I continue to hang on without any major steps back but also with no real progress. This is all on me obvi .. and I just need to pull it together. There's really nothing more to say there. I know what to do.. I just need to stop deviating from it.

My real focus this week has been my eyes. Long story short, I learned that I have pretty advanced cataracts. This is totally on me -- I had declined having my eyes dilated last year because I needed to get back to work and it seemed like a safe decision because in prior years I had no cataracts or other eye health concerns. Also, the symptoms of advancing cataracts were to large degree disguised by my other vision issues.

So as I am sure you all know, cataract surgery is very common, low risk and a fairly easy recovery. Awesome. Even more awesome is the fact that there are now options for an elective "add on" surgery that could reduce my extreme astigmatism. Wow. I have dealt with a high level of astigmatism since.. well, birth. This is game changing. I get tingly just thinking about it. My astigmatism is out of range of what they can fully correct but I am very hopeful that they will be able to get me in range where lenses can fully correct (they cannot now).

There is a LOT more to this story-- including some major issues with my local eye practice (including forgetting to test my double vision or include the prisms in my prescription) -- but the short update is that I have an appt at Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia later this month. I am confident I am on a good path and they will do all they can to not only remove my cataracts but improve my overall vision. I am nervous and excited but most of all hopeful. I should note that I have been told the surgery won't undo a number of my current issues... but improving my vision will slow down (stop?) the progression.

Hope everyone has a great week! Let us know what you are up to!

That is amazing news Funky! I'm very happy and hopeful for you:)

I did a litte better this week paying attention to food. Tracked in my head some and realized it's really the snacks. Those add up really quickly. I do better with full meals and a really early dinner. So, I'll concentrate on that going forward.

My stepbet starts tomorrow. I am also doing the Artists Way book - not sure if any of you have heard of it, but it's a 12 week book/program to unlock your creativity and inner artist. I've never really considered myself artistic, so it's interesting to go through it. This week is no media. The book was written over 30 years ago, so social media wasn't the issue, more TV, movies, even books. She recommended taking a one week break from all media distractions to help open up your creativity. I'm going to try - for lots of reasons I need to step back. I do use it as a time crutch, so this should really be interesting. I'm allowing myself to read paper books.

I'm hopeful at least my house is clean and organized at the end of the week! So, hopefully you don't see me on here this week. I could count lots of internet spaces as allowed, but I know it will just open the floodgate for me. It will really hard to be on the computer for work and not scroll other places.

Anyway, I think my mental health will probably be better too - and that is important. Will be an interesting experiement for sure.

@Funkyart what fantastic news! Given my DH’s eye issues including astigmatism and his wet Macular Degeneration I know you have to be elated at the prospect of improvements on many fronts. So happy for you. I will send healing thoughts to you. c

I know that's scary but they will take care of you. I found out I am starting to develop cataracts at my last eye exam, so yeah, another thing to keep an eye on LOL. Yeah they said it will get to a point where it's optional to get them done and then it's not an option. I think I'm barely a 1 on the 1-4 scale.

Went to the Y for weights today. It's still pretty nice here. Still too much screen time. I have more grading to do.

Pilates Monday and Wednesday. We are on fall break next weekend, and I need it. I do need to get some clothes together for the campus career closet.

DH smoked a pork shoulder yesterday so we have that for today. We freeze a lot and MIL came by to pick up a bag.

I am not wearing the CGM right now because I am out of flex account money, so I will need to order another one soon. I tend to know what foods make my glucose go high. The important thing is that it comes back down and that the spikes aren't too high. The medication should be helping with this, too.

Thank you all.. we'll see what comes of my appt.

Enjoy your week away from media, Legomom! I could give up social media but there are things that would be harder to give up online. Also books! I will be eager to hear how it goes for you!

Wow! That’s a lot to take in. It all sounds like great news to me. So very happy to hear your on your way to happier eyes.

Great news, Funky! This is really hopeful, and you deserve to have the best outcome. What a life-changing opportunity as far as your astigmatism. And if they can do this now, just think about what they can do a few years from now. This is why medical research is so important.

Goodbye for now, Legomom! I look forward to your future updates.

All good here. I grilled several chicken breasts to have with salads this week. It's still too warm here for soup in Chicagoland, so salads, it is. But fall yardwork is underway, and, between that and long bike rides, it's like the final hurrah before cooler weather sets in.

To hold myself accountable for my last week's post, I did meditate a few times this week. Simple stuff and strategies I've used before, along with morning stretching on my yoga mat. It's a more peaceful way of starting my day vs checking the news. I'm going to continue.

Have a great week, everyone.

Given my hip/leg issue of last week (thank you again, Dr Trail! I am hardly wincing at all now!), I think I really need a daily stretching routine. DH had a back injury years ago and after all the PT, he developed a stretching routine that he is absolutely religious about. Every morning as soon as he gets up, he heads to the yoga mat. I do nothing, and hardly stretch even before/after exercising. I know it’s going to catch up with me if I don’t get into some kind of routine, and yet…I still haven’t done it. So I need to make that a goal.

I think after so many years of being scheduled, between kids and work, I am mentally resisting schedules?! But developing some kind of routine, especially around stretching/exercise and even meditation, would be beneficial in so many ways. I just need to make myself do it!

@Sueb20 👍. I wish everything was such an easy fix.

I know exactly what you mean about schedules. I stopped working in 2004! Just left a note on my desk saying I wouldn’t be back. Haven’t held a real job since.

I can feel it deep inside when I am being put on a schedule . The resistance starts. It is a really strong feeling. I can’t do classes at the gym primarily because my insides tense up at the thought of comitting to a time and place.

I have no suggestions as to how to conquer the feeling . Obviously since I still suffer from it over 20 yrs after stopping work.

But you gotta do the AT band ” presser” and stretching! Keep reminding yourself how MUCH it hurt ! 😳❤️🙏 c

Sueb,

Once you commit to stretching, you WILL stick to it because you’ll feel better. My hip pain is gone since I consistently stretch after exercising. It’s not a schedule to keep, it’s less pain and stiffness. It’s like brushing your teeth, which I assume you do 😆, or any other daily maintenance for taking care of yourself. Just. Do. It.

Oh my, the MOHS surgery was not fun at all. I should have taken a valium or something and had DH drive me. Anyway, it took two ”rounds” of scraping. Then she took cartilage and skin from my ear to repair it. Okay, no one had warned me about that! Nothing was painful — except for the numbing shots — but just, eww. I am a squeamish baby. Now I have a giant bandage on my nose (like the size of a clown nose) and two on my ear, and stitches in 3 places. I get the stitches out in a week. Meanwhile, no exercise at all for two weeks. And unless the house is on fire, I am not leaving it for a week. If I do go out, I realized I can cover up most of the mess with a covid-style mask, but I still look like Something Bad happened to my face.

All from a tiny scab on the side of my nose that kept reappearing. Blech. Get your skin checked, especially anything that seems to refuse to heal, and of course: sunscreen.

Oh my I am so sorry. Maddie didn’t need cartilage repair. Here’s a pic.

She had a horrible stye as well! She was a very unhappy young lady . But all healed beautifully. You will too!🙏❤️ edited( it was just a scaly white tiny patch. )

Oh wow Sue! i must have been lucky when i had MOHS surgery because did not have skin/cartilage taken from an area to repair. It was several years ago buur i remember they did have to remove several layers. Mine was a flesh colored bump. I had stitches but bandage was removed next day IIRC. last year i had two more ’bumps’ removed, but this time i chose the newer treatment, Gentlecure Radiation. Multiple trips, but so worth it. i have an appt soon, and probably a biopsy as i have another bump!! I’m fair and have always been pretty good at sunscreen. 🤷‍♀️ Hope you heal up well!!

This is the only place I have ever heard Gentlecure mentioned…I looked it up. Requires 18-25 visits? Closest place to me is about 20 miles away so yes, that would be time consuming. Right now, when I am almost due for more Tylenol, though, it is tempting — if I ever need it again.

The location of my issue is right at the side of my nostril, where that indent is, if that makes sense. Maybe the need for cartiliage/graft depends on the location. Believe it or not, that was the least complicated of the options for repair.

Location of my owie:

Trail, amazing how nicely your daughter healed!

Hope it goes well, Funky.

Oh Sue, that would make me squeamish too! Glad it is resolved.

Nothing to report. My friend who visited was training for a run and so I took her for different scenic places for an early morning run. and I walked while she ran. The best part of my walks was no phone and no nothing.

Worked with my trainer twice now and I like him. He is now on jury duty but hopefully not for long? As I said to him, the important thing really was just getting started.

We ate out a lot with our guests and I am sick of even thinking about food RN.

Yes i think i had 21 treatments (3 per week) and my derm happens to be the only one in our area that has Gentlecure and she is about 30-40 minutes from me, but it was well worth it. Of course i had to have biopsies (so shots to numb) but no stitches, etc and each treatment was less than 10 minutes for two spots. No scars, etc. Luckily, the 2 radiation techs that did my treatments were a hoot so i almost enjoyed going. Almost! One place i had was down further than yours, on the outside of the nostril. The other was between my lip and nose.

Oh Sue, that sounds awful... glad it wasnt painful and glad it is over with!

Funky, that is so hopeful about your eyes! Wills has such a great reputation!
Sue, you’re having a ripple effect. I too have a dot on the side of my nose that keeps coming back. Literally microscopic but I can feel it. I need to get it checked out. Thanks for the reminder

Yay MTN! So glad you have a trainer that you like. It really makes all the difference.

I am back at work part time (which is par for the course for this time of year for people in my position). Walking 5 to 6 miles a day when I’m there. Am also going to the gym/Trainer and trying to eat healthy.

During my summer hospitalizations, I had a MRI that found a very, very tiny lesion on my pancreas. A follow up MRI this week puts me in the follow up in 18 month category. I can deal with that. I also strained my hand this summer wrestling with a new window screen (window won) finally went to the doctor today and they told me it’s tendinitis/mild pre trigger finger. Gave me some cream and a finger brace and I should be good to go. They don’t expected to turn into trigger finger since it started from an injury versus repeated motions.

All in all, I am feeling pretty good. I am back at the gym and lifting more weight than I was pre-surgeries. That’s worth crowing about, I think.

Funky, good luck to you with your eyes. It sounds very promising!!

Jojo, Ive been a bit haphazard in teading/posting recently and didn’t realize you’d had surgery. Sounds like you are healing well 😊

(Tina Marie)

Tina, I was pretty quiet about it, but a chance finding in April of something called an AVM (venus malformation on my brain) necessitated in my having back to back brain surgeries this summer. It was all very dramatic at the time, but I have recovered well and am back to my pre-surgical level of fitness. (An AVM is an abnormal tangle of arteries and veins that if left unchecked (removed) will likely result in a stroke. I opted for removal. Unfortunately for me, overacheiver that I am, I also got a brain infection in tthe process and had to have a second craniotomy 3 weeks after the first. Fortunately that is all behind me now. Sorry if TMI).

oh my, Jo ... that is SO scary. I am sorry you had to go through that but I so very glad that you are recovering so well and so quickly! ❤️

Thanks, funky. It was scary but I was super fortunate in that it wasn’t located near any important functions (motor, speech, vision…) and there were no cognitive deficits afterwards.

My hair, however, is a whole nother story 😳. It was completely shaved during the second surgery and I am now looking like Jamie Lee Curtis (a good day) and uncle Charlie (my three sons) on a bad day, but honestly, having a very short hair cut is actually quite liberating.

LOL I am sure you are rocking the short hair beautifully, Jo! It is a great time to get some fun new earrings though :)

You have such a great attitude after such a major ordeal. Jo!

Jojo, we have communicated separately but wanted to add that I too am so happy about your recovery. And yes, get the microscopic thing checked. The spot on the side of my nose was not dramatic. At first it just seemed like a pimple, but I knew when it kept getting a scab, almost healing, then recurring, something was up. And it was there for a few months but not, like, years. I have a similar spot on the exact spot on the other side of my nose that wasn’t quite as bad and the derm was able to just freeze it off, but now I’m feeling neurotic about it turning into the same thing. I think the sides of my nose is an area where I get sweaty from sunglasses and end up wiping off sunscreen…or, this is from the olden days of sunbathing. Either way it is extra annoying that it is basically my own d… fault.

I am just glad I was able to sleep last night (thank you, Advil PM) and so far the pain seems less than it was yesterday afternoon.

Glad you feel better today @Sueb20.

All in all, I am feeling pretty good. I am back at the gym and lifting more weight than I was pre-surgeries.

Wow, now that is a recovery. I literally think of you when I go to the gym now. You're an influencer!

@jojoco you are so strong. What a joy it is to read your post this morning. 🙏

Jojo, that is s scary thing to go through!! i’m glad to hear you have recovered so well. Oddly enough I have heard of this. Friends 4 year old daughter had something like this, a tangle of veins in her brain. But they had no idea until she loss use of her arm and leg on one side. 😢 She had a brain bleed. She had to go out of state to a childrens hospital for her surgery. She has done well recovering, but still has therapy. She started kindergarden this fall. She is so precious 🩷 So glad they found yours early! (tina marie)

So happy you are doing so well now, Jojo.

SueB, MIL had MOHS in the corner of where her eye meets her nose. It was pretty rough but now you can’t even tell. Hoping the same for you.

Masks come in handy when you don’t want to be seen. I am out for my LAST rabies shot, woohoo.

LOL i am not fixing the upside down pic. Seems about right.

I won't be posting a picture but I have 2 black eyes. I was refinishing my front porch on Sunday and I wear old socks that I keep for just this purpose. I backed up to move to the next area to apply the oil based product and forgot the gallon jug was behind me , tripped and slid because " wet oil based product and socks". I have a huge goose egg on my forehead and the next day I woke up to black eyes half way down both cheeks.

I guess I could say I had my eyes " done".

Sue you look great !! Upside down is how things DO seem lately. c

Oh no, trail! So sorry that happened to you.

A mask is a brilliant solution, Sue! Glad the tylenol is keeping the pain under control.

Sorry to hear, Trail .. hope your face isnt too sensitive today.

Delighted everyone’s getting better. I’ll be retreating cautiously to avoid catching or crashing or surgery or whatever that was… or the next thing. :0) Be well!

update: as to be expected it’s turning greenish in places. @Funkyart yeh my head hurts up in my hairline and I have a haircut appt tomorrow. She is going to have to be extra careful. 😎

I hope everyone is healing well from their various injuries/surgeries! And funky, that's great news about your eyes. Sending positive energy your way!

I've been better this week and last about working out. Goal is to do 45 minutes on my treadmill 4-5 times per week. I wear a weighted vest while power walking.

I am down 1 or 2 lbs depending on the day. It's frustrating that the weight doesn't just drop off like it used to when I was younger. Oh well, at least I'm getting in better shape. Or so I tell myself.

I havent kept up with all the news here because I have little to contribute in the healthy lifestyle category. You all are an inspiration with your healthy eating, exercise, etc.

I push myself to get out for a long walk. Weve had great weather until this weekend ( its pouring) so no excuse. Well my hip has been bothering me and walking irritates it. I think its bursitis. Ibuprofen helps except that I try to limit what I use since my kidney function is less than optimal, but stable.

Glad everyone is healing. Ive got to get on the healthy boat.

I can’t seem to link it, but if anyone has access to the NYT they have an article How to Improve Your Hip Mobility that would be helpful to most of us. It contains links to exercises and stretches.

I just printed out some of the hip stretches to hang in my workout room…when I’m allowed to move again!

I’m not the most avid exerciser but funny how you miss something when you’re told not to do it?! It’s only day 5…ugh.

Hhireno, thanks for that. The stiffness in my hips is a real nuisance. I also like the exercises on the Bob and Brad 👈 youtube channel. Sometimes they are a little too chatty but their advice is excellent.