Can we have a forum for "older" people with bc?

What infuriates me is when I say something should be and DH ignores it. Then his MD or a friend, or even our son, tells him and he takes immediate action. Grrrr.

Yup, Puffin--over the past couple of years, whenever I'd ask the ophthalmologist whether my cataracts were ripe enough to remove, he'd reply "you tell me." (Same as when I'd asked the orthopod about when my knees were ready to replace). For me, it was a constellation of life-interferences: seeing backlit faces or objects in silhouette; on an unlit outdoor tented stage facing the sunlight, looking down at my guitar neck and not being able to see the fret markers along the neck; and (the last straw), after getting stronger & stronger drugstore readers, going for a refraction at LensCrafters. The optometrist told me my reading correction was exactly as it was in my most recent Rx, but my difficulty reading was due to clouded lenses from the cataracts. And when she couldn't tell me what shape my retinas were in because she couldn't see through my lenses well enough to visualize the fundi, she said I should see an ophthalmologist. I told her I have one, and was waiting for a sign to get the surgery. That was the sign.

After the first surgery, I realized how bad my cataracts had been when I was driving home from a gig in Madison, WI. There's a ring-road called the Beltline that circles the city and connects to I-90/39. Over the past few years, I'd dreaded the ramp from the Beltline at night because it was unlit. (A couple of times I actually missed it and had to take the country roads to the state line and into Chicago's far NW suburbs). I would turn on my high beams and go very slowly, torn between hoping there was someone ahead on whose taillights I could guide and dreading blinding them with my brights. This time, though, I marvelled how normal that ramp looked. And though the unlit sections of freeway (except for a couple of small-city interchanges, all the way to the IL state line) were still a bit scary, it was nothing like when I had to use my brights the whole time,

I've heard that the reason for waiting until they are "ripe" (another word for really bad) is because the surgery itself could lead to blindness. If the cataracts are "ripe" then you have nothing to lose! That was in the olden days - we're a lot luckier in the 21st century.

Well our heat wave ( I think maybe about 54 or 55 today ) is here and as I suspected will likely bring rain. We are having gray and lots of fog this morning. Waiting for my five day forecast to come in my email which is how I try and keep up. Not always as accurate as I'd like, but does give me an idea so as to maybe make some plans if needed.

Otherwise I'm planning a productive day. Don't know how much I'll actually do, but at this point -- it is about keeping what is clean going while refining pretty much everywhere. I'm actually enjoying it -- much to my surprise and that does make a lot of it far easier though I've been running into some tedious things -- silly stuff actually. Like what rags to keep of all things.

Hope you all have a really good day --- and if you have some sun -- good for you.

Good to hear from you Puffin.

Had an odd experience yesterday. Most of my guitars are in my living room, in their hardshell cases to protect them from dry indoor winter air. Been assiduously "recharging" their case humidifiers ("sponges-in-baggies" and devices with soluble gel that when rehydrated slowly release water vapor through their pores). Wood contracts as it dries. A dried-out guitar is sad indeed: hard to play, sharp fret ends sticking out of shrunken fingerboards, even cracks!

I keep three or four (an expensive Taylor, a small mid-priced Taylor, a budget Martin and an old cheap Gibson) I haven't touched in years down in the basment, reasoning that a climate good for wine (cool and somewhat humid) would also be good for wood. A couple are against a far wall, behind heavy boxes and other stuff, and I can't reach them. The expensive one, though, was right next to the wines, in a custom-made (in Scotland) fiberglass case that cost me more than some of my guitars (or at least what I paid for them used), and weighs a ton. So I hadn't played it in over a decade. Dusted off the case and pried open the latches...and the guitar is in pristine shape! (Stuck a hygrometer into the case for a few hrs., and when I reopened it, it read 67F and 40% humidity). Played it, and it plays beautifully--but my left wrist is still too sore (damn pill bottles!) to play for any length of time. I put a new humidifier in there and closed the case back up. And also put it in a more convenient place in the basement in case my wrist gets better.

There cannot be a sense of abundance or the experience of prosperity without appreciation. You cannot find beauty unless you appreciate beauty. You cannot find friendship unless you appreciate others. You cannot find love unless you appreciate loving and being loved. If you wish abundance, appreciate life. -William R. Miller

Jumping back in to say Monday is not so bad here. A bit ago the sun came out fairly strong and shows at the moment not much sign of hiding out again. I hope I'm right about that. It lifted my mood instantaneously as it usually does. I'm not a sun worshipper by the way -- it is just my biggest and best mood stabilizer.

Wren -- thanks. I do have ( I silently bless her daily ) two of those spectrum/special lights that another bc lady who was here for a bit was kind enough to send me. I had looked for some around here previous to that and most people looked at me oddly when I would ask if they had any. So, I do use those a lot on the icky days and it keeps me going. They are quite portable, but I was lazy this morning (am a lot of mornings ) because I am in and out of most of the rooms of the house doing chores so I can go at a nicer pace the rest of the day. By the time I was ready to settle down --- I had already been thru the house and out to do my outside things -- and behold the sun came out -- so didn't have those lights on today. Would have though had it stayed 'gloomy'.

Your Ursula LeGuin book sounds great. I like books that can convey much in a short space. I got a book called " Standing Next To History " An agent's Life Inside the Secret Service ( 2005 ) as well as " The White House Staff " Inside the West Wing And Beyond ( 2000 ) and I think they will be easy reads. The books at the store are sort of random on the one hand -- but they tend to keep the same type together. Cook books, political, biographies, self-help etc. That is how I came to have two political books. It is not a subject that has held a lot of interest for me as far as actually purchasing books. Though we don't talk politics here and I won't now, I will say with the last election I have had a lot more thoughts about 'some' political subjects so when these two books caught my eye I felt they might be well worth the 50 cent price tag.

As an aside --- they don't much look like they have even been read -- and I've purchased a couple of articles of clothing in the store that still had store tags on them, along with hotel sheets ( oh do I love those ) so I do think if you are persistent in going you can find many things that are either brand new or very close to it. I found stainless pots and pans that were not used either. If you aren't fussy and don't need to have "matched" sets of anything there are bargains galore.

My DH had both eyes done this spring, same day surgery. He agreed the hardest part was doing the eye drops , esp. when they were every 2 hours!

I have no problem with eye drops, having worn contact lenses for many years before I had cataract surgery. You learn to control the instinctive blinking. Cataract surgery was miraculous for me. I remember that "wow" feeling of seeing clearly.

Today went well. I did a couple of loads of laundry and did some other household chores. I also got myself back on track for losing weight.

Cooler this a.m. and no sun -- here come the lights. Carole, I've actually been thinking of getting some generic eyedrops just to train myself. On the chance that I'll need to do something about cataracts. I've been told, some time back that their is evidence of some mild formation. I'm the type that winces horrifically when I see that DROP coming out of the bottle. It is like a boulder hitting my eye. Once had an eye Dr. get angry with me over it. I warned him about my reactions and he pooh-pooh'ed it and then proceeded to get mad when he was less than successful. We did finally manage.

Hoping to have a good day as well despite what may or may not happen out of doors. My 5-day forecast isn't in yet -- not sure why it has been so sporadic lately but doesn't really matter. Hope you all have a fantastic and fruitful day.

Wren, I think I might be able to do that. Sounds far less intrusive. I am near-sighted as well as far-sighted and have an astigmatism in there somewhere ( though I'm told it wouldn't make a lot of difference where eye drops are concerned ) so I'm all for not having to see the 'boulder' coming. Of course I'm thinking, why didn't I think of that, but likely it is because my dry eyes are not very bothersome and I haven't needed drops for that, so I just don't think of how to make something better if the problem isn't happening now -- but more thinking of one of these days if I need the cataracts done.

Then again -- maybe that will be like my hair. I don't as yet have actual gray hair -- unless you could call a couple of small strands right at the temple area. Sigh !!! Sometimes I'm far too predictable. I've always thought that when you get lets say around retirement age, you often get gray hair too. Not so. You get it when you get it. My dad was late in graying and I think my grandmother ( on his side ) was too. His brother was as well --- so I did always have a chance that it would come a little later. I had at one time what seemed a small patch in the crown area towards the back but I no longer see it, hmmm maybe that is the cataract at work, but I've not been able to see that little patch for a long time. I just think I'm not going to get much for gray which won't bother me any more than not re-growing hair on my legs or underarms after chemo long ago. I do miss my eyebrows, but I can fix that pretty well.

Got my first gray hair at 17, several more starting in my mid-20s. My roots are coming in salt & pepper, mostly salt. A few streaks are silky white, so no need for highlights when I go to the salon. But the "pepper" gray is wiry & almost kinky. If my gray had behaved like the "salt" part I would have let Nature take its course rather than mimic my early childhood blondeness. (Turned brown before I was 10).

Love is the doorway through which the human soul passes from selfishness to service, and from solitude to kinship with all humankind.

unattributed

IllinoisLady: I was never able to put in eye drops either until someone taught me this tip.

Lay down on the couch, tip your head slightly toward the eye that's getting the drop, You can even close that eye if you want. Tip the bottle vertically upside down alongside your nose and move it toward the tip of your eye and squeeze the drop so it lands right at the inner corner of your eye, open your eye and the drop will slide in.