Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Another "last" guest post from FF

During the end of January and the first of February we had the saga of my Fearless Friend as guest posts. FF has now all but completed his ordeal, although he’d probably say it was more of an inconvenience than an ordeal. As his last post said, he is on the mend, almost mended, from cataract surgery on both his eyes.

He said in his last post that it was his final word and I told him then there’s no such thing as a final word when it comes to blogging. Sure enough, he has another final word and I’d still say there’s no such thing. The difference now is he no longer is facing a surgeon but rather just his regular optometrist whom, he points out, he’s been visiting for 33 years.

The surgery was not total perfection, but certainly perfect enough to make him a happy camper. He was told from the beginning there was a good possibility that, because of his pre-surgery eyesight, he might have to use reading glasses at least for the rest of his life. Monday that possibility became a reality. In his own words and with his permission, here is another of his “last” guest posts:

If you are interested in a more full report from the optometrist Monday revealed that my vision in the right eye was 20/20 and the left eye 20/25. I do have a slight astigmatism in my right eye. It is not a big problem now although he did correct it in my new glasses.

I have a family history of glaucoma and he will monitor that yearly. One of the glaucoma versions hits between the ages of 70-80. My eye pressures have been the same for 30 years and did not change with the surgery. This particular glaucoma is not related to eye pressure, as I understood his description.

20/40 is the cut off for driving restrictions and I am well within those parameters. The 20/25 in the left eye means (in my case) that I can read the 20/20 line with difficulty on some letters such as “V” and “Y.” In other words I went from a –8.75 correction in that eye down to a -.5 correction in that lens in new glasses.

He made it clear that I could actually just use drug store reading glasses now and probably the rest of my life, but I could reduce eyestrain in some situations if I wore the prescription glasses. This was exactly in line with my thinking. I will make a decision with respect to wearing the glasses all the time or part-time as I move forward.

While it has been fun to not be required to wear glasses all of the time, look at and buy sunglasses, and only wear readers to read or use the computer, I suspect there is going to be a time in the future where that “fun” will wear off and I will just hang glasses on my head in the morning and leave them there for the day.

As a continuing note of the entire process, this examination was much more comprehensive vision exam than the one in the surgeon’s office. They had checked my vision in each eye every time in the follow-up after the surgery. As I am not a full time patient of the eye center, Monday’s visit is called a “post cataract surgery follow up exam.” It falls under the entire cataract process and is covered by insurance as such. I was very pleased with the coordination between my regular guy and the eye center.

The other day when I was taking my radio station apart for travel I was switching back and forth between my two reading glasses (computer and reading) and told my wife that I was going to get some glasses with either bifocal or progressive close-up when I went to the doc no matter what was suggested.

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it before, but FF is a HAM (amateur) radio operator and has been for many years. He has an extensive “ham shack” in his home and a yard full of antennae. I have mentioned that he is leaving this weekend for his home in Florida where he spends about three months a year. This is a late start for him as he usually goes right after Christmas to have the cold months down there. That surgery caused him to postpone the trip to now.

He takes at least some of his gear to the south with him so that he can have his daily contact with friends around the world. It’s not quite as extensive as all the wires and poles and stuff he has here, but he does have a rather elaborate antenna down there to handle the sometimes vicious Florida winds and rain.

He mentioned the other day that Mrs. FF had been urging him to begin packing his personal belongings for the trip. FF was concentrating on his “toys” (which he probably would take exception my categorizing that way) as, like just about all men, they are much more important than clothing. He has given in . . . a little . . . to Mrs. FF:

Since we last spoke, well communicated via this thread, I have started packing and I am really just about done. Packing for me is limited to getting out what I want to take. My wife can make my pile of stuff condense into a pile 2/3 smaller than I. So, I’ll leave the final inserting my mound into my suitcase to her. That way everyone is happy.

FF will be able to get me back today at noon as we both will be attending our Last-Wednesday-of-the-Month luncheon with a group of fellow retirees. That’s a great time of conversation among some men and women who all retired from the same place some dozen or more years ago. We both look forward to it.

By the way, he got his new progressive reading glasses yesterday.

GiM

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