Eyes, Part IV

Well…I survived my 4th and final (for now, at least) eye treatment or whatever we’re calling it. My eyes felt great last week, for the most part, but I was on vacation. They’ve been pretty decent this week as well though, so maybe it’s working? It’s definitely gradual but they told me it would be. I’m waiting a couple more weeks to give this last treatment time to work before I decide if it was worth it or not. I mean already, it kind of was because the doctor was able to squeeze oil out of both eyes. It’s still not quite the olive oil consistency it’s supposed to be but it’s a lot better than it was. But then again, if I knew what I was in for when I signed up, I’m pretty sure I would have said no.

Which brings me to the next point. If I’m not feeling all that much relief in a few weeks, I have the option to follow it up with a different treatment. I forget the name of it already. But they basically put these things in your eyes that do some kind of massage/heat thing that gets the same results as the squeezing does. This was originally given to me as treatment option #2 and I said no to it based on the idea that they had to put things in my eyes. I didn’t know at the time that option #1 (which I choose), was also going to put things in my eyes because the brochure doesn’t tell you that! The picture shows goggles! 

Anyway, the idea of putting eyeball caps (I think they called them shields) in my eyes no longer terrifies or grosses me out so I’m not saying flat out no right now. But I’d really like to be done for awhile. So we’ll see. I have already scheduled a 6 month follow up to see how it’s going. 

So now I’m taking it easy tonight. I’m not hot or tense any longer and my face feels fine. My eyes are a little dry and tender, but that’s to be expected. I’m going to watch a movie and maybe sample a few of those chocolates I bought last week. 

Road Trip!

I took a week of vacation this week and it has been so nice to be away from work. I haven’t even thought about it until I just typed that sentence. My mom wanted to go somewhere so I told her ok as long as we went south so it was warmer. 

We drove down to St. George the first day and stayed overnight there. A coworker told me to go to the botanical garden there and it was nice. I liked walking around it. 

The next day we headed into Nevada and stopped at Valley of Fire state park. I’d never been there before so that was a fun side trip. It was windy though and wind kind of aggravates my eyes so we didn’t do so much walking around there.

We spend that night in Pahrump, Nevada. The next day we got up early and drove to Death Valley National Park. The high temperature was supposed to be 92 so we wanted to start before the heat of the day. Usually, I think of Death Valley as somewhere to drive through/past as fast as possible but it was actually fun to go there and see the diversity of the landscapes and vegetation. 

We walked out on the salt flats at Badwater Basin. At 282 feet below sea level, it’s the lowest point in North America. 

My car is sitting here in the parking lot and on the mountain behind it is a tiny white sign that says: Sea Level.

We walked up a couple of hills at Artists Palette. The sun was in the wrong spot to see the colors really bright but they are definitely there. 

We made Zabriskie Point our last stop. It was fun to see part of the park. There was still so much more we didn’t see. I would not want to do that in the summer and the heat, but it would be fun to go back during the winter months and see other parts and get some sunshine. 

And before we came home we stopped in Las Vegas and went to Ethel M’s chocolate factory. Yes, I bought way too much chocolate to bring home. I regret nothing. The little cactus garden they have there was also a nice place to walk . 

Of course my mom survived walking around the uneven ground in Death Valley just to walk off the curb at a gas station and do a face plant. She wasn’t hurt, but was bruised so the trip home was a fast one. We left Vegas at 6 am and drove home. We did stop back in St. George to go to the Farmstead Bakery because of a billboard we saw on the side of the road. It was excellent and worth stopping at. 

It was a fast trip but very relaxing. I stayed off social media and the news but then was very happy to sleep in my own bed last night. I like to go places, but I really like to come home. 

Eyes, Part III

So….I had my 3rd eye appointment today. This one only took about 40 minutes so I think we went through everything faster, which is nice. It is still really weird. I think the numbing drops didn’t get quite where they needed to because I felt the eye cap/covers a bit more. I am fine with the face zapping on all parts except around my mouth and forehead. Those areas are more sensitive, I guess so they hurt the worst. The doctor was also able to squeeze some more oil out afterwards. I had mentioned that they were super irritated after the 2nd appointment so he put in more eye drops at the end to help me recover. Right now my eyes are irritated again, but not so much I can’t handle it. 

I had one really great day last week and then the days I work at home are usually pretty decent. I really, really hope this works. It’s supposed to be a gradual improvement but I would love to have some more good days. More good days than bad days would be really nice. 

Eyes, Part II

So I survived my second eye treatment. Leading up to it, I wasn't sure if knowing what was going to happen was good or bad.  I had a bit of anxiety and made sure to get some exercise beforehand (you aren't supposed to exercise after because you don't want blood rushing to your face).  

The treatment was still strange. The light zapping my face still burned and trying to get my glands to express oil was still uncomfortable but it is still definitely do-able. Because they didn't have to explain every little thing to me this time, the appointment overall took a little less time and after it was over I felt less exhausted than the first time. And I feel like I can definitely survive the next 2 appointments. 

There is some good news that the doctor was able to get oil out of both eyes this time. Not much, and it's a terrible consistency so it's really not that great. But I'll take it. My eyes were super irritated the rest of the day and part of the next but I got over that too. Fingers still crossed that this helps me. 

And in other good news my new succulent survived shipping this time and I have it planted in it's little pot. It still looks a bit sad but that will change as it adjusts.