A year has come and gone since Todd had his first eye surgery. I wish I had good news to report but for the most part, that is not the case.
There is so much about Todd's eyes that I want to communicate that I'm not sure what is the most effective way to do that. My hope is that if someone is researching Keratoconus they might come across these posts and will help them in some of the decision making they might be faced with. If this happens to be you, please don't hesitate to contact me if you have questions or suggestions concerning this condition.
On May 22nd Todd had cataract surgery on his left eye. The goal has been to get the vision in his left eye as good as possible before starting on the right eye surgeries. The left eye was the worst eye so that's how that decision was made.
Immediately after the surgery he could tell there was improvement in clarity and color. This was very encouraging since he noticed no change after the Intacts surgery. Once again, he wasn't able to wear a contact lens on that eye for 3 weeks. Dr. Falknor was willing to let Todd wear a lens on it sooner but by the time he got in to the ophthalmologist and they ordered his new lens it was about 3 weeks any way.
Now that he's had 2 surgeries on his left eye his depth perception is worse so judging the distance of an object while driving is very difficult. We are looking into ways to use public transportation to get him to and from work but because of where we live and where he works it doesn't seem to be an option. Last week I was making phone calls to see what was available and the best option would take him more than 2 hrs. to get to work. Right now he works 4 10 hour days so that would make it a 14+ hour day! He might as well just live down there!
One of the additional frustrations is his job. His manager has been less than understanding about Todd's vision. I think that because Todd doesn't wear glasses (they don't correct the shape of the cornea and that's the only thing that affects his vision) people can't imagine that he has such severe vision problems. I know that before I met Todd I would have thought that!
This has really been a difficult journey, Todd doesn't complain but occasionally he'll compare his vision to something (i.e. looking through shower glass) or like the other night when we went to watch our 13 yr. old son in his first football game he mentioned how hard it was to try to watch something like that and that it really take the joy out of the event. The other day when I got on the computer he had been researching "Careers the Blind", that's when I know he is really questioning what the late term results of his vision problems will be. We know it is all in God's hands.
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Sunday, July 14, 2013
"Trim, Healthy Mama" Journey-Forward
Last week I got my very own copy thanks to the generosity of a sweet friend of mine. I mentioned to her that I wanted to get this book but it would have to wait until the next payday and she ordered it for me then and there. Goodness, some people...
The week prior I had been reading as much as I could on the Facebook page, there is a wealth of information in the files and the wide variety of topics in the posts gave me plenty to try to wrap my brain around.
Why do I want this book? Why do I want to try another "diet"? I've tried quite a few over the years, just for the "fun" of it let's walk down diet memory lane.
High School- I don't remember what grade, I joined Weight Watchers. This sums it up...
Did I have some meat on me? Yep! I always will. Should I have joined Weight Watchers? Probably not. If I remember correctly I gained weight and prompt quit...
The next diet I remember was "The Weigh Down Workshop" with Gwen Shamblin. Good premise, stop eating when you're full. Sounds easy enough. In all fairness, Gwen taught a very true principal. If you are turning to food for your comfort you are replacing God with food. I knew I was an emotional eater but how do you change that? This post isn't about that, I'll save that for later in this journey.
Next I did a similar program called "Prism" and I don't remember the woman that started that. I lost the most on that program, I think around 40 pounds. It was the first low carb diet I tried.
The last diet I did was an expensive one called "Ideal Protein". It's mostly packaged foods, very low carb and it worked. I lost about 40 pounds in 3 months and maintained that for a few months after going off it. With this program you take quite a few supplements and when I went off the diet I went off the supplements and lost a lot of hair. That seems to be a pattern with me, I have thin hair and if there is any change in my health my hair falls out! I'm hoping that with "Trim, Healthy Mama (THM) my hair will improve again. If not, wigs may be in my future, and there are some cute ones out there now days so maybe that wouldn't be too bad!
Since going off Ideal Protein I've gained all the weight back I lost and probably more but I refuse to weigh myself because it will be the most I've ever weighed and I don't even want to see the huge numbers on the scale!
But, I do want to have a record of my progress of my weight loss so when I officially start I might have to weigh myself and take my measurements. For the rest of July I am going to gradually incorporate some of the foods as I read through the book and try to figure out how it all works and then at the beginning of August I will hit it full force.
I'm guessing I need to lose a minimum of 60 pounds and 80 pounds at the maximum. That would put me at less than I've weighed since high school! Hard to imagine...
My first step is to try some of the breakfast foods because I don't usually eat breakfast so I need to figure out what is the most practical/realistic option for me. Wish me luck!
The week prior I had been reading as much as I could on the Facebook page, there is a wealth of information in the files and the wide variety of topics in the posts gave me plenty to try to wrap my brain around.
Why do I want this book? Why do I want to try another "diet"? I've tried quite a few over the years, just for the "fun" of it let's walk down diet memory lane.
High School- I don't remember what grade, I joined Weight Watchers. This sums it up...
Did I have some meat on me? Yep! I always will. Should I have joined Weight Watchers? Probably not. If I remember correctly I gained weight and prompt quit...
The next diet I remember was "The Weigh Down Workshop" with Gwen Shamblin. Good premise, stop eating when you're full. Sounds easy enough. In all fairness, Gwen taught a very true principal. If you are turning to food for your comfort you are replacing God with food. I knew I was an emotional eater but how do you change that? This post isn't about that, I'll save that for later in this journey.
Next I did a similar program called "Prism" and I don't remember the woman that started that. I lost the most on that program, I think around 40 pounds. It was the first low carb diet I tried.
The last diet I did was an expensive one called "Ideal Protein". It's mostly packaged foods, very low carb and it worked. I lost about 40 pounds in 3 months and maintained that for a few months after going off it. With this program you take quite a few supplements and when I went off the diet I went off the supplements and lost a lot of hair. That seems to be a pattern with me, I have thin hair and if there is any change in my health my hair falls out! I'm hoping that with "Trim, Healthy Mama (THM) my hair will improve again. If not, wigs may be in my future, and there are some cute ones out there now days so maybe that wouldn't be too bad!
Since going off Ideal Protein I've gained all the weight back I lost and probably more but I refuse to weigh myself because it will be the most I've ever weighed and I don't even want to see the huge numbers on the scale!
But, I do want to have a record of my progress of my weight loss so when I officially start I might have to weigh myself and take my measurements. For the rest of July I am going to gradually incorporate some of the foods as I read through the book and try to figure out how it all works and then at the beginning of August I will hit it full force.
I'm guessing I need to lose a minimum of 60 pounds and 80 pounds at the maximum. That would put me at less than I've weighed since high school! Hard to imagine...
My first step is to try some of the breakfast foods because I don't usually eat breakfast so I need to figure out what is the most practical/realistic option for me. Wish me luck!
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
The Flu of 2013!
Friday, January 18th was my baby's 4th birthday! He asked to go to Chuck E Cheese, the only way he even knows about Chuck E Cheese is because the Salvation Army we frequent is right next door and we had been to Half Price Wednesday just 2 days earlier! If you don't have a Salvation Army near by I'm sorry, it's a wonderful place! But that's a different post...
So being the wonderful parents that we are we took him to Chuck E Cheese. He was so happy! Every time they sang "Happy Birthday" to someone he thought it was for him! It was so cute... I don't know if that's where we go the Flu from Hell but the next day my husband started not feeling well. Chills, fever, body aches... the typical flu symptoms. He stayed in bed most of the weekend and had Monday off for Martin Luther King day so he took it easy that day too.
We go to Classical Conversations on Mondays so we were gone all day and I could tell that morning that I was starting to come down with something. By the time I got home I was ready to lay down! Fortunately my mom was still here and she fixed dinner and took care of everything that evening.
From there the details are a blur but let's just say everyone in our family ended up getting sick and it's taken forever to recover from this! Last Friday, one week after his birthday, I took the baby to the doctor because he was throwing up and I was concerned about dehydration and asthma complications. They tested him for strep and influenza A, he had influenza A. The doctor prescribed Tamiflu and when I picked it up from the pharmacy got sticker shock from the price! Without insurance it's $170 and with insurance it was $65! Seriously! Then when I told one of my friends about it she sent me this article. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/02/07/recommended-tamiflu-has-flawed-results.aspx
So it isn't very effective in helping with flu symptoms but it is effective in causing other health problems that are worse than the flu! That's worth $65 to me! We gave him one dose before reading the article but then I couldn't bring myself to give him another one.
He is still not feeling well and running a low-grade fever! The doctor said this flu is lasting 7-10 days and that seems about right, which, when you're sick seems like an eternity!
Hopefully we won't have any more sickness like this and we'll be done for the year.
So being the wonderful parents that we are we took him to Chuck E Cheese. He was so happy! Every time they sang "Happy Birthday" to someone he thought it was for him! It was so cute... I don't know if that's where we go the Flu from Hell but the next day my husband started not feeling well. Chills, fever, body aches... the typical flu symptoms. He stayed in bed most of the weekend and had Monday off for Martin Luther King day so he took it easy that day too.
We go to Classical Conversations on Mondays so we were gone all day and I could tell that morning that I was starting to come down with something. By the time I got home I was ready to lay down! Fortunately my mom was still here and she fixed dinner and took care of everything that evening.
From there the details are a blur but let's just say everyone in our family ended up getting sick and it's taken forever to recover from this! Last Friday, one week after his birthday, I took the baby to the doctor because he was throwing up and I was concerned about dehydration and asthma complications. They tested him for strep and influenza A, he had influenza A. The doctor prescribed Tamiflu and when I picked it up from the pharmacy got sticker shock from the price! Without insurance it's $170 and with insurance it was $65! Seriously! Then when I told one of my friends about it she sent me this article. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/02/07/recommended-tamiflu-has-flawed-results.aspx
So it isn't very effective in helping with flu symptoms but it is effective in causing other health problems that are worse than the flu! That's worth $65 to me! We gave him one dose before reading the article but then I couldn't bring myself to give him another one.
He is still not feeling well and running a low-grade fever! The doctor said this flu is lasting 7-10 days and that seems about right, which, when you're sick seems like an eternity!
Hopefully we won't have any more sickness like this and we'll be done for the year.
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