I was not looking forward to another surgery on my left eye until things started going downhill in July.  The problem was, none of the doctors knew what was causing the problem.  The cataract didn’t seem much worse than a few months earlier, if at all.  After going from one specialist to another, it was determined it wasn’t a glaucoma issue or a retina issue.  Lets just hope it is the cataract that is the issue.

I’m having the cataract removed on 15 April (so I guess I’ll send our taxes in early…)  There is also a possibility that I’ll have another DSEK (endothelial transplant.)  The donor endothelia will be in the OR, just in case.  Evidently, removing the cataract risks damaging my now 70 year old endothelia (along with the other common risks associated with this in most people and specific risks for unique individuals, such as myself, with other eye issues.)

I am disappointed that I have to wait that long for the surgery.  I joked with Dr. Ayres that I was ready to have it yanked on Wednesday.  I’m sure I have been less than pleasant to be around at home.  Tonight, I was home alone while Eliz, the kids, and a few of Jane’s friends went to see Alice in Wonderland — I miss going to the movies.  My frustration level is high and it takes me so long to do many basic things.  I am so ready to get the cataract out, it is hard not to get excited.  I’m trying to temper the excitement, since it only leads to disappointment after the surgery (at least after the last three.)

Surgery No. 14 is Set is a post from: ICantCU.com | © 2009, ICantCU.com. All Rights Reserved.

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Post tags: Alice, alice in wonderland, cataract, cornea transplant, Dr. Ayres, Dr. Garg, Dr. Ruffini, DSEK, eye, frustration level, issue, Jane, retina, retina specialist, surgery

On Wednesday, I’ve got an appointment with my GP.  It was postponed from 10 Feb due to the little bit of snow we had (not to mention the lack of power and heat too.)  When I saw Dr. Rist on 9 Dec, she told me to lose weight.  Since then I’ve eaten only about 1500 calories per day.  On days that I did some physical work like shovel snow, move our store inventory, etc., I would eat more calories as a reward.  As of this morning, I am down 41 pounds.  I’m interested to see what she says.

Jake is spending the week living at school, something he will have to do for his junior and senior years at Westtown.  We dropped him off on Sunday and will pick him up this Sunday.  He was really looking forward to it.  Then, when we got there, he noticed a Super Nintendo game system (circa 1991.)  The seniors whose room he and his friend are staying in left them a note saying that they could play with the system.  We have a couple of games from the video store that Jake has always wanted to play, but we never had the system (well, we had it, but upgraded to something else before he was born.)  I’m worried that school work might not be first on his mind this week.  Eliz picked him up some candy from BJ’s the other day.  You know, BJ’s doesn’t sell anything in small amounts.  She got him a variety bag of candy bars (not the fun size, the normal size) and a bag with god know how many packages of Skittles in it.  He posted today on Facebook that he was selling the candy.  Prices were $.50 for candy available in the school store and $1.00 for candy not carried in the school store.  I’m interested to see what he does with the funds, though his intentions could be philanthropic.

Jane found her letters from Tabitha tonight.  Tabitha was conjured up when Jake literally lost his first tooth.  It either fell out onto the ground or he swallowed it with his lunch that day at Granite Run Mall.  He was disappointed because he was so looking forward to putting it under his pillow for the toothfairy.  That night, after he went to bed, I wrote a letter from Tabitha, a toothfair from the North American office.  I expected it to be a one and done sort of thing, but when he lost his next tooth, we was just as excited to get another letter as he was to get the money.  And of course, if you do it for one, the other has to have it too…  Jane actually got a letter or two before she even lost a tooth.  She would sometimes leave notes for Tabitha under her pillow.  Jane laughs at the letters now, but she had fun reading them tonight.  She said each one had a little education, like Sesame Street.  I also would include things that I thought would boost their confidence and nudges on nutrition.  One day I’ll post them or publish them.

It is amazing how easy 700 words comes off my fingertips these days…  So much for a short update.  More later this week on the retina appointment.

This and That is a post from: ICantCU.com | © 2009, ICantCU.com. All Rights Reserved.

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Post tags: aunt jemima treatment, candy, day, Dr. Ayers, Dr. Garg, Dr. Rist, Jake, Jane, Jemima, nintendo game system, North American, PAM, retina specialist, school, Sesame Street, shovel snow, store, super nintendo game system, Tabitha, week

I would often shovel our elderly neighbor’s driveway first because of the “payment” I would receive.  Fresh-baked, homemade gingerbread men.  Wow were they good.  They were usually done by the time I finished shoveling our driveway.  One time, my dad came home early and noticed I had done the neighbor’s driveway first and asked why.  I told him because he couldn’t bake.

This last week has been great.  Two huge storms with plenty of snow.  Jake, Jane, and I started shoveling Saturday around noon (I had shoveled once on Friday night while Eliz was picking up Jake from school after he attended the school play Little Shop of Horrors.)  The three of us shoveled for about an hour and then Jane had to go inside to get ready for a Bar Mitzvah which she was attending at 5:00pm.  Jake and I continued shoveling so Eliz could get out and get Jane to her friends house to carpool to the service (thankfully the party was postponed until noon the next day.)  Jake and I cleared enough snow so Eliz and Jane could get out and had the whole driveway clean by the time Eliz was ready to pull in after returning from dropping Jane off and looking for a new shovel.

With yesterday’s storm, Jane and I went out to shovel.  I did most of the shoveling while Jane did some, but concentrated on building a snowman.  We were outside for a little more than an hour and had cleared a good portion of the area of the driveway by the garage doors and a path to the street.  I intended to go back out, but our power had gone out.  After resting for 10 minutes or so, Eliz said we should play a game.  The choices were Life, Monopoly, and Risk.  I am not a fan of Life and we thought Risk would’ve been too hard without power and little outside light due to the dark gray clouds and heavy snow coming down.  Monopoly it was!

We had fun playing for over an hour.  We stopped for a tea and hot chocolate break and as we started to play again, the power came back on.  We took a few minutes to power up the computers in the office and check for any sales on ForYourSalon.com (we had some!)  We resumed playing around 4:00ish.  After another hour, Jake was broke.  He went and watched Ghostbusters that was playing on cable.  Eliz, Jane, and I played on.  Jane was just about broke, but then she landed on Free Parking, where we start off with $500 and then add all the fines and taxes to the pot.  She scored nearly $3000!  She was down to one monopoly, but now had cash.

At around 6:00pm, the power went out again.  We continued to play with flashlights and a candle providing us light.  Eliz took too many rides on the railroads (all owned by me) and was living it up in hotels on Boardwalk, Park Place, Oriental Avenue, and Pennsylvania Avenue (also owned by me,) so she went broke.  With Jane only having one monopoly, she wasn’t bringing in enough cash.  I believe a stop at my hotel on Boardwalk finished her off.  It was the longest I’ve ever played.  It was probably three to four hours long, not including breaks.  It was awesome.  Had the power not gone out, we probably wouldn’t have played (and even if we did, we definitely wouldn’t have played that long.)

Today we all went outside around 10:45am to clear the driveway.  The area we shoveled yesterday had about eight or nine inches on it and was much easier to shovel today since it was lighter.  The rest of the driveway, included the path to the street which was covered over and as high as the non-shoveled areas, wasn’t as easy.  Snow had drifted in some areas and yesterday’s snow was still heavy and much icier.  It was so tiring mainly because of piles of snow along the driveway that we had to throw the shovel-full of snow over were so tall.

While we shoveled, we joked around with one another and talked at times.  We finished off the driveway and the area in front of the mailbox (in time to get one check and a blizzard of bills today.)  We went inside to rest for a few minutes and decide on lunch.  We ended up at Five Guys in Lawrence Park.  Even the ride there was nice in the heated car.  The restaurant had the heat cranked and it felt great there too.

The power had come back on just before we left for lunch at 2:00pm (I had to open the garage door manually, but by the time Eliz backed out and I came in to close the door manually the power was on,) so when we returned, it was back to work.  It was nice to see we had a few more sales to acknowledge since the power had gone out.

All in all, it was a fantastic 24 hours.  Without the power, we spent more time together as a family.  We worked together to clear the driveway (even though Eliz shouldn’t have shoveled since she is still getting therapy for her arm.)  It felt good to be with the kids without them wanting to bolt for their computers or a video game and me not taking another call or updating the website.  I guess we probably wanted to do that, but we couldn’t.  No matter, I still enjoyed the time together.  I can’t wait for the next snow.

Lots of Snow, No Power is a post from: ICantCU.com | © 2009, ICantCU.com. All Rights Reserved.

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Post tags: 70's, bar mitzvah, driveway, elderly neighbor, elderly neighbors, Eliz, ForYourSalon.com, garage doors, gingerbread men, Jake, Jane, Lawrence Park, little shop of horrors, Oriental Avenue, payment, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Avenue, power, shop of horrors, shovel, snow, time, winter

There were plenty of other things I could do then that I miss terribly now.  I still love sports, I just can’t participate anymore.  I used to go to about 30 Flyers games a season.  Even then I couldn’t see the puck, but I could follow the game and enjoyed going.  I’ve been to three since 28 January 2003.  That date was the last home game before my surgery.  It was the last game I “saw” (and it was a bad game — a 3-0 loss to Tampa Bay.)  I’ve been to two Phillies games at Citizens Bank Park, one this past season when they played Baltimore (and lost 6-5.)  A friend had two extra tickets and Jane wanted to go (it was her first Phils game, but her second O’s game.)  It was great seeing her get into the game and get excited, and I enjoyed spending time with my friend and his son.  As far as the game went, I pretended like I knew what was going on, but I didn’t.

My whole life was about trying to maintain my vision.  Glaucoma cannot be fixed or reversed.  I remember as a kid I used to ask my eye doctor if anything new had been developed that could improve my vision.  The answer then is the same as it is now: not yet.  Maybe some day.  On that day back in 2003, we tried.  It just didn’t work out the way we hoped.

Seven Years Ago Today is a post from: ICantCU.com | © 2009, ICantCU.com. All Rights Reserved.

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Post tags: bad game, Baltimore, citizens bank park, eye, game, glaucoma, Jane, last game, phillies games, season, surgery, Tampa Bay, trabeculectomy

The next day, I started counting every calorie.  Before we go out for dinner, I look up the calories at the restaurant we’d like to go to eat.  If the restaurant doesn’t have the calories listed on their site, we usually pick a place that does instead (and go to the place that doesn’t list the calories only after doing some strenuous activity which would give me some extra calories to eat.)  I usually eat a salad for lunch, which consists of a bag of Fresh Express or a similar brand, some mushrooms, sometimes some peppers, sometimes some walnuts, and either balsamic vinegar or a low-fat dressing.  Breakfast is either two Dannon Fruit-on-the-Bottom yogurts (280-300 calories total,) McCann’s Steel Cut Irish Oatmeal (two servings = 300 calories,) or two eggs with low-fat cheese (about 240 calories.)

Dinners are are anywhere from 500 to 800 calories (unless I’ve been doing some physical labor…)  It was apparent early on that I couldn’t do this without knowing some foods serving size.  Sure, a Gardenburger on a Martin’s roll with the low-fat Cracker Barrel cheese was easy to figure out (100+140+80=320,) but what about a serving of walnuts?  So I bought a scale from Amazon.com.  So, back to the walnuts.  I serving is 180 calories.  Serving size is 30 grams.  30 grams is a better than average handful of walnuts!  Half a serving will do on my salad…

Snacks include blueberries, grapes, celery with salsa, raspberries, blackberries, an apple, a grapefruit, cassava chips (these — available from Whole Foods – are my fav,) pretzels (both gluten-free and regular,) pumpkin seeds and air-popped popcorn.  Grapes are my single most favorite food.  It is absolutely horrifying how many I used to eat as a snack at night.  Now I usually have 100g-200g, depending on how many calories I’ve got left to “spend.”  The other fruits I’ve mentioned also are things that I used to snack on before and have just lowered the amount I eat at a given time.

I have always drank plenty of water, between two and three litres per day, which I still do.  I also drink hot tea in the morning (a Teavana blend,) and evening (Stash Lemongrass and Ginger Tea, Eliz’s fav and sometimes hard to find.)  I don’t add anything to either of those “cups” of tea.  In the afternoon, I sometimes have either Red Rose black tea hot or cold.  I add lemon juice from half a lemon.  If I’ve got 50 calories to spare, I might add honey to the hot tea.

There are certainly things I haven’t had since I started the 1500 calories per day.  Some I miss, like the Apple Chai Infusion from Starbucks.  Maybe once I work some exercise into my daily routine, I can get that again…

My goal is to continue at the 1500 calories per day for as long as I can take it (and Eliz and the kids can take me…)  I’m not sure why I’m doing this.  I think it is more for the challenge than being fat.  I don’t think that I’ve felt any better or worse since I started losing the weight, but I have noticed that I have more energy.  I still get a little more than five hours of sleep per night, except on the weekends when I sometimes get eight or nine hours.  I’ve already gone from my clothes being snug to just right to I-might-need-smaller-size.  I guess I can still do somethings…

I’ve Lost Over 30 Pounds (without cutting any body parts off!) is a post from: ICantCU.com | © 2009, ICantCU.com. All Rights Reserved.

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Post tags: Apple Chai, Apple Chi Infusion, balsamic vinegar, calories per day, cracker barrel cheese, day, doctor, Ginger Tea, irish oatmeal, low fat cheese, Martin, Rose, tea, water, Weight

I had a blood test last week to test for a whole bunch of things including Lyme  disease, diabetes.  According to the less than warm and fuzzy card I received in the mail on Saturday from my doctor’s office, everything was normal.  I have to tell you that I get more personalized mail from Publishers Clearing House.  I was kind of hoping there would be something in the blood test that might give a clue to my vision.  No luck.  I will call my doctor tomorrow to see if she can elaborate further on my test.

At this point, I’m also wondering about what to do about making a living.  I would love to try to continue to build ForYourSalon.com, but that has become increasingly more difficult for me to do.  I haven’t really worked for anyone but myself and Eliz since 1985.  What could I do?  More importantly, who would hire me?  I’m interested in your opinion.  Comment here or over at Facebook (www.facebook.com/davidbenj) if you are a friend.

Small Update on My Vision is a post from: ICantCU.com | © 2009, ICantCU.com. All Rights Reserved.

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Post tags: cornea specialist, day, glaucoma specialist, publishers clearing house, retina, retina specialist, specialist, test, vision, Xibrom

Again, I was unable to read any of it until I flipped the pinhole cover down.  Like magic, the E appeared.  I then said I know the next line is S and L, but I can’t see it.  She told me I was wrong.  What!?!  It’s not S and L.  Now I had to know.  I moved the pinholes all around until it was as clear as it was going to be for me.  I guessed O for the second letter.  Try again.  D!, I said next.  That was it.  The first letter (don’t ask me why I don’t read them in order) looked like it could be an O, G, or C.  I guessed G in hopes of it being the GD line.  No such luck.  C was my next try and that was it.  Kelly mentioned that this chart is made up mostly of similar letters that repeat often, so my usual deduction that I’ve got a one in 26 chance which increases with every letter doesn’t work.  I’m actually going to have to read them.

Once I was finished with the eye chart, Kelly took us to another waiting room, where Eliz read me the story of the Penn State mascot in a recent addition to ESPN magazine.  Before we could finish, we were called to see the doctor.  Dr. Garg asked me about my issues and mentioned that he had spoken to Dr. Pro about me.  He explained that even though my right eye doesn’t do much he still wanted to check it out.  Since my cornea is really cloudy and I have a pretty mature cataract in it, they would use an ultrasound to have a look.  He also explained a test they’d run on my left eye, to check for changes in the macular pigmentation.  Dye is injected via an IV (that’s iv, not roman numeral for 4) and pictures are taken.  After he mentioned the dye, I remembered that I had this test before.  The images are wicked.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have a flash drive on me to get the images.

I went into another exam room to have the ultrasound and then back to the second waiting room to wait on the angiography.  After a 10 minute wait, Tom called me back to have the angiography.  He took a couple of images of my eye before putting the dye in.  The dye made me feel nauseous for about a minute.  Tom took more images and left to give someone an OCT scan (which took him all of five minutes — about 1000x faster than mine took on Monday.)  He then came back into the room I was in to get two more pictures.

I waited in the angiography room for a few minutes until they called me to see the doctor again.  He explained what he thought was going on.  He increased my use of one drop to three times per day and added another drop to try and get the swelling down in the retina and cornea.  He suggested that I wait on having the cataract removed until I see him again in six weeks.

After three hours, we were out of there.  We headed down City Ave to pick up Jane from school.  She called me just before the ultrasound and said she wasn’t feeling well, which I knew when she left for school.  I also knew we’d be right down the street from her and could pick her up after the appointment if she couldn’t last the day at school.

After I spent an hour, or so, at home (at which time I found out my mom had gone into the hospital — more on that below,) we headed over to Viva Salon in Springfield.  They’ve been having a problem with a hydraulic base that was still under warranty.  We swapped out the bad base for the good one that has been in our car since the move and headed to my next eye appointment.

I had scheduled this appointment with John Ruffini, another NPHS alum, to talk to him about the cataract surgery (and before I knew of any retina issues.)  He had a look at my still dilated left eye and we discussed my options and the problems that could arise from taking out the cataract.  He also thought it was best to see how the eye reacts to the increased drops and new drop.  I have put off scheduling the cataract surgery because of moving the business and the fact that it could undo the partial cornea transplant.  My left eye has endured seven operations over the years, with another one imminent.  I’m tired of going through these procedures and the recovery with mediocre success.  The risk/reward factor isn’t great, though I would do anything to preserve any sight I still have.

After leaving John Ruffini’s office, we made a delivery in Holmes and stopped by a salon in Milmont Park to look at a styling chair that needs replacing.  We returned home at about 4:00 pm and had an alarm company tech waiting to convert our system.  It took him about two hours (the whole story will have to wait for another time.)

We were finally able to head to Riddle to visit my mom.  She went to the hospital at around 8:00 am this morning because she was having shortness of breath and chest pains.  The doctor wanted to keep her overnight for observation.  She seems to be okay, though uncomfortable because of the shingles.  We are hoping to pick her up and take her home tomorrow.

A Long Day is a post from: ICantCU.com | © 2009, ICantCU.com. All Rights Reserved.

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Post tags: 1964, C.  I, cataract, chart, congenital glaucoma, cornea, Dr. Ayers, Dr. Garg, Dr. Pro, Dr. Ruffini, Eliz, espn magazine, eye, Holmes, Jane, John Ruffini, Kelly, L.  Now, Media, Milmont Park, nether providence, Penn State, penn state mascot, Providence, Queen, queen of babylon, retina, retina specialist, Riddle, room, Rose Garden, Springfield, Strath Haven, StrathHaven, swelling, Teavana, Tom, Viva Salon, Wallingford, wills eye

Dr. Pro recommended a couple of retina specialists at Wills Eye, who also have an office at the Pagoda Building in Bala Cynwyd.  It was too late in the day to get an appointment today, so I’ll call them tomorrow and set something up.  I’d like to get something quickly to stop further decrease in my vision.  I already have an appointment with my local ophthalmologist, John Ruffini, on Friday and will discuss the scan, my options, and the cataract (which was the original reason I made the appointment.)

Time to See a Retina Specialist is a post from: ICantCU.com | © 2009, ICantCU.com. All Rights Reserved.

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Post tags: appointment, bala cynwyd, call, cataract, congenital glaucoma, cornea, cornea transplant, Dr. Ayers, Dr. Pro, Dr. Ruffini, eye, iop, John Ruffini, late in the day, retina, ruffini, swelling, wills eye

My OCT scan from 11 Jan 2010.

Image of My OCT Scan is a post from: ICantCU.com | © 2009, ICantCU.com. All Rights Reserved.

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Post tags: bellies, butts, caption, cataract, cornea, Dr. Pro, glaucoma, image, mine, New York, OCT, pagoda building, retina, update, vitreous retina, wills eye

My good fortune was that the machine was brand spanking new and both Irene and Todd had not yet mastered it.  Irene couldn’t get a good set of images and kept asking me if I was diabetic, which I am not.  She then said that the cataract in that eye must be really dense, because they couldn’t get a clear image.  She then decided to dilate my eye.  (This test was only for the left eye.  The right is waiting for the Six Million Dollar Man eye and I haven’t spotted those at Radio Shack yet.)  Dr. Pro had asked that the eye be dilated, but Irene thought it wasn’t necessary at the beginning.  While my pupil was dilating, Irene stepped out of the room.  Todd, Eliz, and I talked about the machine.  I asked Todd a question and didn’t get a response.  Eliz then answered for him.  Seems he didn’t realize I couldn’t see him and he nodded yes to answer my question.  After about 10 minutes, Irene walked back in, but Todd wanted his turn on the machine, so Irene coached him.  He couldn’t get a good image either.  Irene’s turn again.

After about 10 to 15 minutes of trying, we were asked to go wait in another waiting area.  We only waited there a couple of minutes and then it was back into the hot seat for me (and I didn’t stumble in the room this time since my eye was dilated…)  Finally, Irene was able to get the correct images the doctor ordered.  I asked if I could have one put on my flash drive.  Irene said no, but said she’d print one out.  As she looked through all the images, she realized that they weren’t that good.  She asked if she could try again on getting a good image.  At this point, either Eliz or I mentioned the Endothelial transplant from December 2008.  She then said that might be why she couldn’t get a good image.  Whatever.  She got some images she was happy with and printed one out for me…  In black and white!  The doctor will have a look in a day or two.  I’ll call on Wednesday to see what the story is.

I’ve got a scanner issue that is stopping me from uploading the image.  Hopefully I’ll figure it out tomorrow and have the image up here then.  I know it doesn’t look like this image:

OCT demonstrating normal retinal architecture.

My OCT scan from 11 Jan 2010.

So now I have to wait to hear from the doctor.  My image is a bit more “hilly” than the image above.  I’m hopeful this is the reason for my latest issue.  I also hope this can be fixed.

OCT Retina Test is a post from: ICantCU.com | © 2009, ICantCU.com. All Rights Reserved.

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Post tags: adventure today, caption, cataract, cornea, Dr. Pro, Eliz, eye, glaucoma, good fortune, image, Irene, machine, OCT, retina, room, surveillance camera, thin red line, Todd, waiting area, wills eye