Wednesday December 15, 2010

I got up about 9 and got ready for my day.

The clouds had finally moved out and let the sun come through, warming us to 25 degrees. (woo hoo!)

I had my annual eye exam today. I was a little anxious about it, because last year the doctor was quite insistent that I have my eyes dilated at this year's visit. The first, and only, time that had been done was in 2006, which left me with a 4 day migraine. No way am I going to intentionally subject myself to that again, not without cause.

This particular office, Lansing Ophthalmology, has quite a process for a "routine eye exam". Check in, go to another area, check in there, and wait. Go into a room for a preliminary exam with someone who starts an exam sheet. Back out in the waiting area and called again by someone else, who does another set of exams with different equipment ("this one or this one") and continues writing on the exam sheet. They also look at the current lenses in the glasses with a machine that reads that prescription. That person put in drops to numb the eyeball to take pressure readings, and pressed the pen-like device onto my eyeballs. She would have also put in the dilation drops at that point, too. The previous girl and I had a conversation about that dilation business. She said doctor had made a note on my chart to "use half-strength solution so the migraine wouldn't last as long". Seriously?? Uuuh, no. This next girl asked me if I was still "refusing" the drops. I told her I was definitely declining the dilation process, as I wasn't interested in a 2-day migraine, either. Geesh.

So I was nervous about seeing the doctor, even though I was sure about my choice. She took me over to another waiting room, where I waited about 20 minutes before he came out for me. In the meantime, I browsed the frames, looking at the prices. The first pair I picked up was $161. I thought to myself that, as usual, I picked the expensive ones. Another pair I liked--$176. Whoa. The next ones were $158. I stopped looking at frames and went over to the window wall and watched the birds, thinking that maybe the prescription won't have changed much and I won't get a new pair.

Dr. Ebert was pleasant and personable and didn't mention ONE WORD about dilation. Whew. He went about his portion of the exam with thoroughness, and when he was done, he said my prescription has changed, but not by much, and he wrote it out and gave it to me. Ok, thank you.

Back to the waiting area for the glasses people.

One of the guys was available and I sat at his station, where we talked about the little bit of change that was needed and that I was going to pass on buying new lenses and frames at this time. But my current frames needed adjustments, or tuned up as they like to say, and he did that for me.

Over to the check out desk and I was on my way, an hour an a half later.

I stopped at the house before continuing on to Jackson for the "Department Christmas Party" that was being held at Daryl's in Jackson. Daniel met me there (he was on his way home from work), and we enjoyed conversation and hors d'oeuvres.

A safe drive home, thank you God, and a quiet evening. Dan has gotten his computer about halfway restored, though he had said something about the machine not recognizing something... I don't know if that got resolved or not.

He works tomorrow, and I'm going to catch up on the homefront.

I've felt pretty good, in general, but my joints are sure achy. And my feet are sore. Funny, since I've been trying to pay attention to the aches, discomforts, and things that are bothersome, I realize how much energy goes into ignoring them. And then I think, no wonder I'm tired--that's a lot to keep out the way. I do try to keep my attention on the positive, to focus on what's good, that I'm alive and cancer free, and I thank and praise the Lord for every moment and every person in my world.

And I thank you for reading. Hugs.