Eyes update and more

It has taken this long to finally be able to report that the post-surgery inflammation is gone from both of my eyes. I got that good news from the ophthalmologist who has a specialty in persistent eye inflammation. So now over the next three weeks, I am weaning myself off the steroid drops; I stopped the other eye drops last week, but he recommended I continue using artificial tears, especially through the winter months. No one told me beforehand that eye surgery can cause dry eyes, not that that would have prevented me from going through with it. I go back to my ophthalmologist who did the surgery in two weeks. One thing that concerns me is that during the past few weeks my perfect vision has lessened for long distances although for close up and intermediate ranges it is still fabulous. What I've noticed is that if I focus on a distant road sign, for example, I can eventually make out what it says; however, when I'm driving I don't have the luxury of spending time to focus, hence the concern. I've read that it can take three to six months and even up to a year until you know what your final vision outcome is with the Crystalens implants. Until the doctor tells me otherwise, I'm going to assume that my eye muscles are still "in training" learning how to adjust the lens to respond to distance vision. But if it comes to needing glasses for certain situations (like driving), I'm OK with that.

A good test of how well the lenses are working was my work time on the SAT essays. I worked October 15-27, and even on the days when I worked 7 hours (which used to tire out my eyes and even give me a headache from looking at the computer screen for that long a stretch), I never had a headache, never felt like my eyes needed a rest. Before, when a student's handwriting or printing was really tiny, I would struggle to read it and would have to use a magnification tool built into the essay scoring software, but this time I didn't need to do that for even the tiniest printing. Pretty impressive, I'd say.

The other news from October is that I signed up for Social Security. I will be turning 60 in December, so I'm eligible for widow's benefits based on Ed's record. The first payment will hit my bank account in January. I remember walking out of the Social Security office with such mixed emotions after signing up--so grateful to Ed for his hard work and success that will now benefit me, so grateful that, really, he is still taking care of me in this way, but so sad and upset that it has to be this way. Yes, I cried in the parking lot.

Fortunately, my good friends continue to make me laugh--a lot. We haven't been going to the wine tastings on Fridays as often, but now we've added a new dimension to our social calendars. After our usual supper at Bob Evans on Wednesday evenings with anywhere from 8 to 18 people, most weeks my friends Cheryl, George, Ron, and I (and sometimes Ann) go out for a drink afterwards and more chatting and laughing. I have never in my life been to a bar this frequently (actually, the bar section of Champs restaurant); in fact, I've never been out to eat so frequently and regularly!

I am going to be traveling to Iowa for Thanksgiving week. Will and I will get to babysit each other for two of the days. Thanksgiving dinner will be at Mark's parents' house where there will be quite a large family gathering. I've already been requested to make huge quantities of deviled eggs as my contribution to the meal. Then I will be home for Christmas and New Year's. Melissa, Mark, and Will may be coming for my birthday in December; hopefully, that will work out. I'm planning to host the Giesman Christmas gathering on Jan. 1; Becky has hosted the last two years. Though I have always wanted to have it here, it was hard for some of Ed's kids to be here without him; hopefully enough time has passed that it won't be a problem for them. Then I've organized a group to go to a concert on Jan. 3. Sometime after that I'll go back to Iowa for a visit.

As you can see, there were several "hopefully" comments above. That's kind of how things go these days. Deal with whatever comes up and hope for the best.