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
Showing posts with label healing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label healing. Show all posts
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Journal - Dr. Halsted
On Thursday we traveled to Grand Island to see Dr. Halsted. Dr. Halsted, if you remember, is an associate of Dr. Feilmeier from Midwest Eye Care in Omaha. Dr. Feilmeier visits Kearney once a month while Dr. Halsted visits Grand Island on a rotating basis so that one of them is in this area every two weeks.
We left home at 11am for my 12:30 appointment at Proffitt Eye Center. As it turns out, that office is just a few blocks away from Central Catholic High School, where we were last week for District Music Contest. We arrived at 12:00.
The office was busy and we had quite a wait. It was about 1:30 before we were taken into an exam room, but from there it was only about 10 minutes before the doctor came in. The report was encouraging.
Two weeks ago my vision tested at 20/200 and pinholed to 20/50. Today I tested at 20/70 while still pinholing to 20/50. The pinhole test is supposed to tell what my best possible vision might be with corrective lenses. The doctor checked me out and said the spot in my eye looks to be healing over nicely. Of course, this is the first time he’s seen me so he didn’t have much to compare to, but I got the feeling he was expecting something worse from what he had heard from Dr. Feilmeier. Aside from the bad spot, he said the rest of my cornea is looking very good and the sutures are secure. He said that this spot may have been a flare-up as a result of the herpetic virus that showed up at around the same time. He didn’t adjust any of my meds because that is Dr. Feilmeier’s place to do, but he would recommend backing off the Natycyn when he spoke with Dr. Feilmeier. All in all, it was a good and encouraging report.
And that was it. We got back home at about 3pm. The day was cloudy and gray and much cooler than the last two so I didn’t mind missing a day of working in the yard. Joni and I needed a break from that anyway as we are both a little sore and tired from our exertions.
Psalms 107:19-20 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He sent out his word and healed them ESV
Exodus 23:25 You shall serve the Lord your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you.
We left home at 11am for my 12:30 appointment at Proffitt Eye Center. As it turns out, that office is just a few blocks away from Central Catholic High School, where we were last week for District Music Contest. We arrived at 12:00.
The office was busy and we had quite a wait. It was about 1:30 before we were taken into an exam room, but from there it was only about 10 minutes before the doctor came in. The report was encouraging.
Two weeks ago my vision tested at 20/200 and pinholed to 20/50. Today I tested at 20/70 while still pinholing to 20/50. The pinhole test is supposed to tell what my best possible vision might be with corrective lenses. The doctor checked me out and said the spot in my eye looks to be healing over nicely. Of course, this is the first time he’s seen me so he didn’t have much to compare to, but I got the feeling he was expecting something worse from what he had heard from Dr. Feilmeier. Aside from the bad spot, he said the rest of my cornea is looking very good and the sutures are secure. He said that this spot may have been a flare-up as a result of the herpetic virus that showed up at around the same time. He didn’t adjust any of my meds because that is Dr. Feilmeier’s place to do, but he would recommend backing off the Natycyn when he spoke with Dr. Feilmeier. All in all, it was a good and encouraging report.
And that was it. We got back home at about 3pm. The day was cloudy and gray and much cooler than the last two so I didn’t mind missing a day of working in the yard. Joni and I needed a break from that anyway as we are both a little sore and tired from our exertions.
Psalms 107:19-20 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He sent out his word and healed them ESV
Exodus 23:25 You shall serve the Lord your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Journal - Working Out
So with our latest trip to Omaha over and our tire problems taken care of, we began a new week with a few days to rest up and relax before doing it all over again.
I decided to begin the week by working out. No, not exercising exactly, I haven’t been doing very much of that since my surgery. I’m talking about working outside! Monday turned out to be an absolutely gorgeous day, temps in the upper sixties and a light breeze instead of the gale force winds that we have so often. This spring I have been out in the yard a time or two just doing little things like picking up limbs or raking or edging the sidewalk. It’s been a long time since I could do anything like that. I was blind during our first two-and-a-half years in Nebraska, and before that we lived in city apartments with no yard to work in anyway.
My first project for Monday was the wishing well. In our back yard, out toward the road, someone had put a wooden wishing well. It was just an ornamental one, although I couldn’t tell if someone had bought it or actually built it. It was about 5 feet tall and perhaps 3 feet across the middle. Sometime during the last winter it had blown over in a windstorm and when Adam tried to set it back up we discovered it was completely rotted and just wouldn’t stand anymore. So Joni pulled the truck out there and I picked up all the pieces into a 50-gallon bucket and set it in the back. Then Joni drove it around to the incinerator and I tossed it on top of some trash that I had already set to burning. It was so dry and rotten I knew it would burn up good and it sure did.
Onto that I started throwing some limbs and branches that had blown down. We have four different piles of limbs sitting around of all the blow down from the last three years and I’ve been working at getting them burned up. Each time I burn trash or leaves or something I throw on some branches from one of the piles. On Monday I finished up the first pile and got a pretty good start on the second. Most of the branches are small enough to just throw in but a few had to be cut up, which I did with my handsaw, the only saw I have.
After I had decided I had done enough burning for the day there was nothing left to do but wait for the fire to go down. The wind was light but I didn’t want to go in the house and forget about it. While I was keeping on eye on it I decided to get out the lawn mower and do a little mowing. The week before, I had gotten the mower out and done the little bit in front of the house, but hadn’t gotten to the much larger back yard yet. So I started in and got about half of that done before I was just plum tired out. Gone are the days when I could just mow and mow for two or three hours. It’s kind of fun to mow again although I have a little trouble with it. As I mow, I can’t really see the lines very well and it’s hard to tell where I’ve already been exactly. I end up missing patches or mowing over patches that I’ve already done. I don’t really mind very much, it’s just so good to be doing something again.
So with half the back yard done, I put the mower away. The fire was mostly out by then so I raked at it a bit and then took the hose and sprayed all around the incinerator just to make sure nothing caught and my workout was finished. I was out for about three hours all together and had a good amount of color on my skin, mostly red. That’s something else I haven’t done for a long time and I loved it! It wasn’t a bad burn, a little itchy and hot but not really painful at all. Four days later it’s mostly turned brown and hasn’t begun to peel yet so maybe I’ll get to keep it.
So that was my workout. It was such a beautiful day in so many ways that I felt truly blessed. This farm has been a really wonderful thing for us. I can’t imagine a better place to have spent my period of blindness, or my current period of recovery. The peace and quiet, the closeness to God and nature, and the feel of the sun on my back as I work in the yard. Do you suppose God planned it that way right from the start? Of course He did! He knew what would be best for us even if we had our doubts, something He has proven to me time and time again. I just can’t wait to see what else He has in store for us! Oops, patience…patience…
Romans 8:28 we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. ESV
Luke 12:22-23 And he said to his disciples, "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. ESV
I decided to begin the week by working out. No, not exercising exactly, I haven’t been doing very much of that since my surgery. I’m talking about working outside! Monday turned out to be an absolutely gorgeous day, temps in the upper sixties and a light breeze instead of the gale force winds that we have so often. This spring I have been out in the yard a time or two just doing little things like picking up limbs or raking or edging the sidewalk. It’s been a long time since I could do anything like that. I was blind during our first two-and-a-half years in Nebraska, and before that we lived in city apartments with no yard to work in anyway.
My first project for Monday was the wishing well. In our back yard, out toward the road, someone had put a wooden wishing well. It was just an ornamental one, although I couldn’t tell if someone had bought it or actually built it. It was about 5 feet tall and perhaps 3 feet across the middle. Sometime during the last winter it had blown over in a windstorm and when Adam tried to set it back up we discovered it was completely rotted and just wouldn’t stand anymore. So Joni pulled the truck out there and I picked up all the pieces into a 50-gallon bucket and set it in the back. Then Joni drove it around to the incinerator and I tossed it on top of some trash that I had already set to burning. It was so dry and rotten I knew it would burn up good and it sure did.
Onto that I started throwing some limbs and branches that had blown down. We have four different piles of limbs sitting around of all the blow down from the last three years and I’ve been working at getting them burned up. Each time I burn trash or leaves or something I throw on some branches from one of the piles. On Monday I finished up the first pile and got a pretty good start on the second. Most of the branches are small enough to just throw in but a few had to be cut up, which I did with my handsaw, the only saw I have.
After I had decided I had done enough burning for the day there was nothing left to do but wait for the fire to go down. The wind was light but I didn’t want to go in the house and forget about it. While I was keeping on eye on it I decided to get out the lawn mower and do a little mowing. The week before, I had gotten the mower out and done the little bit in front of the house, but hadn’t gotten to the much larger back yard yet. So I started in and got about half of that done before I was just plum tired out. Gone are the days when I could just mow and mow for two or three hours. It’s kind of fun to mow again although I have a little trouble with it. As I mow, I can’t really see the lines very well and it’s hard to tell where I’ve already been exactly. I end up missing patches or mowing over patches that I’ve already done. I don’t really mind very much, it’s just so good to be doing something again.
So with half the back yard done, I put the mower away. The fire was mostly out by then so I raked at it a bit and then took the hose and sprayed all around the incinerator just to make sure nothing caught and my workout was finished. I was out for about three hours all together and had a good amount of color on my skin, mostly red. That’s something else I haven’t done for a long time and I loved it! It wasn’t a bad burn, a little itchy and hot but not really painful at all. Four days later it’s mostly turned brown and hasn’t begun to peel yet so maybe I’ll get to keep it.
So that was my workout. It was such a beautiful day in so many ways that I felt truly blessed. This farm has been a really wonderful thing for us. I can’t imagine a better place to have spent my period of blindness, or my current period of recovery. The peace and quiet, the closeness to God and nature, and the feel of the sun on my back as I work in the yard. Do you suppose God planned it that way right from the start? Of course He did! He knew what would be best for us even if we had our doubts, something He has proven to me time and time again. I just can’t wait to see what else He has in store for us! Oops, patience…patience…
Romans 8:28 we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. ESV
Luke 12:22-23 And he said to his disciples, "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. ESV
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