After working in and around the house on Monday, Joni and I took Tuesday to relax and rest in anticipation of our next trip to Omaha on Wednesday.
Wednesday morning was gray and rainy as we left at our usual time of about 7:15am. We drove in the rain until somewhere around Grand Island and the rest of the trip was cloudy but dry.
There wasn’t much news from the doctor that day. He said the spot in my eye was unchanged or maybe a little bit improved. His assistant called the lab to see if there were any results from the previous week’s cultures, but still nothing. He said I could stop using the Vancomycin and Viroptic drops. I was glad about that because that only left me with three different drops to use, and the two he discontinued were the most irritating of the lot. I’m now just using Natymycin, Pred-forte, and Zymaxid four times a day each. It was a quick visit and we were back on the road. Somewhere around Grand Island we found the rain again right where we had left it. The trip home was uneventful and we arrived at about 3:30pm, making pretty good time. During this trip, Joni and I finished an audiobook called “The Probability of Miracles” that we had been listening to in the car, and also go through a short play called “End Days”. Both were very good and you can find the reviews coming up soon at Audiobook-Heaven (wink).
The real excitement came later that evening. Joni and I stepped out the back door with Sassie for her last trip outside before bed. As we were waiting for Sassie to do her business we heard a pretty loud WOOMP sound. It sounded like a pretty big fire going up and we looked around to see what had happened. We have a neighbor just to the north of us and in his windows we saw the flames. It only took a moment to realize, however, that his house was not burning, the flames were actually being reflected in the glass from somewhere to our south. We went out toward the road and sure enough, there was a huge fire blazing about a quarter of a mile up the road although we couldn’t tell exactly what was burning. There is a house down there and a lot of woods. The fire looked to be near where we thought the house was but we just couldn’t tell.
I ran into the house for my phone and called 911 as quick as I could. I remembered a house fire we had witnessed not too far from here about a year and a half ago and remembered how long it took the fire department to get there, being several miles from the nearest town. I had a little trouble with 911. My call went through to Buffalo County emergency services but when I gave my address the lady had to transfer me to Kearney County. When Kearney County picked up I gave the information again and she said she would have to transfer me to Buffalo County. I started to tell her I had just spoken to them but the Buffalo County lady was still on the line. They discussed it for a minute deciding whose territory it was and finally decided to send units from Gibbon and Minden.
That taken care of, Joni and I hopped in the truck and drove down to the fire to see if any help was needed. As we approached, we saw a car crossing the road from the fire to the house on the other side so we pulled in behind it. I asked if everything was okay over there and he said yes, the guy was just burning his brush pile. At ten o’clock at night, apparently with a large amount of gasoline or something. Well it had rained a bit that day so I guess his brush pile was all wet. The man I was talking to said he had heard my call on the scanner and I suppose he went over there to warn the guy. I got the impression that they knew each other and that my call was probably not appreciated.
So we went on back home. 10 or 15 minutes later a police car came down the road, lights and siren blazing. A few minutes after that the fire trucks began to arrive from Gibbon. There were maybe 4 or 5 in all plus an ambulance. Minden never did arrive and I assume they were called off. Even though it was a false alarm of sorts, the trucks were up there for about 45 minutes before they started pulling away again. I don’t know if they waited for it to go down or if they put it out or what. I hope nobody got in trouble for any illegal burning or something, but I don’t feel sorry for calling. For all we knew that could have been his house blazing down there.
And that was our exciting day. Omaha seemed like something from a dream after all that. It was kind of a scary deal but God was watching over and everything turned out okay.
Psalms 3:3 But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. ESV
Isaiah 43:2 "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you." ESV
Showing posts with label infection. Show all posts
Showing posts with label infection. Show all posts
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Journal - Flat Tire
Last Thursday we were off to Omaha again for my next visit to the eye doctor. It had been a week since our last trip so we were feeling fairly rested and hopeful for a good report.
The day started off very, very foggy. We left at about 7:15am and had thick fog but it only lasted until around Grand Island, thirty minutes into our trip. Then it began to lift and the rest of the day was cloudy and cool.
We got to the doctor’s at about 10:45, just in time for my appointment. They took us in pretty fast so we didn’t have to wait around. The doctor took a look and said that the infection appears to be healing a little but it’s obviously not responding as quickly as he or I would like. He decided to take some more cultures. He’s already treating my eye for just about every possible problem, something that is called “throwing the kitchen sink at it” in medical jargon, but he just wanted to make sure we hadn’t missed anything. Unfortunately, one of the culture kits wasn’t present in the office at the time and someone had to go get one from one of the other offices he keeps hours in. That meant a wait of about an hour.
We had already eaten breakfast on the way there so we waited at the office, watching tv in the waiting area. I’m a little ashamed to say it but I started getting kind of grumpy as soon as Doc said we would have to wait. And as the hour passed my mood grew worse and worse. It really wasn’t that big of a deal, I just kept thinking how our long trip just got an hour longer.
Anyway, at 12:30 they called us back in and Doc took the cultures. If you’re unfamiliar with this process, as many of you are I suppose, this involves a numbing drop on the eye and then a physical rubbing or scraping over the infected spot with a tool called a spatula. Picture someone scraping your eye with a hamburger flipper. No, it’s not that bad, the spatula is small, about the size of an artist’s small paintbrush. He repeats the process four or five times to get multiple samples to send to the lab, then an iodine drop goes in to make sure the eye is disinfected. I don’t feel it at all, but after the numbing drop wears off my eye is pretty sore and irritated the rest of the day. That didn’t take very long and then we were on our way home.
The trip home was fine up until about 20 miles east of York when we got a flat. We heard a loud noise coming from the rear of the car and Joni got us pulled over right away but of course the tire was already completely shredded. Not much you can do about that at 70 miles per hour. We got out and I put the spare on, about another 30 minutes of delay. Friendly reminder here folks, if you see a car in the break-down lane changing a tire, please pull over into the passing lane. The spare felt a little low and that caused me a few moments of disquiet, but it got us the remaining 20 miles into York where we stopped and filled it up proper. Another friendly note, the Shell station at York has free air, something you hardly ever see these days. Tire taken care of, we filled up the gas tank and grabbed a bite to eat. Then we crossed our fingers that the spare would get us the remaining hour of our journey home, which it did with no problem at all.
So our long day ended. With the day behind me I finally had time to stop and reflect on things a little bit; put things in perspective. I can think of about a hundred different things that could have made that day so much worse. A flat spare, no spare, a broken jack, an accident during the tire change, I could go on and on. God delivered us from all of that. As I thought about that I started feeling pretty bad about my sour mood over the hour wait at the doctor. God is always pretty good about helping us keep things in perspective. What an awesome God He is!
Isaiah 64:8 "But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hand." 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
The day started off very, very foggy. We left at about 7:15am and had thick fog but it only lasted until around Grand Island, thirty minutes into our trip. Then it began to lift and the rest of the day was cloudy and cool.
We got to the doctor’s at about 10:45, just in time for my appointment. They took us in pretty fast so we didn’t have to wait around. The doctor took a look and said that the infection appears to be healing a little but it’s obviously not responding as quickly as he or I would like. He decided to take some more cultures. He’s already treating my eye for just about every possible problem, something that is called “throwing the kitchen sink at it” in medical jargon, but he just wanted to make sure we hadn’t missed anything. Unfortunately, one of the culture kits wasn’t present in the office at the time and someone had to go get one from one of the other offices he keeps hours in. That meant a wait of about an hour.
We had already eaten breakfast on the way there so we waited at the office, watching tv in the waiting area. I’m a little ashamed to say it but I started getting kind of grumpy as soon as Doc said we would have to wait. And as the hour passed my mood grew worse and worse. It really wasn’t that big of a deal, I just kept thinking how our long trip just got an hour longer.
Anyway, at 12:30 they called us back in and Doc took the cultures. If you’re unfamiliar with this process, as many of you are I suppose, this involves a numbing drop on the eye and then a physical rubbing or scraping over the infected spot with a tool called a spatula. Picture someone scraping your eye with a hamburger flipper. No, it’s not that bad, the spatula is small, about the size of an artist’s small paintbrush. He repeats the process four or five times to get multiple samples to send to the lab, then an iodine drop goes in to make sure the eye is disinfected. I don’t feel it at all, but after the numbing drop wears off my eye is pretty sore and irritated the rest of the day. That didn’t take very long and then we were on our way home.
The trip home was fine up until about 20 miles east of York when we got a flat. We heard a loud noise coming from the rear of the car and Joni got us pulled over right away but of course the tire was already completely shredded. Not much you can do about that at 70 miles per hour. We got out and I put the spare on, about another 30 minutes of delay. Friendly reminder here folks, if you see a car in the break-down lane changing a tire, please pull over into the passing lane. The spare felt a little low and that caused me a few moments of disquiet, but it got us the remaining 20 miles into York where we stopped and filled it up proper. Another friendly note, the Shell station at York has free air, something you hardly ever see these days. Tire taken care of, we filled up the gas tank and grabbed a bite to eat. Then we crossed our fingers that the spare would get us the remaining hour of our journey home, which it did with no problem at all.
So our long day ended. With the day behind me I finally had time to stop and reflect on things a little bit; put things in perspective. I can think of about a hundred different things that could have made that day so much worse. A flat spare, no spare, a broken jack, an accident during the tire change, I could go on and on. God delivered us from all of that. As I thought about that I started feeling pretty bad about my sour mood over the hour wait at the doctor. God is always pretty good about helping us keep things in perspective. What an awesome God He is!
Isaiah 64:8 "But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hand." 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
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Journal - Infection
I guess I have a little catching up to do, so here goes.
I had an appointment with Dr. Feilmeier in Kearney on March 8. Two or three days before that I started noticing some things in my eye. I’ve been down the infection road quite a few times and know most of the signs by heart: a little more redness than usual, a little more light sensitivity than usual. So I was pretty sure there was an infection starting up but since I already had an appointment I decided to wait until then and let Doc take a look at it.
On March 8, Doc confirmed my suspicions and said that one of my sutures had loosened and allowed an infection to set in. We are now five months out from surgery and under normal circumstances the sutures would have probably been out by now, but Doc had told me right from the start that he would leave mine in much longer to give the cornea some extra stability while it healed completely. This being because of my history of problems and the fact that I only have one eye, “Driving on the spare.” As Doc so eloquently phrases it,
Doc gave me two new eye drops to use, Zymaxid and Vancomycin. Zymaxid is kind of a general bacterial antibiotic which I had used for a while following surgery. Vancomycin is a bit more potent and is also used to treat bacterial infections. The Zymaxid is common and can be picked up at most any pharmacy but the Vancomycin is a special solution that has to be made to order. The doctor’s assistant called around Kearney and couldn’t find any pharmacist that could make it but finally found one in Holdrege so we had to drive over to Holdrege to pick that one up.
After giving me my instructions Doc said he wanted to see me again the following Monday (as I expected) which meant a trip to Omaha. I further expected that it would take more than just one trip to Omaha but that remained to be seen.
So on Monday the 12th we headed out bright and early for the big city. Not quite bright and early enough though, we got there half an hour late for my appointment and the doctor had already left the office. Dr. Feilmeier keeps hours at three different offices in Omaha, all Midwest Eye Care locations. Two are in Omaha and the other is across the state line in Council Bluffs. The Council Bluffs location is where he had afternoon hours that day so we made arrangements to go over there and see him. Luckily that office is only another 8 miles east of where we were.
We got there with no trouble and Doc took a look at my eye. He said things didn’t look much better but not much worse either. He made some slight adjustments to my regimen of drops and said to come back on Wednesday. I like Dr. Feilmeier a lot, he always seems so apologetic knowing that these are long trips for us, but he is very frank about the need to get things under control as quickly as possible and I agree with him completely on that. He’s a good doctor and it’s clear to me that he really cares about the outcome of all this.
Wednesday morning we left early again and made it on time for my appointment. On this visit Doc told me that in addition to the cold sore virus there was another spot in my eye and he wasn’t really sure what it was. He took some cultures of it to send to the lab to be identified. In the meantime he gave me a prescription for another drop called Viroptic, the generic form being Trifluridine, which I am very familiar with. The infection that I had a lot of trouble with several years ago was a herpes simplex virus. It’s not the sexually transmitted type of herpes, but rather the kind that causes cold sores. Trifluridine is used to combat that type of virus. As was explained to me years ago, there’s no cure for this type of virus, all you can do is try to keep it from flaring up. Since my surgery in October, I’ve been taking a pill called Acyclovir for that very reason. I was taking 400mg twice a day, so on this visit Doc upped it to 800mg five times a day. So by this time I had four kinds of drops and the pills. Doc said he wanted to see me again on Wednesday so we trudged home knowing that we would be back in two days. On our way, we stopped at the University pharmacy to pick up the Trifluridine. That was only a few blocks from the office.
By then Joni’s back was starting to give her some trouble so I made arrangements with Mom so she could drive me on Friday. On this day Doc said that the herpetic virus was completely cleared up, but the other spot was still there, no better and no worse. He called the lab to see if there were any results on the cultures yet, but so far nothing. He said those can take up to two weeks to show anything. By this time he was thinking that this other spot might be fungal so he gave me two more prescriptions: a drop called Natycyn and a pill called Doxycycline, both of which are for fungal infections. That brought the total up to five drops and two pills, the drops being used 6 times a day each. Quite a regimen. We stopped at the pharmacy again to pick those up and then headed back home with another appointment for the following Monday.
On Monday the 19th there was still no change and still no results from the cultures. Doc reduced all my drops to four times a day and sent us home with an appointment for Thursday.
On Tuesday, the doctor’s scheduler called and said he would have an emergency surgery on Thursday morning and that we would have to reschedule. So the appointment got pushed back to Friday at 11 am.
Friday came and still no change and still no culture results. Doc seemed okay with the fact that the spot was not going away because it wasn’t getting any worse either. As far as the cultures went, even though it hadn’t been two weeks yet, he seemed satisfied that this was probably not fungal in nature and said that it may just be an inflammatory reaction due to my allergies and such, this being allergy season. So out came the old prescription pad once again, this time for Prednisone, which I have talked about before. Prednisone reduces inflammation and is very good for clearing up my lungs, sinuses, and skin, although I’ve never had it prescribed for my eyes before. Since everything seemed stable, my next appointment is for Thursday the 29th.
We always stop at York on the way home for a late lunch or early supper, but since Friday was Joni’s 32nd birthday, she wanted to stop at the York Walmart as well to spend some of her birthday money. We dropped off my prescription at the pharmacy and then shopped for a bit. Joni got herself some flowers to plant outside, and she also bought t-shirts and work gloves for Adam and me. Apparently what she really wanted for her birthday was for me and Adam to be comfortable while we work out in the yard.
So that’s where we stand right now. Through all this God has been with us, giving us safe travels, keeping our aging car running beautifully, and providing financial help for all that gas through family and church. I am confident that he has a purpose in al this, maybe just to remind us that He is always in control, a reminder that I seem to need rather frequently. Whatever the case may be, I know that everything is working out according to His plan and that He will take care of everything as He always does.
Psalms 136:16 "Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them." ESV
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
I had an appointment with Dr. Feilmeier in Kearney on March 8. Two or three days before that I started noticing some things in my eye. I’ve been down the infection road quite a few times and know most of the signs by heart: a little more redness than usual, a little more light sensitivity than usual. So I was pretty sure there was an infection starting up but since I already had an appointment I decided to wait until then and let Doc take a look at it.
On March 8, Doc confirmed my suspicions and said that one of my sutures had loosened and allowed an infection to set in. We are now five months out from surgery and under normal circumstances the sutures would have probably been out by now, but Doc had told me right from the start that he would leave mine in much longer to give the cornea some extra stability while it healed completely. This being because of my history of problems and the fact that I only have one eye, “Driving on the spare.” As Doc so eloquently phrases it,
Doc gave me two new eye drops to use, Zymaxid and Vancomycin. Zymaxid is kind of a general bacterial antibiotic which I had used for a while following surgery. Vancomycin is a bit more potent and is also used to treat bacterial infections. The Zymaxid is common and can be picked up at most any pharmacy but the Vancomycin is a special solution that has to be made to order. The doctor’s assistant called around Kearney and couldn’t find any pharmacist that could make it but finally found one in Holdrege so we had to drive over to Holdrege to pick that one up.
After giving me my instructions Doc said he wanted to see me again the following Monday (as I expected) which meant a trip to Omaha. I further expected that it would take more than just one trip to Omaha but that remained to be seen.
So on Monday the 12th we headed out bright and early for the big city. Not quite bright and early enough though, we got there half an hour late for my appointment and the doctor had already left the office. Dr. Feilmeier keeps hours at three different offices in Omaha, all Midwest Eye Care locations. Two are in Omaha and the other is across the state line in Council Bluffs. The Council Bluffs location is where he had afternoon hours that day so we made arrangements to go over there and see him. Luckily that office is only another 8 miles east of where we were.
We got there with no trouble and Doc took a look at my eye. He said things didn’t look much better but not much worse either. He made some slight adjustments to my regimen of drops and said to come back on Wednesday. I like Dr. Feilmeier a lot, he always seems so apologetic knowing that these are long trips for us, but he is very frank about the need to get things under control as quickly as possible and I agree with him completely on that. He’s a good doctor and it’s clear to me that he really cares about the outcome of all this.
Wednesday morning we left early again and made it on time for my appointment. On this visit Doc told me that in addition to the cold sore virus there was another spot in my eye and he wasn’t really sure what it was. He took some cultures of it to send to the lab to be identified. In the meantime he gave me a prescription for another drop called Viroptic, the generic form being Trifluridine, which I am very familiar with. The infection that I had a lot of trouble with several years ago was a herpes simplex virus. It’s not the sexually transmitted type of herpes, but rather the kind that causes cold sores. Trifluridine is used to combat that type of virus. As was explained to me years ago, there’s no cure for this type of virus, all you can do is try to keep it from flaring up. Since my surgery in October, I’ve been taking a pill called Acyclovir for that very reason. I was taking 400mg twice a day, so on this visit Doc upped it to 800mg five times a day. So by this time I had four kinds of drops and the pills. Doc said he wanted to see me again on Wednesday so we trudged home knowing that we would be back in two days. On our way, we stopped at the University pharmacy to pick up the Trifluridine. That was only a few blocks from the office.
By then Joni’s back was starting to give her some trouble so I made arrangements with Mom so she could drive me on Friday. On this day Doc said that the herpetic virus was completely cleared up, but the other spot was still there, no better and no worse. He called the lab to see if there were any results on the cultures yet, but so far nothing. He said those can take up to two weeks to show anything. By this time he was thinking that this other spot might be fungal so he gave me two more prescriptions: a drop called Natycyn and a pill called Doxycycline, both of which are for fungal infections. That brought the total up to five drops and two pills, the drops being used 6 times a day each. Quite a regimen. We stopped at the pharmacy again to pick those up and then headed back home with another appointment for the following Monday.
On Monday the 19th there was still no change and still no results from the cultures. Doc reduced all my drops to four times a day and sent us home with an appointment for Thursday.
On Tuesday, the doctor’s scheduler called and said he would have an emergency surgery on Thursday morning and that we would have to reschedule. So the appointment got pushed back to Friday at 11 am.
Friday came and still no change and still no culture results. Doc seemed okay with the fact that the spot was not going away because it wasn’t getting any worse either. As far as the cultures went, even though it hadn’t been two weeks yet, he seemed satisfied that this was probably not fungal in nature and said that it may just be an inflammatory reaction due to my allergies and such, this being allergy season. So out came the old prescription pad once again, this time for Prednisone, which I have talked about before. Prednisone reduces inflammation and is very good for clearing up my lungs, sinuses, and skin, although I’ve never had it prescribed for my eyes before. Since everything seemed stable, my next appointment is for Thursday the 29th.
We always stop at York on the way home for a late lunch or early supper, but since Friday was Joni’s 32nd birthday, she wanted to stop at the York Walmart as well to spend some of her birthday money. We dropped off my prescription at the pharmacy and then shopped for a bit. Joni got herself some flowers to plant outside, and she also bought t-shirts and work gloves for Adam and me. Apparently what she really wanted for her birthday was for me and Adam to be comfortable while we work out in the yard.
So that’s where we stand right now. Through all this God has been with us, giving us safe travels, keeping our aging car running beautifully, and providing financial help for all that gas through family and church. I am confident that he has a purpose in al this, maybe just to remind us that He is always in control, a reminder that I seem to need rather frequently. Whatever the case may be, I know that everything is working out according to His plan and that He will take care of everything as He always does.
Psalms 136:16 "Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them." ESV
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
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