some tips on my contact wearing (which I knew, and which I follow, thankfully, except sometimes I'm a little over my monthly wear, and so I've started changing them at the beginning of the month to be sure I don't go too long).  But I don't sleep in them or swim or shower in them at all; I even take them out for naps.  I usually do take my contacts out when I get home, which he encouraged, as 12 hours is about the limit of what they should be worn.  We also discussed amoebic and bacterial infections and what happens when they infest the eye (apparently it's extremely painful and takes 6 months just to kill amoebae, and then there may be scarring and a need for a corneal transplant.  I first was made aware of them by my optometrist, Dr Zent, who stressed drying hands thoroughly after rinsing or washing them with tap water, as any wetness could allow the parasitic infection.  Dr Kielar said you should not rinse your case with tap water, but use solution, and if you can, have two, so you have one drying at all times.  I don't use tap water on mine.  I actually just ordered a multi-pack of the solution I use, Bio-True, from Costco yesterday (that was what I needed but wasn't going to go in-store for because of my ankle).  It has two full-sized containers, one travel one, and a couple of cases.

Speaking of my ankle, I'm feeling pretty decent.  I did wear my boot today while I was out, and I remembered the secret to getting the thing on without stress. 1) Put your foot into the inner lining. 2) Put that with your foot into the plastic/rubber case. 3) Line up the bladder with the hole on the cover.  4) Lace the straps through their loop and fasten.  It makes it so much easier than trying to just put your foot in the whole thing at once.  Also, I wore short capris today, which was a mistake, and I must remember to wear long pants rather than a skirt or shorts or capris.  I have a pretty large calf and the velcro only closes in a sort of 'v' shape, leaving part of it unattached.  It doesn't hurt as far as the fit and the use, but it does rub against bare skin unless I have some cloth there.  That is not good for someone who is diabetic at all.  So again, lesson learned.  I'm glad I have till Monday to work out the kinks before returning to my job.

Okay, it's late morning and I haven't eaten anything. I'm going to go have some cereal. :)

I somehow managed

to get through Friday, which was a slow 'catch-up' day in clinic, despite almost no sleep.  It dragged by, but I got quite a lot accomplished and got to actually speak with my co-workers more than just a moment or two, which on a busy day is kind of normal.

Last night, I kept YKWIA company while he made dinner and also some soup for someone we're visiting today who is battling cancer.  I haven't seen him in about 20 years, but YKWIA were good friends for a long time and he owned the comic book store we both worked in for a while.  So we thought we'd go and get caught up, visit, and bring soup.

I was very tired before bed, and I was still hurting a bit, although stretching to get things off the printer from my chair during work did help some.  So I took three tizanidine (the recommended dose), a muscle relaxer I've been prescribed for my neck issues. and I slept like a baby, only waking up early this morning to the cat howling because the wind through the windows had shut my door and he was trapped in my room.

Today I have:

1. Gotten some medicine I forgot for YKWIA the other day at the pharmacy, as well as a small bag for myself.
2. Paid my rent [I pay half every two weeks].  I'd forgotten the deposit slip for his account (we have the same credit union, so I just transfer it), but they were able to look it up.
3. Got new lenses for my glasses (for free!).  In August 2016 I got new glasses and got the 2-year Crizal lens warranty.  It was a year before I got one scratch on it, but even though I always use microfibre cloths, they starting getting scratches on both lenses when I was wearing my glasses full-time after running out of contacts.  So, I asked about that, they traced my frames and had new lenses recut and when they came in, I just had to stop by and they popped the old ones out and put the new ones in.  Easy peasy.  I did accidentally leave my travel contact solution on their counter, as I had to take my contacts out to check the lenses were properly made, so I'll have to get some more from the store.  But the travel size that comes with the first pair of contacts is pretty small, so I needed to get more anyway as it was less than halfway full.
4. Helped close all the windows in the house, as it's about to storm.
5. Made my bed (usually I do when I get up, but I waited a bit today).

When I got home, I started to feel shaky and wonky, checked my blood sugar, and despite having eaten breakfast (a toasted blueberry bagel, cream cheese, and a banana) just two hours before, my blood sugar was 48.  So I ate a sandwich with peanut butter and spreadable fruit and drank some orange juice (not in that order).  I feel much better.  I may have to dial back my insulin further, which is good.

Now I'm caffeinating and have a little downtime while YKWIA gets ready to go visit our friend.  I don't have to do any notes today due to the fact we visited without playing the Cthulhu game last week.  Tonight I should really work on finances.  I can't pay much of anything, but I need to come up with a plan/call a couple of numbers that are incessantly dialling my phone.  And I have to figure out what to do about the taxes.

Okay, that's all for now.  Hope you're having a good weekend.  It's been in the 70s here, and was nice and clear this morning, although it's going to rain the rest of the weekend, and then the temperatures will plummet on Monday.  But still, it was nice driving weather earlier.  I had Bastille playing in the car, the window rolled down (my hair is a mess), and my sunglasses on.  Not a bad day, so far, really.

No wonder I'm having trouble seeing well

I was going through some papers up on the shelf of the computer desk and found a prescription from two years ago for the eyeglasses I'm wearing right now, and they are way too strong for distance, but too weak of a bifocal. If I understand these things, my right eye is listed as -8.00, the left is -7.25, and the bifocal for both is only +1.75. I don't have a copy of my current prescription from the other day (I need to ask for that when I go to pick up my glasses), but I do remember the right eye was -7.00 and the left was about -6.50 or -6.75, and the bifocal was going up to +2.50. Of course, while I know these are my last glasses, and the prescription is the last one I had for glasses that I filled, the actual bifocal on the glasses is 2.0--I know that because it can be read if you look at them carefully, and they said so when they examined them the other day. So I don't understand why the disparity. But it's probably helped some, too. Still, no wonder I couldn't see small print or my phone without taking the things off. Meanwhile, I checked the contacts I bought at my last appointment. The contacts that were giving me trouble are actually about the same as the new prescription, so I'm not understanding what's wrong, unless maybe the bifocal on them (they're multifocal) is off, but it's listed as high, so that should be good. I may try them again. Maybe the last prescription wasn't bad after all. But I know for certain that the exam for this one was good as far as my blood sugar, while the other was up. We'll see. And I'm not sure if the astigmatism numbers (the cylinder and axis on the prescription) change at all with blood sugar, so that could be part of it.

Today's 'ewww' story

So YKWIA called me at work and asked me how long I keep my contact lenses in at a time. I told him just the day, that technically I'm supposed to be able to to sleep in them, but I don't, and I take them out each night and clean them overnight. Mine are disposable, and I throw them out after a month or so of wear. I also do not shower in them, etc. Why did he want to know, I asked.

Amoebas devour girl's cornea after contact lenses stay in for 6 months

Student goes blind after keeping her contact lenses in for six months and microscopic bug EATS her eyeballs

Once the lenses were removed, doctors discovered that her corneas had been eaten away by the amoebas. The girl had not taken her contacts out at all in six months, including while swimming and bathing, and contact with dirty water can cause the amoebic infection. The lenses, which reduce oxygen and act somewhat like a bandage, created the an excellent breeding ground for the amoebas. This is being used as a cautionary tale by doctors to remind contact lens wearers to practice good hygiene, especially in the summer months, as that is the most likely time for them to become contaminated.

So if you're tempted to keep your lenses in for more than a month at a time, and think it's a bother to change and clean them, then 1) remember this story and 2) contacts probably aren't for you.

Not feeling the best tonight

A walk was out of the question today as I've been having a lot of pain in my knee. This has been going on since the beginning of May, and I think it's past time to have it looked at. Unfortunately, when I got home there were storms coming in, so no pool visit, either. So I watched the news for a bit and then propped my leg up on some pillows where it felt better for a good long while.

I'm hormonal, and while I was doing fine at work, interacting with my best friend, which is sometimes difficult (think dealing with Sheldon Cooper from 'Big Bang Theory' or PL Travers from Saving Mr Banks) was nigh on impossible. So I took him to an appointment and then dropped him off at home so I could go sit in the hut alone and away from folks and wait for my menstruation to begin, which it is just now starting to, so hopefully I will feel better soon. I'm not weepy or anything like that, just a little irritable and not thinking at my best.

I found out that my colleague at our hospital in Los Angeles had her position eliminated, leaving even fewer librarians in our system. Today I also found out that the job I'd applied for at the Lexington Public Library was filled. So that was disappointing, and I'm starting to feel more stressed over job security. I mean I have none, we know the library won't be going to the new building in a couple of years, but I'm afraid they'll make cuts before then, and the job hunt, while pretty active, is not going well. I've revised my résumé, which I'll update soon online, that is more concise, leaving the full list of things for more of a vita. But there's nothing in the area that I can drive to in a reasonable commute at the moment.

Tomorrow I have to:

1. Call my family doctor and make an appointment about my knee and also to get my refills renewed.
2. Call my dentist to see about adjusting the partials, which I haven't been wearing because I can't get them in.
3. Call my student loan administrator about recertifying my income contingent repayment and discuss some issues with them.
4. Call my optometrist and order new contacts.

All that in addition to a full day tomorrow at work. Then there's the season finale of 'The 100' to watch with YKWIA, assuming I'm up to company tomorrow night.

Okay, time for bed. Good night. Hopefully tomorrow will not be quite so depressing.

Tomorrow I need

to call my optometrist and order new contacts (my glasses are already ordered at the optician's) and then call my dentist and make an appointment for the restoration and crown on that troublesome molar, which the endodontist could not totally take care of. Apparently one channel is still calcified. She said if I ever had trouble with it, I would require some minor surgery. She wants to see me in a month, too. I also need to tell my dentist about the broken partial. We'll see what can be done about that. It is a temporary one, at least. And there is a warranty on the finished product of about six months, too. So hopefully it won't cost much more. I am reminded of the skeleton that Charlton Heston finds in the original Planet of the Apes, where the person had various aids to help his body's deficits, or the snake in The Seven Faces of Doctor Lao, who makes fun of the frailties of the human body. Between my eyes, my teeth, and my aches and pains, I'm feeling my age of late.

I just haven't felt myself lately. Partly it's my blood sugar, which has been higher since I changed from the Invokana to Byetta, and I haven't been eating particularly well the last couple of days, either. I'm going to try to be better on that. But even with just the medicine change, I'm suddenly up in the 300s in the morning, which is not good at all.

Tonight I went over to YKWIA's and watched 'The 100'. I hadn't seen it in a couple of weeks. It was a really good episode. I like the show quite well. It really keeps one's interest, going back and forth between the ark in space and the kids on earth who are the test subjects for whether mankind can survive in a post-nuclear world.

But now I'm home, and I think I'm going to just turn in. I'm still working on waking up early enough to do something around the house. If not, I usually stay home on Thursday nights, so I can work on it then. Friday's 'Grimm'. Saturday I've got a project already lined up, but I won't be taking A to the grocery, as he'll be out of town. Sunday may be the game, so tomorrow I should try to do the game notes. Anyway, have a good night.

Did you see this?

Google Contact Lens Will Measure Glucose Levels in Tears: Making it easier for diabetes patients to monitor dangerous blood sugar dips and spikes

Introducing our smart contact lens project

We’re now testing a smart contact lens that’s built to measure glucose levels in tears using a tiny wireless chip and miniaturized glucose sensor that are embedded between two layers of soft contact lens material. We’re testing prototypes that can generate a reading once per second. We’re also investigating the potential for this to serve as an early warning for the wearer, so we’re exploring integrating tiny LED lights that could light up to indicate that glucose levels have crossed above or below certain thresholds. It’s still early days for this technology, but we’ve completed multiple clinical research studies which are helping to refine our prototype. We hope this could someday lead to a new way for people with diabetes to manage their disease.

Can I just say, cool. And way to go Google for working on making it easier to monitor and improve health for those of us with this condition.

Not surprisingly, I overslept

So I'm getting a later start to my morning than I liked. But I'm ready to go; I have the lease signed, the books ready for the library, etc. So it's just eat a bagel and then I'm off. Brandon texted me a photo of the sunrise at their present location, which was lovely. :) I did get a couple of VERY early morning texts that I thought was him at first but it turned out to be some sort of scam to determine if my number was legitimate, I think. Someone texted a picture and another one where it tried to send a read receipt back to the person. I deleted them without sending such a receipt. If they're going to do this, I wish they wouldn't do it at five in the morning. Grrr....Then I lost a contact. I am 98% sure it is not in my eye, although now my eye is red from my searching for it. I can't see it, I can't see out of that eye, and if I put my glasses on, it's normal. But I'm not sure what happened to it. I guess it went down the drain (no, I did not close the drain--mine doesn't do that anymore). I like to never got the other one in, the first one I put in. So I had to take that out and now I'm wearing my glasses and my eyes are irritated. :(

Okay, finished with the bagel. I'm going to go to the leasing office, farmer's market, and library, then head over to my friends' house (who have already called; that's what woke me up eventually). Have a great day.

I am the only person I know

who can break a nail whilst taking out my contact lenses. Yes, really. Ouch.

What a busy day

I:

1. Took out the trash and recyclables I worked on last night.
2. Dressed up and actually wore makeup today.
3. Worked.
4. Got my box springs. The delivery guys were great. They brought it in, set it up, and then helped me put the dust ruffle on the foundation before putting the mattress on top. I hadn't been offered the haul-away by the clerk, and so they weren't authorised to take the old one away, but they did take it to the area of the complex where large items for the trash pickup are placed without charge. They rocked! Go Sears!
5. Paid my February rent a little early.
6. Purchased Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2013 through our work programme which is $9.95.
7. Bought two euro pillows to complete the bedding experience (the shams came with the bedding set I got from Gabriel Brothers a week or two ago. So did the dust ruffle, which hadn't been on the box springs because the springs of the old one would have torn it up, so it was cool that the guy asked if I had a dust ruffle to put on. I'd totally forgotten. I used one of the $5 gift cards I got when I went to Sears the other day to get some money off the pillows.
8. Made the bed. Remember how I had to borrow pillows to prop myself up when I was out with my broken ankle? Now I have pillows aplenty.
9. Picked up my contacts.
10. Filled the car up with gas. The price jumped, no doubt due to the snow forecasted. I was getting to about 1/4 of a tank, which isn't good considering how very cold it's supposed to get, so I stopped at Speedway and got some.
11. Fought my way through more rush-hour traffic than I usually go through. I took back ways but even so, there were about three instances where other drivers were just being crazy. I had to go from the hospital to Fayette Mall, then to Woodhill Plaza, then down Richmond Road home. Granted, I could have waited to get the pillows or even the contacts for that matter, but I had the time.

So, I'm home now and getting something to eat. I'm going to download the Office suite and install it. And I'm definitely trying out that bed sometime soon, maybe listen to some music. It feels much firmer, judging by the couple of moments I sat on it earlier. The foundation is much higher than the old one, which was squishy and kind of 'fell' in the middle. Now everything is nicely supported and it's all higher. I took a couple of pictures of the bed all made and happy. It's amazing how finally getting something you've needed for a good long time can feel great.

I'm practicing

Today is my first full day at the hospital as we go-live into the process for which I'll be doing data entry four hours a day in addition to my part-time library duties.

So, the good news is that I get to go in a half-hour later that I used to. I'm up and dressed and I've already gone through my Google Reader stories. I have to leave about 9:50 to catch the bus in to work, so I have a bit of time.

This is also the first time I've had the multifocal contact lenses in for more than five minutes. Things do seem clearer than with the monovision (and apparently my prescription changed, too, at least from the last pair of glasses to the new ones).

According to my optometrist, multifocal lenses are built around the fact that when you look at different distances, your pupils change size. Thus, when you look far away, your pupil dilates. When you look close up, it contracts. This is why you need good light to read by with them, and sunglasses if you're outside on a bright day, though, because of course light also affects your pupil size.

I find myself blinking a bit more and adjusting my distance a little from the computer screen, but all in all, things seem readable, which is good, as I'll spend four hours or so today putting in numbers and other entries.

Anyway, wish me luck. I'm not used to being at that one place for so long in the day. It's nice not to have to rush over to the store, and of course, I'll get off earlier than when I was working at the gas station during the week.

Productive

Today was my last half-day of work, so I:

1. Went to an appointment with my optometrist. Because of the data entry work, we are going with multifocal contact lenses and gradated bifocal glasses (I don't care about lines in terms of vanity, but the no-line ones are supposed to be better for dealing with the different distances of book, computer, and driving than simple bifocals). I'm using my insurance for the glasses, and paying for the contact lenses through my flexible spending account. I had to have new glasses--my last pair broke at the hinge and I'm using a very old backup pair that I can barely read through (thank goodness I'm not driving today; I left the old glasses on after they did the dilation and even with the little bendy shades they give you, could barely make my way around as a pedestrian.) I got Transitions again on my lenses, so with the insurance that came to $211 (it was $445, whew!) The lady took my old glasses and will try to repair them as a backup for around the house (the temples won't match). I have the trial pair of multifocal contacts now; the glasses should be in withing 7-10 business days. I have an appointment in the morning a week from now to check and make sure the contacts work for me, and if so, I'll order the new ones then.
   
2. Got my hair cut, a bob right at the nape of the neck/chin length.
   
3. Caught a bus downtown to the main public library, which had a book on hold for me. I asked the lady at the desk (they've totally changed the circulation area with the new self-checkouts) if there was any way to route the other hold to Eagle Creek (I'd forgotten to designate it as my home library, so it defaulted to Central). She was able to and also changed my default to Eagle Creek. Still, I'm glad I went down there. The sidewalks around downtown are being worked on all over so it's a bit of a pain, but the library looked nice and they had a version of Horse Mania, with foals decorated by schoolchildren. A full-sized encore of Horse Mania (the original was in 2000) is being produced for unveiling as of tomorrow in advance of the World Equestrian Games, which will be hosted by Lexington. Anyway, several of the foals were in the library and were well done. Plus there's the Foucault pendulum to enjoy. So it was fun.
   

Must admit I'm a bit tired. I've come home, eaten, and I'm tempted to take a nap, although it's a bit late for one.

I just had a bit of a close call

turning right from Palumbo to Man O'War. A car was turning right on to Palumbo and it seemed to be the only one on the road, so I started turning, when a car came out from behind it and nearly squashed me. Fortunately I am somewhat 'grandma'-like in such turns normally, and they were able to slow down, so nothing impacted and no one got hurt. Nothing like a near-accident to chase away the afternoon doldrums.

I'm getting ready to go to job #2. I left job #1 a little early because I was ahead on my time. Tomorrow I have a web conference over at UK from 2-4, so I'll get some extra time in then, too. I didn't want to be *too* far ahead. The main thing I did was order books today and waded through the rest of the e-mail I got during my PTO on Thursday and Friday. Fortunately no interlibrary loans got routed there, since I forgot to set the library to not receiving. I've done several borrowing ILLs since I got back, though.

Oh, yesterday I was positively bouncy, as I got another 13 hours of sleep on top of the 11 1/2 the night before. I was apparently exhausted. I came home at 7 pm Sunday night and was in bed by 8. But I got a lot accomplished on Monday, including an eye appointment. I have been wearing glasses the last several years but had decided to try contacts again, and it was time for my check-up, so it seemed a good opportunity. I'm in a trial pair of monovision contacts, which is an alternative to bifocal lenses. Basically the dominant eye (in this case my left) is fitted with a contact for distance vision, whereas the non-dominant eye (in this case my right) is fitted with a lens tweaked for near vision. It takes the brain about a week to really get used to both lenses working together. You don't look at anything with one eye--that's important. In order to get used to it, you have to look with both eyes. About 20% can't deal with them, from what I've read, but I seem to be doing alright. Yesterday was a little blurry but I chalk that up to having my eyes dilated. Today is much better. I'm doing fine with the computer screen and with traffic signs. It's not quite as clear as my glasses, but I expect that to improve. We're trying the monovision because I've started having trouble reading small print near me and have been holding things out a little further to see them better, a sure sign that I, like other forty-somethings, am having changes to my vision due to ageing. The only concern that came out of the eye exam is that my eyes' pressure is a little high, but she said that 1) they're at the same pressure, which is good, and 2) my optic nerves look good, so there's no real indication of glaucoma as yet. Still, she wants me back in 6 months for just the pressure tests to make sure everything is fine.

I guess that's it until tonight. Because of tiling (and a lack of paint coupled with my schedule), I won't be painting tonight. It looks like Thursday may be the next day. Have I mentioned that I hate painting dark colours on walls like burgundy? Three coats already and no complete coverage. It took five last time; I think the results will be the same this time. Each time has been over primer (last time dark, this time lighter) and with Sherwin-Williams' highest quality paint. Sigh. Well, it should be well worth it in the end, at least. :)

Sorry I haven't posted much

I've been painting a project that includes a home library, hallway, bath, and closet, so that's quite a bit of work. I've finished the library and closet. I'm actually rather enjoying it, though, except for the paint on my hands and in my hair. But I'm getting so good at it I can paint and only get a very small amount of splatters anywhere on the floor.

Today I was taunted by two crows as I came out of work. It made me think of counting crows--one for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl, and four for a boy, five for silver, six for gold, and seven for a secret never told.

The weather today was beautiful, in the mid-70s, mostly sunny, and breezy. I feel so alive on days like this. That, coupled with a beautiful full moon, made me feel very connected to nature today.

Tomorrow I work both jobs, then I paint more on Thursday. I work on Friday (the new truck night at the store) and on Saturday, and then I'm off from the store until Tuesday. Next Wednesday I have an eye appointment; I'm going to try to go ahead and get contacts, something I haven't had in awhile. I'm intrigued by the new extended, 30-day wear contacts made of breathable polymers I have a certificate for a month's supply, so I definitely want to ask the doctor about that. I'll also have him do a diabetes screen on my retinas.

I found out the other day that I'm getting a 4.5% raise at the hospital, which translates to about $30 a pay period after taxes. That's on top of the market raise I had in January, which was $1 an hour or about $40 per week. It offset the rise in deductions for my health flexible spending account to cover an increase in co-pays for my health insurance. My boss thinks this will go into effect on Thursday's deposit. That would be great, as this week I need to pay my rent and possibly my electric. I may also be getting a bonus at the store, if I've figured my time frame correctly.

Speaking of electricity, I called Kentucky Utilities today to make a payment arrangement just in case I can't pay until next Wednesday. They had a recording stating that as a result of the oeconomic hardships faced by their customers, they have suspended shut offs for non-payment, to be resumed some time in April. I thought that was nice.

Okay, it's late and I should go to bed. Goodnight.