The Pain and the Blood

I had planned to talk about our second snowstorm of the winter that rolled through on Saturday. I had planned to rant about how our street never got plowed. I was going to describe how dry, light and fluffy the snow was making it so easy to shovel. But yesterday I had a follow-up eye exam that turned out to be pretty horrific so screw the snow. I have been seeing a specialist for my eyes as I have eyelashes (a few) that tend to grow backward toward my eye and the points scratch the corneas. After plucking the offending lashes for about a year, my regular optometrist recommended that I get them permanently removed. However, over the past few months, my eyes have been such a mess (very irritated, swollen and red), she has put it off and has been trying to get my eyes in a somewhat decent shape. I guess yesterday she finally decided that my eyes were ok enough. They did feel better I have to admit. Certainly the swelling was down and they felt ok. So yesterday it was decided to do "the procedure". I assumed they would be burned off, in some fashion, which in fact they were. But first - first-they had to numb the area around my eyes so I wouldn't feel the burning. The way they numb the area? Shots in your lower eyelid. OMG the pain! She injected the numbing agent in three separate stabs (and stabs they were) in each lower eyelid. I could feel the needle enter a good 1/4 inch and stay for the few seconds it took to dispense the medicine. Man did that hurt. After the first eye, I was really dreading the second eye. I think the anticipation added to my discomfort. Also, after the shots were administered in the first eye, she advised me to dab my eye with the Kleenex her assistant had handed me. I figured it was to get the tears out my eyes, but lo, when I looked at the Kleenex after dabbing my eye, was a Kleenex covered in blood. OMG, the blood - the blood! I looked like I was bleeding out. Repeat with the second eye. More pain and lots more blood. Finally the blood flow was stemmed somewhat and we got to the procedure itself. It's always comforting when the Doctor tells you not to move since she was using a very sharp object and she would hate to poke me in the eye with it. She had her assistant hold my head tight to the device I had mashed my head up against. The actual procedure was, after all that, pretty unremarkable. She did in fact burn them and then pluck them out showing each to the assistant and remarking see how the follicle came with the lash? I certainly didn't feel anything, at least in my eye. I did feel a good deal of heat at my chin, which I thought was a bit weird. Five offending eyelashes met their doom - three from my right eye and two from my left. Afterward my doctor told me I could apply ice to my eyes to reduce the swelling, which didn't sound good. I could imagine two black eyes swollen shut as the day wore on. Looking like I just gone several rounds with someone who had pounded the crap out of my face. Fortunately, my eyes never did swell much and no black eyes. Today my eyes actually feel better then usual so maybe we're headed down the right road. I'd love to get back into my contacts again. I go back in 6 weeks for a follow-up. Lord I hope she doesn't discover anymore rouge lashes.

Oh Baby It's Cold Outside

Today dawned bright and sunny and very, very cold. The temperature was only 17, which is Arctic conditions around here. Of course, The Son had called the day before to say his heat had gone off - again. We arranged to have a repairman come by this morning. That meant I had to hustle down there, my work laptop in tow since it was a work at home day, and wait for his arrival. We had lent The Son a space heater from the last time and it really does a good job at keeping the place tolerable. Anyway, I got my laptop plugged into his Internet gateway and worked away. The repairman showed up around 930 so I didn't have to wait all that long. Turned out his pilot light had gone out (The Son has gas heat). The repairman was there all of about 15 minutes and the heat was on and running and I was $130 poorer or The Son will be when he pays me back. He did show me how to relight the pilot in case it happens again. A good thing to know.

The forecast is calling for snow tomorrow. We're suppose to be on the northern edge of it so we won't get as much as southern Virginia, but we might still get upwards of 4 inches. That forecast should be enough to clean the stores of milk, bread and toilet paper. They keep changing the forecast and expected accumulation amounts. I guess I'll need to watch the weather reports later tonight to get the latest. Sounds like a good weekend to have a fire.

Went to the Dermatologist on Tuesday. No weird looking moles or anything so I guess I'm good for another year. Eyes are also feeling better. I do a follow up on them on Monday. Good part about that is that it's another work at home day. Yea!

Ready for the Weekend

The weekend is upon us and I live for the weekends. No football games to actually attend as Maryland is down in Winston-Salem to play Wake Forest, but plenty to watch. Auburn-Arkansas is on tap for noon tomorrow on ESPN. War Eagle! Also on tap this weekend, on Sunday, is the George Mason Men's Crew sponsored Head Race - the Occoquan Chase. Along with the Head of the Occoquan, it's one of my favorite races. Its on our home water, but more then that, I love the twists and turns of the race. Makes for some exciting racing When I first joined my rowing club, the Occoquan Chase was just starting up and we would win the Masters 8+ every year - by default as we were the only boat entered in our category. Still we wore our "Champion of the Chase" t-shirts with pride. I might add that I love that they have special t-shirts made for the winners. Medals are nice, but you can't really wear medals anywhere. They just sit in your bedroom. T-shirts you can wear out. Anyway, the race has grown over the years and its not uncommon to have 4 or 5 boats in our category now. Its been a while since I've won one the t-shirts and I'd love to get another. As far as I know, I'm just in a Men's 50 4+, which, frankly is one of our weakest boats so winning a t-shirt might have to wait another year.

Speaking of Head Races, I officially signed up to race a single in the Head of the Occoquan. This will be my first time trying that. I've raced in 8s, 4s and Quads, but never in a single. I decided to do it just to see how I will do. A test of sorts. It's made possible as singles race on a Saturday and the rest of my races (a 4+ and an 8+) are scheduled for Sunday. Therefore, I won't be totally wiped. Hopefully we'll have good weather (Ha!) on Saturday, but if not I'll scratch. I'm not looking to go in the water during a windy Halloween day. Yes the race is on Halloween. I do need to step up my training though. 3 weeks to go.

On a health note, I picked up a skin infection just below my eyebrow. My left eye is almost swollen shut, which looks as lovely as it sounds. I'm on antibiotics for it and if past history holds, it should start draining over the weekend. I hope you weren't eating while reading this. I did go to the Doctor's today on a another matter, my blood pressure. It hasn't been too bad lately, but the Doctor has been tweaking my meds for a while now trying to get it down where he wants it. Based on today's visit, he's happy. Now I just need to do my part by taking the medications and keeping up with my exercising.

Have a good weekend everyone.

The Eyes Have It

Over the past two years or so I have been having problems with my eyes. I have some rogue lower eyelashes that like to grow back toward my eyes rather then out and down. You wouldn't think something as benign as an eyelash could do much damage, but the pointy ends have scratched and scared the cornea of my eyes. I can usually tell when they've become a problem as my eyes get extremely light sensitive. My eye Doctor has had me come in about every 5 weeks or so to pluck the offending eyelashes. I was last in to see him on Wednesday. My eyes are feeling much better and he gave me the ok to start wearing my contacts again. He did tell me to take that part slow though as my eyes are still healing. He also recommended that I get the offending lashes permanently removed. I'm not exactly sure how that will work. It's not like they can sap them with a laser. Apparently it is an in office procedure so how bad can it be? I'm sure this will be more then a one time thing until all the offenders are identified and removed. My first appointment will be in about 5 weeks. It will be nice to get this problem resolved and perhaps be able to see like a semi-normal person. Not to mention getting to wear my killer sunglasses again. Stay tuned.

Thunderstorms and Tweaking Meds

Its has been an interesting week, weatherwize, as every afternoon seems to bring thunderstorms and torrential rain. Now thunderstorms here in Virginia are not that unheard of during our hot humid summers, but the ones this week seem to have gone above and beyond. Needless to say, it has played havoc with my rowing schedule. Our safety rule states that no launching of boats until at least 15 minutes has passed since the last sound of thunder (or visible lightening but its hard to have one without the other). I didn't row on Tuesday, although that was more due to a family issue then the weather. Last night (Thursday), the storms came and dumped a few inches of rain on us, but luckily cleared before practice. The bad weather did have me running late to practice though and our coach had already assigned seats and I had the choice of riding in his launch or going to Sandy Run to row on my own. A third alternative emerged when I talked a fellow rower, who originally decided to sit out a practice, to come row a double. He has limited experience sculling, but unlike most of the men (or women for that matter) in my club, he actually rowed in college (Naval Academy) and is probably the strongest rower we have. I let him row the stroke seat and I rowed bow. Like on Saturday, we rowed up to Ryan's Dam (actually just beyond) and manged to get in a 7 mile row. We even raced the Men's 4 from Fountainhead Park up to the Dam. We actually held them off for the most part until I caught a semi-crab, which brought us almost to a complete stop. Considering my stroke had wanted an easy row so as not to aggravate a sore shoulder, we decided that was enough racing for one night. Going back we passed out fitness rowers and out novices so I suppose that means the double was moving pretty well. Turned out to be a good row overall. I had to agree with my stroke when he commented that the Occoquan was the most beautilful piece ofw water he's rowed on.

Today I had a follow up visit with my Doctor. He's been trying to fine tune my blood pressure medicine. I think we are getting pretty close to where he wants me to be, but he did tweak it a bit more. The medicine he increased slightly this time has a known side effect of making some people dizzy so I'm suppose to be aware of that. I can't imagine that being to good for my balance on my bike or when I'm out rowing. Hopefully that side effect won't rear its ugly head.

Enjoy the weekend!

Hurting Eyes

For the past month or so my eyes have been really bothering me. Watering, burning, bloodshot all the time. A lot of it could possibly be attributed to it being the height of pollen season here in Virginia except for the extreme light sensitivity. Last week I went back to my Eye Doctor for another round of removing offending eyelashes that were growing back toward my eye rather than outward. After looking at my eyes, my Doctor declared them "a mess" and banned me from wearing my contacts for a week. Apparently both corneas are scratched courtesy of the offending eyelashes and need time to heal. I was given drops and an ointment to use. Yesterday was a follow-up visit and my eyes, while better, are still in the process of healing. I still can't wear my contacts for another two weeks. I was given more drops and a prescription for some sort of eye care kit that comes complete with goggles, which should be interesting. The problem with all this is that I can't see very well at all. My glasses don't help much and only time, as my eyes heal, will I begin to see better with my glasses. I've had to change my setting on my computer monitor making everything bigger so it's easier to read. I feel like an 80 year old squinting at the computer. Reading a newspaper or magazine is totally out. Maybe I should look into large print books at the library. The only reason I bring that up is that I need to travel to the west coast next week on business and I need something to pass the time on the flight out. I usually read a book, but I don't think I could read a regular paperback at this point so I need something else otherwise it will be one long trip. Coming back, I'm on the red eye so can sleep most of the flight. My trip is to Sacramento. Anyone who wants to provide recommendations on places to eat, please feel free.

It's down to two weeks and counting for Daughter#1's wedding. Everyone is starting to get pretty excited about it(not that we haven't been along, but even more so), especially based on the great time everyone had at Daughter#2's wedding. Daughter#1 called yesterday to inform me that we had to practice for the Father-Daughter dance. I asked if we couldn't just get away with the usual slow sort of dance in one place type dancing and she said No! So we'll see how that goes. Having two left feet when it comes to dancing and no sense of rhythm despite my long time in the high school marching band.

In other news, The Son has a job interview today. Send some good vibes his way. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.