happiness is.....
- 29 weeks 3 days until graduation
- my current rotation; a four week stint with a surgeon (who is the most un'surgeon-like surgeon I think I will ever meet...she actually talks with patients...AND...she knits. More thoughts on what it's like to work with a doctor who knits in the future.)
- being in the middle of half a dozen or so knitting projects, and always having one nearby to work on (more on this later as well; it is getting late...)
- hot homemade bean soup on a rainy night and leftovers for lunch tomorrow
leaves and leaf-prints on slate
sheep ears and
blue gates...
(I really wanted to take this one home with me; the sheep at Rhinebeck seemed much calmer and personable than sheep I've seen other places.)
prize-winning needle felted Kangaroos
and a pile of dogs won a ribbon too!
- sitting on cats two weekends ago...
taking care of a cat who loves to perch (he jumped up and sat long enough for me to walk around, find the camera, set it up and get several pictures. Finding a cat on my shoulder happened a lot while I was watching them...it was lovely.)
and his love of fleece rivaled my own.
(even the shy little one decided to play)
Life has been busy here, with lots of going to and from and back and forth and moving in and out and all over the place; a new rotation means a new place to stay and a new routine.
During my last week of my sub-I I had a few bouts of awful eye pain that were mostly unexplainable. Medical people are notoriously bad patients, and it took my mom seeing how bad the pain was and how it teared up suddenly for me to even consider making a doctor's appointment. One general appointment and one specialist later it was clear that something wasn't quite right. The diagnosis went from a scratch on my cornea to an area of corneal abrasion to, most recently today, a corneal ulcer. I think they're all the same thing (or same basic idea) but I haven't had time to consult with Dr. Google yet. (they also tried a foreign body removal and thought it might be a reaction or local infection; consensus now (after two and a half opinions) is that it's an ulcer.)
The eye doctor initially told me that once it was patched, it would heal within two days; today, two and a half weeks later, he finally admitted that 10% of people take "longer" to heal. He was vague about how long "longer" is. My spot still isn't completely healed. It still hurts. He even had the gaul to admit that sometimes, even after the spot has healed, it can spontaneously re-occur.
I'm not impressed. And I haven't the slightest clue how it happened. (I wear glasses, all the time. I thought they supposed to protect me from flying debris and such...)
(but! at least I'm not patched anymore - I like depth perception.)
my left eye, pressure patched with half a roll of tape (done at the eye docs office)
The breakouts you see in that picture should have been a bigger warning sign to the impending doom of this month's pms; yesterday I curled up on the floor of the surgeon's office with a room'spinning start of a migraine and awful abdominal cramps. I am forever grateful that she didn't demand I sit up and look alert, and that she simply double checked that I was okay.
and tonight I had a moment of silence for Jake, a fabulous golden that I used to sit on from time to time. He was a kind, gentle and patient animal and he will be very much missed. (my favorite picture of him is here)
- my current rotation; a four week stint with a surgeon (who is the most un'surgeon-like surgeon I think I will ever meet...she actually talks with patients...AND...she knits. More thoughts on what it's like to work with a doctor who knits in the future.)
- being in the middle of half a dozen or so knitting projects, and always having one nearby to work on (more on this later as well; it is getting late...)
- hot homemade bean soup on a rainy night and leftovers for lunch tomorrow
leaves and leaf-prints on slate
sheep ears and
blue gates...
(I really wanted to take this one home with me; the sheep at Rhinebeck seemed much calmer and personable than sheep I've seen other places.)
prize-winning needle felted Kangaroos
and a pile of dogs won a ribbon too!
- sitting on cats two weekends ago...
taking care of a cat who loves to perch (he jumped up and sat long enough for me to walk around, find the camera, set it up and get several pictures. Finding a cat on my shoulder happened a lot while I was watching them...it was lovely.)
and his love of fleece rivaled my own.
(even the shy little one decided to play)
Life has been busy here, with lots of going to and from and back and forth and moving in and out and all over the place; a new rotation means a new place to stay and a new routine.
During my last week of my sub-I I had a few bouts of awful eye pain that were mostly unexplainable. Medical people are notoriously bad patients, and it took my mom seeing how bad the pain was and how it teared up suddenly for me to even consider making a doctor's appointment. One general appointment and one specialist later it was clear that something wasn't quite right. The diagnosis went from a scratch on my cornea to an area of corneal abrasion to, most recently today, a corneal ulcer. I think they're all the same thing (or same basic idea) but I haven't had time to consult with Dr. Google yet. (they also tried a foreign body removal and thought it might be a reaction or local infection; consensus now (after two and a half opinions) is that it's an ulcer.)
The eye doctor initially told me that once it was patched, it would heal within two days; today, two and a half weeks later, he finally admitted that 10% of people take "longer" to heal. He was vague about how long "longer" is. My spot still isn't completely healed. It still hurts. He even had the gaul to admit that sometimes, even after the spot has healed, it can spontaneously re-occur.
I'm not impressed. And I haven't the slightest clue how it happened. (I wear glasses, all the time. I thought they supposed to protect me from flying debris and such...)
(but! at least I'm not patched anymore - I like depth perception.)
my left eye, pressure patched with half a roll of tape (done at the eye docs office)
The breakouts you see in that picture should have been a bigger warning sign to the impending doom of this month's pms; yesterday I curled up on the floor of the surgeon's office with a room'spinning start of a migraine and awful abdominal cramps. I am forever grateful that she didn't demand I sit up and look alert, and that she simply double checked that I was okay.
and tonight I had a moment of silence for Jake, a fabulous golden that I used to sit on from time to time. He was a kind, gentle and patient animal and he will be very much missed. (my favorite picture of him is here)
posted by Kristen at 12:20 AM
8 Comments:
well i'm glad your rotation is better given your eye problems. god, i hope that eye feels better soon. i think you need a black pirate eye patch though. arrrggghhh.
i'm sorry about jake. he was a beautiful dog.
Yikes on the eye problems. I would probably be the worlds most clumsiest person without depth-perception (not that I'm not clumsy now!)
Are you still in my neck of the woods?? We still need to take that trip to see Gil!
Sorry about Jake - I have a special place in my heart for Golden's, I've lost two in my past. They get a super special place in doggy heaven for being the best.dogs.ever!
Leon. The big tease. I'm sorry about the eye thing - one of the cats scratched my cornea once and it did Not Feel Good.
Have you got a hot water bottle? So lo tech, but in the end, a hot water bottle has been cramps' best enemy for me over the long term. Plus, you can knit a bottle cover, and what isn't good about finding something new to knit?
Where are you these days?
Glasses do help, but they don't protect from everything, unless your glasses look like safety goggles. :) I hope your eye gets better soon!
Out of curiosity--were the cats good at getting up to your shoulder? Mine uses a bit more claw than I'd like when he tries that.
Personally, depth perception is for wimps! I have never had and never will so I just learned to live with it. But it is hard to adjust to something even for a little bit. And I hope it gets better soon.
And some one else in the hospital that knits is a blessing. And hot bean soup sounds good.
Hope your eye starts feeling better! Isn't optho awful?
So sorry to hear about your eye. May you leave the 10% behind very soon.
And Jake was a lovely dog ... he has a wonderful, kind face.
I'm so sorry to read about Jake.....never easy to say good bye to our faithful companions.
Eye ulcers are very painful. My dogs here have had them a few times (dogs with big eyes, are prone to eye accidents) and I can tell from their little faces how much it hurts. I am glad your mom made you go to the doctor!
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