Tag: health

The Day Before The Long Weekend

It is believed that the day before the long weekend is always quiet and uneventful, because nobody wants to start a new project, and half of the people are taking a day off, and the other half want to leave earlier. It could not be further from the truth for me!

First, I had my month-after post-op for the Lasik. It was scheduled for 10-30, and since it takes me no more than 30 minutes to get to the Rush Medical Center from my office, I agreed to do “something” for our UK team at 12-30. It took them a while to agree with this “something,” so I was happy we could wrap it up before the holidays, and I thought I would be back in time. Unfortunately, I was waiting and waiting, and nothing happened! I started to suspect that I might be late, but as it often happens in the medical building, my hotspot barely worked. I sent a WhatsApp message to my UK co-worker to tell the team what the situation was, and that very moment, I was called to the exam room. They took all the measurements, and then… dilated my eyes! I screamed that I needed to go to work, but they didn’t listen. That also meant it would be a while before the doctor saw me. My coworker asked whether we should postpone the “something” until 1 PM, and I said – yes, but I became doubtful. Finally, the surgeon dashed into the room, started talking to me, but then slapped his forehead: Sorry – I forgot something! One moment! And he disappeared from the room! When he finally appeared, and we discussed my concerns and next steps, I knew I had a very slim chance of being on time. I practically ran out of the building (as fast as I could, having patients in wheelchairs all over the place), and ran to the Polk station, only to see the train leaving! The next train would be in 11 minutes, so I went down and called Uber. It was the most expensive 10-minute ride of my life (which also ended up being 15 minutes because of the insane lunch hour traffic). In the car, I was able to slack the team that I was on my way, and was at my desk three minutes to 1PM, which also allowed me to grab lunch (they stop service on our floor at 1 PM, and I would have no time to go to another floor).

Anyway, everything was great until after “something” was completed, the team stated that they experienced some problems. It took another 2.5 hours to check that it was a false alarm, and I was tired beyond anything imaginable.

Then, I went to LensCrafters. Although I can go without glasses or contacts most of the time now, I still encounter situations where my eyes do not work well together, and I also do not see the stage in the theater with the precision I would like to. We discussed options, and I ordered new glasses. We then tried several combinations with contacts and agreed on the best one. By that time, it was a perfect pre-holiday traffic situation, so I walked to the Red Line, fearing that bus 147 might take forever. When I was at home, it was almost 7 pm. My CSA order had been sitting downstairs for over three hours, but everything except the strawberries had survived! Still, I needed a moment of tranquility, so I pulled on a new (just-delivered!) swimsuit and headed to the beach. It was one of those days when I was especially thankful for living by the beach, just a ten-minute walk away from the sand, and the sounds of the waves, along with a mild, descending sun.

I can’t say that “that was it,” because earlier in the morning, I promised one of our Singapore team members to get online at 9 PM, which I did!

And One More Eye Surgery

It’s funny that something that should be a major event in my life is just one of many good things that happened during the last week.

Since the time my left eye became so much better than my right eye after the lens replacement, I knew I wanted to do something with the right eye :). Who would have known things could be so much better! The same surgeon who did my last surgery and who is a true miracle worker, told me he can do Lasik on my right eye, and that was enough for me to say yes! With any other surgeon, I would be skeptical.

It took a while to find the date when the surgery could be done (I had to stop wearing a contact lens five days before, and I was traveling non-stop). I chose May 23, so that the surgery would be “after everything”. Also, I ordered temporary glasses for these several days. It was a complete waste of money, but I was glad I did, because I had five events during these five days! It was still extremely uncomfortable, but I managed 🙂

The surgery itself was very quick and uneventful. (I felt mildly stressed because I had to wait for a long time before they started, but that was it.) I asked not to administer sedatives, because I didn’t want to ask anybody to escort me home. They still gave me a local anasthesia, and everything was fine. It’s weird when you see and feel somebody messing with your eye😀, but not a big deal. I saw better immediately, although it was supposed to happen later. I still feel like my eyes do not work completely together, so it’s like I see with each eye better than with two together, but we will figure it out 🙂

And if you think about it, it’s amazing how much medical science has advanced in recent years!

A Friend Who Is Shorter Than Me

Three years ago, I experienced this effect in full: for two consecutive days, I walked and talked with two friends, both shorter than I was. Something in this situation throws my spine out of balance, and my left side pains return. I didn’t have it that bad for quite a while, although I had less severe cases sometimes when I walked with my mom, and I forgot about it.

Two weeks ago, my pains returned out of nowhere, and it took me a while to figure out that the root cause was the same – for two days, I was engaged in long walks and conversations with a friend who is shorter than me (it’s not easy to be shorter than me, that’s why it does not happen often!)

By now, I know what I need to do to fix the problem, so I asked my doctor to renew my high-dose ibuprofen prescription and went to physical therapy, but I am wondering whether I will ever be able to talk to people who are shorter than me without pain 🙂

Time Magazine: Balance

I know that the abilityh to balance is a very important indicator of how you are actually aging, and this Time Magazine article talks about it in-depth.

Continue reading “Time Magazine: Balance” →

One More Note

One more note about this eye surgery and how it differed from the previous ones: although the surgeon told me it would be “more serious” than the initial cataract surgery, it didn’t feel this way. Two days after the surgery, I already felt like a normal person, and when, a week later, I was allowed to go completely “back to normal,” it was surprising and exciting but totally expected. I felt like that!

Last time, I felt like my whole body was negatively affected, I felt as if I got older, and I looked older, and I do not feel like that this time!

(Not to mention that this procedure costs literally three times less than the first one, and that’s without inflation adjustment. I was able to cover it entirely from my FSA)

Vision Updates

Since I already received a couple of concerned messages, I wanted to let my friends know that everything is great, and the reason I didn’t blog much is that life happens multiple times every day :).

I had a second post-op today, and there was something going on (not with me), because the surgeon had to dash to other rooms multiple times, and I spent more than an hour just waiting.

However, the news is positive: everything is healing very well, and I can do all my regular activities, provided nothing hits my head and I am not lifting something heavy.

The vision is still fluctuating, however, as I already said, even the worst it was during this week is tons better than it was before and better than I was hoping for.

Vision Development

Thursday was still weird, and although I was super happy with the optical effects, I still didn’t feel myself, both physically and mentally. I still had to make some important decisions because one of my “battles” was still ongoing (I hope that at some point in the future, I will be able to tell all about that, but not yet).

Friday morning was a turning point. Boris and I walked to the Common Cup for breakfast. I could not make myself eat normally since the surgery; I had zero appetite. That breakfast was the first time I enjoyed food, and I appreciated the Common Cup more than ever.

My vision is fluctuating, and it was expected. On Thursday, it was good; on Friday and Saturday, it was terrific; today, it is a little bit worse, but the surgeon told me it would be a rollercoaster, so I am patiently waiting. The best part is that even at the lowest, I do not need any additional correction on my left eye, and when I put a contact lens in my right, my vision is as close to perfect as it can be. I am trying not to wear the reading glasses to train my eyes.
One of the most difficult things in my current situation is that I am not allowed to do any physical activity, and I can’t bend down. That includes no strength training, even with body weight, elliptical or stationary bike, or yoga. And on top of it, I am not allowed to move fast!
It was very cold on Wednesday, and Boris didn’t even let me walk outside (the next day, the surgeon said it was fine). However, I am still motion-deprived and barely make half of my move ring on my Apple watch. No bending blocks most of my household activities, and it’s awesome that Boris is here because he can unload a dishwasher and move the clothes from the washer to the dryer. (And to be honest, that’s the best this time – no COVID restrictions and having him here). I forgot about “no bending”, and I am thankful that this is for one week only, not for three months, like after my back surgery!
I also forgot about the drops: three kinds of drops four times a day, with 5 min intervals in between 🙄

After seven days, I will continue the two non-antibiotic drops until I use the whole bottle, but just twice a day.

One of the drops stinks a lot! I do not recall any of them causing such an “ouch” after my previous surgeries.

Last time, I was struggling getting the drops in the eye – half of them ended up missing, and I was never sure whether I should repeat or it was “good enough.” The nurse said, that if I am unsure, it is beter to repeat. Boris showed me his techniques to see the drop getting out of the bottle, which increases the chances of success dramatically, so I do not worry that much about it this time.

Boris is leaving later today, so we are going to do everything which requres bending and lifting before that. And since I am oging to the office tonorrow, I woun’t need to worry about the dishwasher until me next post-op on Thursday 🙂

Eye Surgery

My eye surgery was on Wednesday, and we had to be at Rush by 6-45 AM. If you recall how my first eye surgery was five years ago, it could not have been more different!

Rush Medical Center is something amazing! The top technologies, the high-skilled staff, the overall professionalism, friendliness, and respect for patients. It was great that, unlike five years ago, Boris could be there with me. It turned out that although I was not nervous, I actually was, and I missed a lot of explanations from the surgeon regarding what exactly and why would be done (there were three separate procedures).

Right after the surgery, I couldn’t tell what the result would look like because they told me to keep the patch on. I felt OK but could not really focus on anything, and I was motion-deprived because I couldn’t do any exercises, and it was too cold to walk outside. On Thursday morning, we went for a post-op appointment, where they took my patch off, and although my vision was foggy, I realized it was almost perfect! the surgeon told me that I saw way better than he expected me to see on day one, and I was sent home with a whole bunch of eye drops and instructions “not to move fast.” That’s the most challenging thing for me to do! This “no nothing” will last for a week (two days done, five more to go), and after that, I will be able to gradually return to my normal level of activities with complete healing in a month.

A Busy Day Of a Busy Week

On top of everything else this week, I had an ear infection, and I had to apply for RealID and for a new passport. An ear infection just happened at the most inconvenient moment; with the RealID was a real thing. I thought about it “eventually, and i have a passport, so what’s the big deal,” but then I realized that I need to renew my passport because I am running out of pages, and now is the longest interval between my travels. And while my passport will be on renewal, I can’t use it for domest travel either.

My Thursday looked like this: a usual early start, two meetings, telemedicine appointment to get antibiotics (yes, I know it’s a horrible practice, and I always try to avoid it, but I didn’t have time even for Minute Clinic, yet alone a proper doctor appointment, and I although I didn’t have fever, I felt sick, and that affected my productivity in all areas of life.

The teledoctor (who saw me for the first time) tols me that it can’t be ear infection because I didn’t have fever, and we should try to unclogg the ear, but still gave me an antibiotic prescription “if nothing else would work.” I asked to sent the prescription to the CVS Target, because this location would work well with all other errands I had. After lunch, I found a USPS envelope in our supply room, taped on the label I printed at home and put inside all my passport documentation. Then, I went to pick up prescription and then crossed the State Street to take a passport picture at Walgreens. There, I had a bad luck – their passport pictures machine was broken, so I Googled the next closest place, which happened to be some scatchy-looking facility in front of the Post Office, which was my next stop anyway. There, I took a passport picture, asked them for a stapler, stapled the photo to my passport form and sealed the envelope. Crossed the street one more time, and dropped the envelope at the post office, and now the package is on the way to it’s destination. I requested a large passport book and expedited service, so I hope the it will be processed on time, and I won’t need to get a new passport three years before the expiration date (that’s what I had to do now).

I have to say, that antibiotics was the right choice – I felt that I am moving into right direction by yesterday’s evening, and this morning I didn’t feel sick (although not completely fine either, but on track to recovery). I was able to close a couple of service tickets during the last hour and a half of my workday, and then stopped by my mom, and then attended an online yoga class in the evening, and managed to go to bed at normal time. The latter one is a huge achievement of mine – so far, I have six hours of sleep almost every night since I returned from Helsinki.

TIME Magazine; Gen Z Is Drinking Less Alcohol

There were several “New Year – New You” interesting Time Magazine articles that i wanted to mention. This one is especially interesting given the latest announcement of the US Surgeon General about alcohol being more dangerous for people’s health than it was previously believed. I can tell from my experience that nowadays, it is definitely more socially acceptable not to drink alcohol, and pretty much any establishment has a minimal selection of mocktails.

The full text below.

Continue reading “TIME Magazine; Gen Z Is Drinking Less Alcohol” →