Posts in 2023 Why There Were None

I  written any posts or updated this site in about two years, so in the words of Jerry Jeff Walker, let’s see if we can get back into the swing of things, like we know what we’re doing!” The first thing that I should do is give an update on why there were no posts in 2023.

A Great Beginning with Emma’s Birth!

Last year was an up and down year. In February my daughter Elizabeth and husband Marcus had their first child Emma Katherine Rego. Emma is our fourth grandchild.I’ll say a little more about her later in this post.,

Then Came the Eye Problem

Now the downside of the year started around the birthday of my first grandchild Oliver, I believe either it was a night in either late March or early April  and we were babysitting him.  I was standing away from their 54″ TV cleaning my glasses. While cleaning them I closed my right I and surprise, surprise! When I looked at the TV it was solid gray and while looking at everything else I could see objects they all appeared grayish and darker!

When I mentioned this to my doctor, he first asked “you’re no colorblind are you?” and then stated well you need to see an ophthalmologist  about that problem! Well, that recommendation resulted in more Doctor visits this year then ever before!

First was the ophthalmologist, who didn’t know what was causing the problem. She thought maybe it was a tear in my retina. So I was off to a retina specialist. He said it was not a tear, but thought I may have had a mini-stroke, i.e. something caused the blood flow to my retina to be cut off for a few seconds.

So he sent me back top my family doctor for blood tests and back to a cardiologist. The heart test he wanted an echo-cardiogram: of my heart and valves and an ultrasound of my carotid arteries.

The results of those tests were all negative.  My blood work was all okay and there are no blockages of any valves or the carotid arteries.

And Carpal Tunnel Problems

Now in between these doctor visit I also was having major problems with carpal tunnel. My doctor said he couldn’t do anything beyond recommending wrist braces. These helped but I was still having problem, So I was off to see a wrist specialist. He said I had too options either surgery or steroid injections. I chose the later. These injections worked okay but started to wear off September and October. In November I went back to him, Again I was told surgery is my best bet but he could do another round of steroids. With Christmas looming I didn’t think that would be a good time to be recoperating from carpal tunnel surgery.

Finally, maybe an Answer to the Eye Problem

Anyway let’s get back to my eye problem. So after a trips to the ophthalmologist, the retina specialist, cardiologist, etc, I still didn’t know the cause of my problem! After my last 2023 visit to the retina specialist he told me I needed to see a nuero-ophthalmologist. So I was off to Wills Eye Hospital, I had an eye exam in early December. After the exam Dr. Sergott said they discovered a weakened optic nerve and the beginning of some cataracts. However, before they did anything with the cataracts he wanted to be sure the was nothing pressing against the optic nerve, i.e. a mass. So I was off to have an MRI!

I still haven’t spoken to Dr. Sergott about the results of the MRI, but i read the results and there is no mass! So now it;s just waiting to see what the next step is!

So you see that throughout 2023 I was occupied with doctor appointments and worry about everything. I do know now that my heart and valves and arteries, and most of my brain are ok!

While Tiring Babysitting is Wonderful

Now back to Emma. In the midst of all this my wife retired  morning in September and since then we have been babysitting Emma almost every day from 7 am until 4:30 pm. Let me tell you that is a long day for a 69 year old and 73 year old Grammie and Granddad! But we wouldn’t give it up for anything!

 

Anyway, the bottom line is all of the above combined is the reason for the lack of posts in 2023. You may find a few posts on my other site Looking Back, Moving Forward.  My hope is that as Emma gets older and I get healthier I can begin to write posts on a regular basis.