The vinhale thread?

[Larimar]

Sorry, ALH. Take good care of yourself as you recover.

Ouch, ALH.  Sending healing vibes your way! I'm glad you got it checked out.

+1 to these. Wishing you a full and smooth recovery.

[mamselle]

Ye-ow.

I was thinking he might have to debride, but wasn't wanting to raise the spectre.

Still, it's better that it be done, clean start and all that.

Thinking of you.

M.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

Hope you feel better soon, ALH.

[paultuttle]

Hoping you feel better soon, AmLitHist!



My vent: Today was the last meeting of my four years of NORDP Board service. I'll very much miss serving with the other board members.

My inhale: People said several wonderful things about my board service, including things I hadn't perceived about myself in the moment (I thought I was just raising my hand and volunteering). I'm very nearly verklempt at the moment.

[Langue_doc]

Vent:  Having wounds debrided hurts, even after the use of a local.  They still hurt today.

Waving a magic wand over your foot, ALH! And other parts of your body that need some magic.

[ab_grp]

I wrote a whole bunch here, but it's too long, and I can't really separate it into vent/inhale.   In summary,

It was an arduous task to get my eye records from PA, but I finally got them.  In fact, the second batch arrived last night, my husband ran down to get them this morning, and I was able to make a copy to take to my eye exam this morning.  The appointment in itself is an inhale due to the severe backups and months or more of waiting here and the fact that the doctor was highly recommended.  I had a very thorough exam, and everything looks normal, but the doctor was going to recommend I see a retinal specialist because of some symptoms (flashing, a different kind of floater, vision loss).  He noted that the specialist would do some additional tests but would likely say things are normal as well.  He then asked about my corrected vision from before, and I had the records with me.  Yay! Unfortunately, thanks to the records I brought, the doctor now thinks I absolutely have to see the retinal specialist because my vision can't currently be corrected all the way to 20/20 for some reason. 

So, yay that I got a thorough eye exam with a good eye doctor, most eye things look very healthy and good, I can finally order glasses (bifocals since I need whatever distance correction I can get for the bad eye) and maybe read a printed book again!! (that is a HUGE inhale for me!), but not yay because I am worried that I am probably partially blind without recourse.  I'm trying not to worry too much about it at this point but have to say I am dismayed, to say the least.  I'm lucky that my good eye is so super good that it compensates well for the other one.

[Langue_doc]

ab_grp, sorry to hear about your diagnosis; hope you can see the retinal specialist soon, and get the needed treatment.

[mamselle]

Echoing that, and thinking of you.

M.

[ab_grp]

Thank you, Langue_doc and mamselle! I am holding out hope it's not something irreversible or at least not something that will continue inevitably no matter what is done.  We shall see! (or not!) But I really appreciate the kindness!! It has been a pretty depressing day.

[cathwen]

Ab_grp, I am also wishing you well.  When do you see the retinal specialist?

Years ago, I had an episode of vitreous detachment, whose symptoms are similar to retinal detachment.  But apparently vitreous detachment is not terribly serious.  The symptoms did go away on their own, and my ophthalmologist says my eyes are healthy.  For what it's worth, my vision can only be corrected to 20/30, which he thinks is acceptable. 

Again, all good wishes.

[ab_grp]

Thank you cathwen! The specialist appointment is in a few weeks.  That is interesting about the vitreous detachment! The symptoms sound really similar.  I'm glad your symptoms resolved on their own.  I'm not experiencing the weird floater or flashing anymore, and I do not think that my vision is continuing to worsen (well, I can't really say, I guess), but it's currently only correctable to 20/50 in that eye and used to be to 20/20, so I guess he is concerned about that change.  Was your vision correctable to 20/20 prior to the detachment? At least my other eye is at 20/15.  Anyway, more tests on the way and hopefully more info.  I really appreciate the kindness, information, and support!   

[AmLitHist]

Sending good thoughts, ab_grp.  I had my cataracts fixed last August (at age 60--protesting the whole time that I'm too young for this!), and everything has been good since then. That was, until last week, when my diabetes/retinal exam with the same doc shows I've started developing some diabetic retinopathy.  No floaters, flashes, etc., but it's enough that she wants to monitor me pretty closely for awhile.

I also saw the wound doctor this week--more debriding (OUCH), and another appointment for next week, but at least he didn't re-up my antibiotics, so that's good.  I saw the foot surgeon this morning, who said things seem good internally (though I'd swear I've re-torn the plantar fascia, at least a little, from the feel of it, but he's the expert). He's extending my time in the boot for another month (boo), gave me a surgery shoe to start wearing instead (yay), but the edge of it hits right on the incision that won't heal (boo), so....I don't know if that's a net inhale or vent.

Today is the 7-month anniversary of my original injury. I am SO sick of all this. Ah, well--as I always tell ALHS, "Courage, Camille."

[mamselle]

Or, as the Cowardly Lion said...(at ~ 4.00)

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLQ677I50vw

M.

[ab_grp]

Thanks, ALH! I'm sorry to hear about the diabetic retinopathy, and I hope monitoring it from the get go helps keep things in check.  I am also so sorry that you have to have more debriding done! This is a long haul recovery so far.  I hope your doctor can figure out a good non-boot surgery shoe that doesn't bother your incision.   

[paultuttle]

Sending good thoughts, ab_grp.  I had my cataracts fixed last August (at age 60--protesting the whole time that I'm too young for this!), and everything has been good since then. That was, until last week, when my diabetes/retinal exam with the same doc shows I've started developing some diabetic retinopathy.  No floaters, flashes, etc., but it's enough that she wants to monitor me pretty closely for awhile. [1]

I also saw the wound doctor this week--more debriding (OUCH), [2] and another appointment for next week, but at least he didn't re-up my antibiotics, so that's good.  I saw the foot surgeon this morning, who said things seem good internally (though I'd swear I've re-torn the plantar fascia, at least a little, from the feel of it, but he's the expert). He's extending my time in the boot for another month (boo), gave me a surgery shoe to start wearing instead (yay), but the edge of it hits right on the incision that won't heal (boo), so....I don't know if that's a net inhale or vent. [3]

Today is the 7-month anniversary of my original injury. I am SO sick of all this. Ah, well--as I always tell ALHS, "Courage, Camille." [4]

[1] Take care of your eyes! All good thoughts in your general direction regarding your health issues.

[2] There are books of Shakespearean insults. You could buy one (or check one out of a library), memorize some, and entertain yourself and the wound doc at the next debriding while letting off steam (because sometimes words that rhyme with "spit" or "truck" just aren't enough). Just a thought from the conceptual pool of "when life hands you lemons, make damn tasty lemonade."

[3] Tell your doc about how the new shoe hits the difficult-to-heal incision. Again. There must be an alternate solution.

[4] In all seriousness, I think I'm not alone in saying many of us here do actually admire your courage. It's surely not easy to maintain the levelheadedness necessary to share your often delightfully mordant humor with the world (or, at the very least, other long-term members of this academic forum) while dealing with significant pain and frustration.

____

My own inhales and vents:

Inhale: The rental and housing prices in NC's RTP area aren't shooting up quite as quickly as they were just days/weeks ago.

Vent: Apple and Facebook Meta are still coming, so there will be more traffic, more competition for housing, and more corporatist outlandishness, in general (strip malls in lower-income places, those gigantic imitation city centers/walkable outdoor malls in other places [with buildings that look like converted shipping containers], and so forth).

Inhale: Other areas of NC, the USA, and the world still exist, including more affordable ones, and my parents have finally admitted that they don't HAVE to stay in the area, they'd just like to--but they're completely aware of how finances can affect their decisions. So there's that. We've been looking at lower-priced places around the edges of the Research Triangle. You know, like in NYC and DC--where you have to drive until you can afford it. That said, there are still some affordable options, which is why this is an inhale, not a vent.