A Whirlwind of Appointments

Whew, what a crazy week. It occurs to me that as of tomorrow I will have accompanied Mom and Walter on medical appointments every day for a week except for Sunday. The schedule went something like this:

• Friday - Walter appointment with eye surgeon (cornea specialist)
• Saturday - Mom had to go to the eye doctor for her eye infection
• Monday - Mom's follow-up appointment with the eye doctor
• Tuesday - Mom's appointment with her primary care doctor
• Wednesday - Walter's appointment with glaucoma specialist
• Thursday - Mom appointment with primary care doctor about a new issue. She needs a test and consultation.

The upshot of all these appointments is everybody's pretty much doing okay. Mom's eye infection is much improved although she will be on antibiotics for a while and we're keeping an "eye" on it. She had a good visit with her primary doctor but a couple (hopefully minor) new issues have come up and she needs to see him again tomorrow.

Walter's sight has been slowly improving and seems almost back to where it was before August 1. The glaucoma specialist is changing up his medications in an attempt to bring his eye pressure into normal range. The goal is to avoid long-term sight decline and maybe even have a potential for more sight improvement.

I think we're all hoping that things slow down a bit and everybody stays healthy. Everyone has been very understanding and we appreciate all the well wishes we've received from our friends.

A Tale of Two Eye Appointments

Well it's official. Mom has a raging eye infection. When we saw the doctor on Saturday morning he drained the area as best he could and put her on antibiotic pills and drops. If it's not better by tomorrow she will have to see an ophthalmologist, but she tells me by phone that it is indeed getting better. Whew. She goes back for a follow-up appointment first thing tomorrow morning.

Walter's appointment on Friday went okay. No change on the eyesight. His eye pressure has been moderately high for a while so his doctor wants him to see a glaucoma specialist again to see if there is anything more that can be done to bring down the pressure safely. He already takes 3 eyedrop medications for glaucoma. He has an appointment on Wednesday and then goes back to his regular doctor (cornea specialist) three weeks later.

Quick Updates

I was going to post a funny little story for you today but my camera went on the fritz and I couldn't get the picture I wanted to go with it. I got some new batteries for the camera and hopefully that will do the trick, so maybe I can post it sometime this weekend.

Things are hopping around here. Mom's visiting nurse called me to let me know Mom has an eye infection ... again. I saw it starting to swell on Monday and figured I may need to take her to a doctor soon. I was able to get her an appointment tomorrow (Saturday) morning. Her eye doctor will be in the office and although their schedule is full they will squeeze her in. If it's like the last couple of times she just needs some medication and it should heal right up.

Mom tells me the soreness from her broken ribs is starting to lessen, and that's a good thing. I'm glad she's starting to feel better and a little stronger. She's still not eating enough though.

Speaking of eye doctors, Walter has an appointment this afternoon. His sight has been pretty stable although we're still hoping it will improve back to the pre-August 1 levels. I don't expect anything too exciting from that appointment.

After Mom's appointment and picking up medicine tomorrow I think Walter and I are going to head to the Puyallup Fair. I hope you all have a good weekend.

Can You See the E?

As I posted back on the 18th of August Walter lost some ground with his eyesight when the doctor took away the antirejection drops Prednisolone. Since then his sight has been sometimes up and sometimes down, but not back to where it was before August 1st even though he has returned to using the drops. His most recent appointment was on Wednesday.

To give you an example of what I mean by "up and down," when the doctor's assistant gave Walter the quick chart exam at the beginning of his visit Walter was not able to make out the big E at the top of the chart. Obviously he knew what it was but if he didn't know he would not have been able to make it out.

After the assistant left the room we had a few minutes to wait for the doctor. During that time Walter yawned causing tears to flood and "water" his eye. After he did that he was able to see the E. So how well Walter's sight is doing seems in part due to moisture levels. He has drops he uses for moisture (an artificial tear gel) and he's also taking Restasis so there's nothing new to add there.

Walter's doctor agreed that we have lost some ground. He adjusted Walter's meds some more and he will go back on the 21st. In the meantime I try to be extra watchful for hazards that Walter might not see himself.

20 Years and Counting

Walter and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary last Wednesday the 29th of August. It's hard to believe it's been that long. Sometimes it seems like it was just yesterday, and sometimes it seems like we've been married forever. I wouldn't have it any other way. Walter has been the most wonderful, understanding, patient, and caring husband especially over the last couple weeks of health problems for my mother.

We had plans to take a trip to Victoria for a couple days to celebrate, but those plans went by the wayside when my mother fell and then went into the hospital. Thankfully Mom's doctor helped us out with a special letter which enabled us to get our money back for our hotel reservation.

The day of our anniversary was actually the same day my mother was transferred from the hospital to the rehab facility. So I spent most of the day in Olympia making sure that all went smoothly and getting her settled in the new place. Who knew it could take 3 hours to check someone into a rehab facility?? There were tons of paperwork and questions to be answered.

Finally I made my way to Seattle and got home in time to go out with Walter for a special anniversary dinner. One of our favorite places is Bahama Breeze. Lucky for us they serve late and their food never disappoints.

At the end of August we actually celebrate two anniversaries. The 29th is our wedding anniversary and the 31st is the anniversary of the first time we met in person after meeting online and developing our relationship over the phone. Walter first flew to Seattle to see me on August 31st, 1986. We usually celebrate by dining at Totem House Fish & Chips across the street from Ballard Locks. You see when Walter first came to Seattle I played tour host and showed him the sites in Seattle starting with the Ballard Locks. Totem House was the first place we dined together.

I wouldn't recommend it on a "best of" list (it's a little greasy for us these days) but it's nostalgic for us and fun to do once a year. Because of a hectic schedule we haven't made it out to Totem House yet but hopefully we will soon.

Walter - Eyesight Difficulties

A couple weeks ago I wrote about Walter's doctor cutting back on some eyedrops - specifically the antirejection medicine, Prednisolone. That hasn't worked out so well.

Shortly after stopping the drops Walter began experiencing some itchiness and irritation in his right eye. It looked more red to me than usual. After about a week he noticed a lessening of vision. He described it as cloudy the way his vision was before his corneal transplant in November 2005.

Yesterday we went back to the eye surgeon to have things checked out. After a quick test it was clear Walter's sight is indeed diminished - he can no longer make out the big E on the chart. The doctor decided the change was due to stopping the Prednisolone. He put Walter back on the medicine at a higher dosage - 4 drops a day instead of one. We're hoping that Walter's vision will make a quick turnaround and hopefully he will return to the level of sight he had a couple weeks ago.

I think Walter's a little anxious about this turn of events as he asked me yesterday "what if it doesn't come back"? We're really trying hard to stay positive on this one. Most corneal transplant patients are able to go off this medicine a year after surgery. It has been almost 2 years for Walter but the doctor says it's clearly not time yet. Maybe we try again in another year.

We also got a reminder that we cannot measure Walter's progress against other patients. His eyes are different from anyone else this doctor has seen because of the excessive scar tissue from Peter's Anomaly. I think this is one way that Walter wishes he were not quite so unique.

We're hoping and praying for a quick turnaround of Walter's sight.

Entering a New Phase

Walter had a checkback with his eye surgeon the other day. His sight is pretty stable now. His doctor has decided to take away the antirejection eye drop medicine he is taking. The doc left him on the medication longer than he usually does because of all the different issues for Walter's eye. But he decided it was time.

Walter has to go back in 2 weeks now to make sure that there are no ill effects from stopping that medication. If all goes well Walter's eye pressure will likely go down. That's a good thing. Walter is currently taking 3 medications (eye drops) to keep his glaucoma (high eye pressure) under control. It will be nice if he can be weaned off one or two of those.

The doctor is pleased with how the corneal graft is healing. Walter still has stitches in his eye and those are fine to stay there. As the doc put it "we are entering a new phase." With luck this new phase will mean less medicine. Yay!

Walter Takes a Tumble

Walter took a tumble this evneing while on his daily walk. He was walking past the local community college and tripped on one of those places where there's a split in the sidewalk (one paver higher than the other). He fell forward first, skinned up both hands and knees, ripped both knees of his pants, then fell back on his backside. And his biggest complaint/worry was THE PANTS!! He's been saying we need to go to North Bend outlet mall and buy him some new pants, and now this. I don't care about the pants for crying out loud!

I'm probably a little more protective than most wives in this situation because of his eyesight. I'm always wondering what activities are safe for him to do. He walks all the time and never has a problem, so I guess I shouldn't worry. But jeez!

He cleaned his wounds with alcohol (ouch!) and since he "didn't get to finish" his walk he's going back out to do the rest.

Restasis Seems to be Helping

As I mentioned in my last report on Walter's eyes, his doctor had him trying out Restasis. Walter really couldn't tell from his daily experiences if there was a change in his sight. But his exam shows that Walter has made a tiny bit of progress.

First, the doctor had Walter look at the eye chart. In the last visit he could only see the big E on the top. This time he could make out one of the two letters below it - the L. Also, when the doctor looked into his eye he said he likes what he sees. The surface of the cornea seems to be smoothing out and that's what would improve his vision. Dr. McKillop said his eye is looking the best he's seen it so far.

I love being able to report good news on this topic. Walter goes back in a month. In the meantime it looks like Restasis may be a permanent addition to Walter's eyedrop regime.

Walter Did It

I am so proud of Walter. For some time I have been asking him to come downtown and give blood with me. The Puget Sound Blood Center comes to my office building once a month and it's very convenient to take a little time out of my day to go donate. We are allowed to donate once every 8 weeks so an every-other-month visit is possible.

Walter gave blood a few times when he lived in Kentucky, but that was more than 20 years ago. Today at my urging he came downtown so we could go to the blood drive together. Before you can donate they give you a brief medical screening to make sure you are healthy enough to donate. Unfortunately, my blood count came out just below what it has to be to donate. The technician said my number was healthy for me, but not healthy enough to give away a whole pint of blood.

At first I felt a little bad that Walter was giving blood and I couldn't. It worked out fine, though. I got to stand by his side while he gave his donation. I will try again next month.

After Walter donated and he spent the requisite 10 minutes resting with juice and a light snack we went out to lunch together at a nearby diner, Bernard's. It was a fun date for both of us. We're going to do it again soon.

Our Meeting Story

One of my favorite blogs is called "Creating Passionate Users." I find lots of good inspiration there for the part of my job that involves technical training. The blog's author occasionally posts something off topic but interesting. Yesterday I found this post asking for web/personal stories. She was looking for stories about people whose lives had been positively affected by the web.

If you know Walter and me you know we met online a long time ago. Now I think that's a pretty positive outcome! I couldn't resist - I sent in our story. For those of you who don't know it, I share it here too:

My husband and I like to say we met on the Information Superhighway when it was but a dirt road. We first connected when we were both members of CompuServe in 1984. For many years they had a feature on CompuServe called CB Simulator. There were different channels you could go to and talk (type) to people. It was much like chat on the internet today. We were casual friends at first, then grew into very close friends. Things turned romantic in 1986. We communicated by email, but also by phone. The phone bills were astronomical! I remember a couple in the $800 range. Yes, that's for a month. Thank goodness long distance rate plans have changed since those days of AT&T.

Walter came to Seattle to visit me in person for the first time on August 31, 1986. He was living in Lexington, Kentucky at the time. A couple plane trips back and forth for each of us, and he moved here to Seattle in February 1987. We married August 29, 1987 and have been happily married ever since - that will be 20 years this year!

Walter is legally blind and I think it's quite possible our paths would not have crossed if it were not for CompuServe's online services. Walter still has the same email address today that he used when we first met.

Okay, that's your romantic story for Valentine's week.

Eye Report

I thought I posted on the blog last month about Walter's vision, but it looks like I did not. Walter had a setback with his vision decreasing since the first of December. It was rather scary because he seemed to have lost any gains made from the surgery. At his appointment in late December the doctor said the transplant still looked good, but the eye was red and the surface of the cornea was rough. He wanted to make sure we weren't on our way to rejection, so he increased Walter's dose of the antirejection drug to three times a day.

Walter went back to the doctor last Friday . His vision is "marginally improved" from last time. Of course I am hoping this will be a trend and it will just keep getting better until he at least has regained the sight he had after the transplant.

The doctor cut back a little on the antirejection drug. The antirejection drug increases eye pressure, and his eye pressure is too high. It's a balancing act with the meds to keep his eye pressure in a safe range yet keep the graft healthy so the eye won't reject it. Who knows how long it will take to see where Walter's vision ends up. For now we wait...

Who's Walter?

When I first started this blog, my husband was nervous about privacy issues. So nervous in fact that he asked me not to use his first name. Well I tried that, and I couldn't do it. I didn't like saying "my hubby this" or "my husband that." To me it sounded like I didn't know my own husband's name.

So I proposed a compromise with him. You see, my husband goes by two different names. His first name is Walter, his middle name is Clay. While growing up in the South his family always called him Clay. When he became an adult and went out on his own, he decided to start using the name Walter. That's how I know him - as Walter. Once in a while I call him Walter Clay. Our friends also know him as Walter. But his family still calls him Clay. I asked him if I could refer to him as Clay on the blog, and he agreed to that. That's why some of you who know me might wonder why I say Clay on the blog when I'm talking about Walter.

It has been more than a year since I've started the blog now, and I have convinced Walter that it would be a good thing to call him here by the name I know him - Walter. In future posts I will do just that. I didn't want anyone to be confused and think I have two husbands. There is only one Walter Clay. :)

Special Gifts?

Did everyone enjoy Christmas? I don't know about you, but I'm kinda pooped from all the activity! We had a busy but great couple of days.

I hope Santa Claus was good to you. Of course Christmas is not just about the gifts, but sometimes they can be pretty fun.

I enjoyed one thing that was probably not intended as a present, but I received it as one - my husband in a very jolly mood! It's harder for me to be all stressed and grouchy when hubby is happy happy happy and enjoying Christmas like a kid. Thank you dear!

I also received a very fun gift from my mother-in-law. It's a fancy digital photo frame. Something like the one at this link.

Have you ever seen a digital photo frame? It's a nice frame (mine is 5x7 size) you can put on a table top or hang on the wall. But the back contains electronics that let you load in a bunch of digital pictures and it alternates showing the photos like you would see a slide show on your computer. You can set it for how frequently the photos should change, etc. This one is supposed to play music and videos too if you want.

I haven't had a chance to open it up and play with my new toy yet, but hopefully will have a chance to do that soon. Then I will tell you more about it.

Of course giving gifts can be even more fun than receiving sometimes. For example, we got my mother a silver heart-shaped locket with a promise to provide a photo of my dad to go inside the next time we visit. She loved it.

How about you - did you give or receive any special gifts? If so, don't be shy, tell us about them in the comments!

Clay's Birthday

On Sunday the 1st of October Clay turned 54. That's 54 years young if you ask me, but Clay might put it another way.

For months Clay has been anticipating a birthday dinner at his choice - the New York Cheesecake Factory in downtown Seattle. But we got there about 5:30 and the line was out the door. Wait time was 25 to 40 minutes. Rather than waiting that long we decided to have dinner at PF Chang's which is just as nice and there was no waiting! We had a wonderful meal and came home with enough leftovers to feed us dinner tonight as well. We will get back to the Cheesecake Factory sometime soon, picking a less popular time to dine.

In addition to the dinner Clay got a carrot cake for his birthday and of course his favorite flavor of ice cream - vanilla.

The birthday gift is on its way and should be here in the next day or so - a spiffy new digital camcorder. Maybe if I'm really good Clay will let me play with it when he's not using it. :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CLAY!!