Fickle Fingers of Fate
It has been some time since my last post to the Blog and we have been getting a lot of e-mail questioning our well-being such as the following from Sharon:
George & Kathleen,
How are you. We look forward to reading your blog each day. I sympathized with Kathleen in regard to her hip surgery before and after as I went through it about 4 yrs. ago. It's amazing how well it works after the recovery period and I certainly don't miss the pre-surgery pain.
My purpose for this memo is that we are concerned that something has happened with our favorite blogger two-some as there has not been a posting for some time now.
Best wishes and a Happy Thanksgiving to you both.
Sharon Keele
Sharon and Jerry,
How nice to hear from you. Kathleen is doing great with her new hip and also grateful to be rid of the pre surgery pain. It was a long summer sitting in La Crosse waiting to get the surgery done and then hanging around for the initial 6 wks after.
One day after her surgeon pronounced her fit to travel we were readying the ‘tininthewind’ for travel when I started seeing double just when I looked to the left. My eye’s were feeling heavy I remember and I told Kathleen it was her turn to go to the walk in clinic and sit and wait for me to get checked out. To preface a bit here-----I had become upset with the blood pressure medicine I had been taking because it made me feel like I was floating all the time so I had stopped taking it.
On arrival at the walking in clinic I was checked first by a nurse who long story short rushed me off to the emergency ward as my blood pressure was sky high. The ER folks were concerned about my seeing double and rushed me off to have a CT scan as they were concerned I might be having a stroke. CT was normal and after several hours and all kinds of blood tests they sent me home with instructions to get back on the BP medicine. I did, but in the next few days like a windshield wiper the double vision progressed to about 80% of my vision field from left to right. I went back in and they sent me to an eye specialist who proclaimed that I was suffering from “6th nerve palsy” most likely caused by a micro bleed (mini stroke) somewhere in the brain due to the high blood pressure and probably high blood sugar as now they were telling me I was also diabetic. News to me! Within two days of seeing the eye specialist and being told that there was no medicine they could give me to make it go away, the only hope was that in time------I should give it 2 to 3 months and it ‘could’ get better. In that two day time the double vision went complete 100%. If I covered one eye, and it didn’t matter which one, I got rid of the double vision and could even drive, but it was uncomfortable.
Now for some good news!! It is 5 wks since the onset of my eye problem and I am happy to say that about 80% of my vision field has returned to normal. I only have the 20% to the far left (peripheral) that is still double. It seems that each day things have progressively got better so I continue to hope that I will recover 100%.
We left the La Crosse area about a week ago because there was nothing further to be done for me----only to wait it out. When we first left I drove with a patch over one eye but today I am able to drive just fine with both eye’s as long as I turn my head to look left and not rely on my peripheral vision to that side.
We are set up along Fork Lake in Texas at a very remote little Resort with one RV pad. My little boat is in the water and the fish are calling.
We will migrate closer to the Rio Grand Valley as weather and aching joints dictate.
Stay Well, we think of you often. George.
To all of our friends and especially our Blog followers I thank you for expressing your concerns. It was difficult to read and or work at the computer and yes, I admit, I was a bit in the dumps over my situation. Each day shows more progress to my vision returning to normal and I am feeling more like getting back to a normal routine. I should get back to blogging on a regular basis very soon.
