Journal - Graduation and Glasses and Gardening (oh my!)

Well, I’ve gotten a little behind, haven’t I? Let me see, what happened this last week?

Last Saturday, May 12, was Kylie’s graduation. It was my first time seeing the gymnasium at the new school. It’s pretty nice looking. I’m sorry to say that the band sounded terrible, nothing like the old days. Mr. Kercher would never have tolerated us sounding like that. I thought going to graduation would bring back a lot of memories, but it really didn’t I don’t seem to remember much of my own graduation. I have clearer memories of playing in the band for graduations when I was an underclassmen.

After the ceremony at the school, we all went to Bobbi and Mike’s house for Kylie’s reception. Uncle Butch and Aunt LeeDel were there so it was good to see them and to sit and visit with them for a little while. Mike had spent the whole day Friday smoking some pork for the reception and it turned out great. It was a fun day, as days with family always are.

Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday were spent watering plants, doing a little weeding here and there, and just generally watching everything grow. Of the four types of seeds we tried to start in trays, tomatoes, peppers, green onions, and strawberries, not a single thing sprouted, so I took all four trays and poured out the contents into an area I had prepared in the garden.

On Wednesday, I had my eyeglass appointment with Dr. Vaughan at the Kearney Eye Institute. He ran me through the tests and, just as on the prior week with Dr. Feilmeier, I was hitting close to 20/30. My eye is still very unstable though. Dr. Vaughan had a little trouble getting any good numbers, and he said that we could do that every day for a week and probably get different numbers each time. My eye is clearly healing and improving all the time, but it’s just very unstable. Dr. Vaughan suggested another appointment next month to see how the numbers compare, and recommended that I hold off on the glasses until things settle down a bit, which is what I decided to do. I was disappointed, sure, but not as much as you might think. I am really pretty okay with the vision that I have now, and I think I could live happily for the rest of my life with what I have now. The problem is, I need to find work pretty soon. That will be difficult, and without better vision it will be even more so. I’m not technically disabled anymore so my social security won’t continue for very much longer. I have to keep reminding myself that God will handle this, just as he has handled everything else. I’m pretty sure he didn’t give me my sight back just to have me lost my disability payments and become homeless. Right God? Right?

Thursday and Friday were filled with more gardening excitement. Oh, and I also started working out again! After my surgery last October, I had to stop working out until my eye healed for a few weeks. I never really got back into it after that, only getting on the bike sporadically. Then when I developed that infection at the beginning of March I stopped completely because there were a lot of trips to Omaha and such. On top of that I’ve been taking Prednisone, which makes me want to eat a lot. Well, lately I’ve been noticing I’m getting kind of round around the middle again and was disappointed because I had burned a lot of that away when I was using the bike regularly. So this week I finally got back on. I worked out 4 days, skipping Wednesday because of my eye appointment. They were fairly short workouts since I haven’t done it for a while, but next week I should be able to go longer.

Umm, what else? Oh yes, we have watermelons and cucumbers sprouting. All six of the cucumber mounds I planted have sprouted, and I think three of the five watermelon mounds have started. Boy I hope we get some watermelons this year! And making pickles would be fun too.

We also noticed the other day that there may be something growing where I dumped out those trays. We’re not sure, but Joni thinks it might be a pepper plant. Keep your fingers crossed!

1 Corinthians 3:7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. ESV

Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. ESV

Journal - Good News From The Doctor

Today I had my appointment with Dr. Feilmeier in Kearney. I had a morning appointment this time instead of afternoon. I was glad of that because by afternoon he’s always really behind schedule and we have a long wait. Today my appointment was at 10am and we were only in the office for about an hour altogether.

The first sign of good news came during my routine reading of the eye chart. I was still at 20/70 unaided, but on the pinhole I got a partial on the 20/30 line, my best reading since surgery. I didn’t get the whole line, and it was tough, but I got two letters so that was good.

The doctor came in and looked at my eye and before he even got to the microscope he remarked that my eye looked very white and healthy today. My eye does sometimes take on a kind of yellowish hue so that was a good sign. At the microscope he had nothing but good reports. He actually used the word “amazed” once or twice, and he also said, “We were aggressive and we won.” He went on to say that I was his “good” patient of the day, the one he would talk about on the way home to Omaha. Doc is pretty good at hiding his feelings, but I think he was pleased with what he saw today. He did find another loose suture, which he removed. I asked if it was normal for those to loosen over time and he said it definitely is.

As far as my meds, he is having me continue the Zymaxid and Natacyn drops for one more week and then stop them completely. He discontinued my Doxycycline pills and cut back my Acyclovir pills from 5 a day to 2 a day. He gave me a schedule to taper off the Prednisone pills over the next few weeks, but I’m already on a pretty light dose so I might just stop those. So after one more week I’ll have 2 Pred-forte drops a day, and 2 Acyclovir pills a day and that’s it.

I already have an appointment to see Dr. Halsted in Grand Island again in two weeks, and we made an appointment to see Dr. Feilmeier the next time he’s in Kearney next month. He said after that we can probably drop back to every month or two. Since I did so well on the eye chart today, I also made an appointment to see Dr. Vaughn at the Kearney Eye Institute for another eyeglass exam. That will be next Wednesday the 16th. The last time he examined me, the best we could do was 20/50 but it should be better than that now.

So then we came home, having had our fill of good news for the day. I went out and did the watering while Joni did some mowing. Yesterday I dug up some more of the garden and planted six mounds of cucumbers so it’s getting to be quite a bit of watering each day. I sure wish we could get some rain. Everything is looking pretty healthy though except for the mint that I transplanted to the west side of the patio. Most of those look like they’re going to die. Mint plants grow pretty well; they spread out a lot and come back each year, but I’m finding out that they don’t transplant very well. It’s a good thing we have lots of it.

Psalms 30:2 O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me. ESV

Isaiah 53:5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. ESV

Journal - To The Doctor

Thursday was cold and rainy; no good for working outside. That was okay because I had my doctor appointment in Kearney at 2:30 anyway. I worked at the computer until noon as usual then went to the basement to see if I could get anything done before it was time to go to the doctor.

I cleared some space in the main room down there so I could unroll that carpet and see how it would fit. It was just a few inches too long to go across the room, so with Joni’s help I got it cut down to the proper size and laid it down. It fits from wall to wall the short way across the room and is about 5 feet short the long way, which is more coverage than we had with the smaller piece down there. We put the smaller piece in the area right at the bottom of the stairs and it fit pretty well there. So a good portion of the basement has carpet now. And with all the bags and boxes of recyclables out of there the basement is generally looking pretty good.

We cleaned up a bit and then it was time to head to Kearney to see the doctor and run a few errands. First I wanted to go by the post office to send off an audiobook to last month’s winner at Audiobook-Heaven. I thought I knew where the post office was but found out I didn’t know after all. We drove around the area a bit but couldn’t find it.

I also needed to stop at the pharmacy to pick up a prescription so we did that next. While there, we asked the lady where the post office was and she told us. I was just a few blocks off as it turned out.

By then it was time for my appointment with Dr. Feilmeier. We arrived at the Kearney Eye Institute a few minutes early for my appointment. Unfortunately we had to wait a little over an hour to see the doctor. We hardly ever have to wait when we see him in Omaha, but on his once-a-month visit to Kearney he’s always busy. I guess that was the case on this day even though there was hardly anybody there when we arrived. Anyway we finally saw him and he reported that my eye was still largely unchanged. He said it was amazing how stable this thing has been. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad. It’s not getting any worse anyway. The second set of cultures were still not showing anything but he’s thinking at this point that the infection is fungal in nature. So he increased my Natymycin drops to six-a-day and decreased the Pred-forte to twice-a-day. He said he wants to continue to see me once a week but that I could probably see his associate Dr. Halsted when he visits Grand Island. They both operate out of Midwest Eye Care in Omaha and while Dr. Feilmeier comes to Kearney once a month, Dr. Halsted visits Grand Island once a month. They rotate so that one of them is in the area every two weeks. So next week we’ll be going to Omaha, but the following week will be to Grand Island.

We left the Institute and headed up to the mal where there’s a recycling drop-off. We had scoped out the area a few days before and found all the bins for plastic, glass, cardboard, paper, aluminum, and steel cans. We dropped off our plastic and glass and headed home. We decided to skip the post office since we were at the doctor’s office so long.

And today was a day of rest. It was sunny out but very windy and I really didn’t feel like doing much anyway. Tomorrow is supposed to be very stormy so I don’t suppose I’ll get anything done then either. That’s okay, it feels like we’ve been doing an awful lot of running and with yard and basement work in between I’m ready for a break.

Isaiah 12:2 “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.” ESV

Isaiah 40:28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. ESV

Journal - Eye Checkup

Today I had my regular checkup with Dr. Feilmeier at the Kearney Eye Institute. My eye has been looking and feeling fine so I wasn’t expecting much to happen today and that’s exactly how it went.

We arrived at the Institute a few minutes before 11am, which was the time of my appointment and didn’t have to wait very long. The doctor’s assistant took us back and asked the usual questions and checked my vision. On the pinhole test I got part of the 20/40 line, my best yet.

Then another assistant took us into the exam room and check my pressure, which was normal. After perhaps a 15 minute wait, the doctor came in. As expected, he only spent about a minute looking at my eye through the microscope and declared everything to be fine. He said I could reduce my eye drops to 3 a day (I’ve been doing 4) and said I didn’t have to come back for two months.

So everything is still progressing nicely and the doctor is obviously pleased with how things are going since he doesn’t want to see me again until March.

Journal - New Appointment

Just a quick note. Today the Kearney Eye Institute called to set up an appointment to get my measurements taken. I’m scheduled to go in Monday morning at 10:00 AM.

Journal - Another Doctor Visit

On Monday, I had an appointment with Dr. Feilmeier (pronounced file-myer) at the Kearney Eye Institute. Dr. Feilmeier’s office is actually in Omaha, but he comes to Kearney once a month since there aren’t a lot of cornea specialists around here. Joni and I arrived in time for the 10:30am appointment.
At about noon, we finally got to see the doctor. He took a quick look at my eyes through the microscope, check the pressure, and did all the basic things that happen during any visit to the eye doctor. Then we talked about surgery for a few minutes, and some of the risks involved. He told me that any surgery I get would be done in Omaha, and probably the first couple of follow-ups, but anything after that could probably be handled in Kearney. I already knew that, but he did tell me a couple of things I didn’t know.
First, he said they would probably do cataract surgery first, then the cornea transplant at another time, rather than doing both at the same time like I thought. I assumed that since they have to go through the cornea to get to the cataract, they would just go ahead and do the transplant at the same time. Instead, he told me that the cataract is handled through a small incision on the outer edge of the cornea, rather than removing the cornea completely.
Secondly, I learned that one of Dr. Feilmeier’s associates also visits this area once a month, at an office in Grand Island. The two doctors come on a rotating schedule so that one of them is here every two weeks. That made me feel a little better because I was worried about only having a doctor here once a month in case there are problems after surgery.
All in all, it was a good visit. A positive visit as you might say. I was only with Dr. Feilmeier for about 15 minutes, but already I liked him better than Dr. Halgren in Omaha. He was just better at explaining things and letting me know how everything would be handled. He said he would go ahead and put me on the transplant list since there is about a two month wait. In the meantime, he will be gathering my records from Dallas and Omaha. If he decides that any further tests need to be done, they’ll contact me for an appointment, otherwise the next time I hear from them will be when they’re ready to schedule surgery.
Oh, there was one other thing he mentioned. When we were talking about surgery, I asked if I could have a bionic eye, knowing full well there is no such thing. What he mentioned was a type of prosthetic cornea that they sometimes use now in patients that have had multiple rejections. He didn’t go into great detail, but it has something to do with a natural cornea being layered with a plastic lens. I’ll have to look into that and see if I can learn more.
Anyway, I’m scheduled to see Dr. Feilmeier again on August 11, but I may very well hear from his office sometime before that if he decides we can go ahead with surgery. Keep me in your prayers!

2 Peter 3:8-9 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. ESV

Journal - Things Moving Forward

Well, I think I’ve got my Medicare all taken care of. My coverage actually began on March 1 and I really didn’t have to do anything as far as the medical coverage goes. I did, however, have to pick out a prescription plan. In fact, I’ve spent most of this month getting that prescription coverage lined up; applying for the coverage, then applying for additional assistance to help pay for it. Then I had to pick which plan I wanted from a list that Medicare provided. That involved making a few phone calls and asking some questions. You choose a plan mainly based on what pharmacies are available to you, but also by what meds you take, different plans cover different medicines. I was able to find a plan that covered the pharmacy I currently use, and that covered the prescriptions I currently use. Then I had to call Medicare to let them know which plan I was going with. It’s all official now, I have my prescription card, and my prescription coverage begins April 1. I’ll be able to get prescriptions for $6.30, and generics for $2.50. I know Medicare has its drawbacks, but that’s the best prescription coverage I’ve ever had. In addition to that, I’ve also been trying to get an appointment with an eye doctor. I had pretty much decided I was going to go with Eye Specialists of Nebraska in Hastings. I’ve heard some good things about them and when I looked them up online I discovered that Dr. Welch, whom I have also Heard a lot of good things about, was part of that practice. I called them up last week to see if I could get an appointment, but it didn’t work out. The receptionist, Barb, answered the phone, and I first asked if they accepted Medicare. Barb said they did, but the tone in her voice told me she wasn’t very happy about it. I’m sorry to say that there are health care professionals around that don’t think much of people on Medicaid or Medicare, and Barb is one of them. After she told me they do accept Medicare, the phone went dead. I called back right away and said, “I’m sorry I think I got cut off.” To which she replied, “Can I help you?” Anyway, Barb told me that Dr. Welch was the only doctor in the office now, I don’t know what happened to all the others. Also, I thought Dr. Welch was a cornea specialist, but he’s really a retina specialist which doesn’t help me. That was for the best, I couldn’t have handled dealing with Barb on a regular basis. So this week I called the Kearney Eye Institute. They have a cornea specialist that comes from Omaha once a month. The receptionist, who didn’t seem to have a problem with Medicare, told me I would need a referral from another doctor, so I called Dr. Halgren’s office in Omaha and asked if they could send my records. Halgren’s office called later and said they had done it, so this morning I called Kearney Eye Institute, and they said the records had been received. Then we made an appointment. Since Dr. Feilmeier (pronounced file-meyer) only comes to Kearney once a month, I couldn’t get an appointment until May 9. That’s okay, this is worth waiting for. So I’m all set. Maybe it will work out this time, and maybe it won’t. All I can do is make appointments and pray. The rest is up to God. Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow;, it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. NIV