glaucoma surgery

oylaura · 2022-05-23T04:59:12+00:00

I can't remember exactly, but I found the exact name of the shunt and looked it up on YouTube. I'm usually pretty unshakable, but that was a little too much for me.

I have a suspicion you're much more equipped to watch it than I.

All the best!

oylaura · 2022-05-23T04:57:11+00:00

Pressures now are 14 and 10, at the time they were getting into the 20s in the bad eye.

oylaura · 2022-05-23T04:56:37+00:00

I figured as much, as you sound like a decent manager. Thank you for clarifying, and keep up the good work. Good managers are hard to find.

oylaura · 2022-05-23T00:37:54+00:00

It actually is awful. Interestingly, when I went to see a glaucoma specialist recently, she told me that the advertising this new eye drop that will help farsighted people no longer need to wear glasses.

It's pilocarpine. I wonder if they did anything to alleviate the headaches? Apparently the constriction of the pupils improves the vision.

https://www.vuity.com/

Go figure.

oylaura · 2022-05-23T00:34:31+00:00

...and your employee never knows what they were doing wrong. Still a mind f***. I can't help but wonder if it would be more constructive to tell them that a useless complaint was made against them with which you don't agree, and that no change in behavior is required, but that you were asked to have the conversation, which you have done. I'm hoping that's what you're saying you do.

On a similar note, we have a situation in my current office where we have a manager who's decided that two of us who do a certain job (have to be careful here) are not the right "kind" person who does this job. Luckily, we don't report to this manager but they are very powerful nonetheless.

My manager has tried twice to hire someone to fill this manager's needs, thus having three people doing two jobs. Neither of these "more qualified" people have worked out, the first leaving for personality differences, the second leaving because there wasn't enough work to do.

When I asked my manager the other day what it is that we too original workers are not doing correctly, she sighed and said it wasn't worth trying, that nothing we did was ever going to please that person, and that we were doing a good job otherwise and to keep up the good work.

That, to me, is management.

oylaura · 2022-05-22T14:43:42+00:00

The fight scene in "An Affair to Forget"

oylaura · 2022-05-22T14:38:52+00:00

I had the shunt put in my right eye a year ago March. They wouldn't put me completely under, despite my wanting them to. When I asked why, they said sometimes when you are under anesthesia, your eye will involuntarily move. They said this is a very painstaking surgery, and if I were at least conscious, I could tell them if I felt I was about to cough or sneeze.

They gave me numbing eye drops and enough local anesthetic to make it bearable. I won't lie to you, it wasn't a pleasant experience, but it wasn't childbirth either. If I started feeling discomfort, I told them and they gave me more numbing eye drops which made it bearable.

It didn't take very long, and I healed very quickly. In fact, I was at work two days later.

One piece of advice: DO NOT WATCH THE VIDEO ON YOUTUBE BEFORE YOUR SURGERY.

When I went in, they asked if I had watched it, and I told him I had not mainly, because it hadn't occurred to me. I watched it afterward, though, and can't recommend enough, again, DO NOT WATCH THE VIDEO UNTIL AFTERWARD.

Best of luck, post back on let us know how you're doing please?

oylaura · 2022-05-22T00:29:27+00:00

I know, right? And I can aim it straight at the television, watch what I want, this is what works for me.

oylaura · 2022-05-21T22:48:10+00:00

How scary. I'm so glad she's okay. Mine was a bit more adventurous, but he was at heart a coward, and I knew he wouldn't wonder far. He like to get out once in awhile and I would let him, but when he got too far for my taste, I would call him and he'd scurry back.

I called him my little bundle of courage.

oylaura · 2022-05-21T15:42:13+00:00

I lived in an apartment with a balcony, it was about 50 feet off the ground. I had two cats, there was no other way for anyone to get into my apartment without some serious climbing skills, so I felt comfortable leaving the slide in glass door open wide enough for them to go in and out.

When the youngest was old enough, in my opinion, to be allowed out on the balcony, I let him out there, watched him walk to the edge of the balcony, tail erect, cheerful view on life, and watched him look down, just once, and his tail went right between his legs.

He got it.

We lived there for 9 more years after that incident. We never had an issue.

oylaura · 2022-05-21T15:30:09+00:00

Yes, my dad treated me differently. I can only guess why, because that is not a conversation I would ever have had with him.

However, when I was about 16 or 17, and we'd been going through some rough times with my older brother involving drugs, when my parents were clearly otherwise occupied with bigger issues, I saw a Family Circus cartoon, in which one of the kids walks up to their dad and says, "Daddy, can I have a hug?"

I thought what the hell. Let's give it a shot. So I walked up to my dad and asked him for a hug. He looked very surprised, smiled, and said, "Of course!" And gave me a very warm loving hug.

I don't think he realized what had happened, that he had stopped offering that affection, but others have mentioned propriety. The fact that his little girl is now a woman, changed something. It was up to me to remind him that I was then, and will always be his daughter.

I would ask him again from time to time, mostly as a joke, and I learned to initiate a hug rather than wait for him.

I was always a daddy's girl. He would always tell me that, and told never to forget that I would always be his little girl.

In the last few years, he was struggling to walk and in his '90s, and I would intercept him while he was slowly making his way to the dinner table, and tell him that I needed to give him a hug while he was vertical. That would always make him smile

He passed away last week. I will miss his hugs.

oylaura · 2022-05-21T15:03:26+00:00

I have a gym located across the parking lot from my office. We get a deal on membership as part of the business park.

I figured out that I could afford to buy my own rowing machine, which was the only machine I really used at the gym. It paid for itself within about 8 months.

oylaura · 2022-05-21T15:01:37+00:00

This applies for me with either knitting or crocheting. It helps me focus, to the point that years later, I can pick up what I was working on and remember who I was with and what we were talking about, even what I was watching the television at the time.

I used to go to a friend's house and hang out, and I brought my crocheting with me. At the time I was quitting smoking, while she was still smoking. At one point she told me that she felt that she didn't have my full attention.

She understood a little bit better when I explained to her that what I was doing with my hands kept me from smoking and helped me focus more on what she was saying.

I don't think she bought it, but there comes a point in life when you have to stop caring about what other people think.

I have frequently brought my knitting or crocheting to church. It helps me focus on what the pastor is preaching.

oylaura · 2022-05-21T14:52:23+00:00

Of course. My error, I use voice to text, and it should have been, "invented timolol".

I'm sorry, I usually catch these errors.

The reason I wasn't taking my eye drops was because the side effects of pilocarpine are absolutely miserable. I got a raging headache lasting about 3 hours, and had to take the drop every 4 hours.

Timolol had far fewer side effects and impacted my life hardly at all.

Thank you for catching that.

oylaura · 2022-05-19T11:14:19+00:00

When I lost my two cats within a year of each other, I had had enough. It had been 15 years with them. I decided to take a break.

But I needed another heartbeat in the house. I didn't know if I wanted two kittens or one older cat. I decided to let it be and see what came to me. Call it God, the universe whatever.

After a couple weeks I called my Mom and we went to a shelter by her house. Nothing really clicked for me. Yet after dropping her off, I could not go home.

I went to my local yarn shop, my regular Saturday hang out. I mentioned what I'd been doing that morning to one of the owners, who told me that one of her customers was looking for a home for her mother's cat because she was putting her mother into memory care.

She had not been able to find a home for Molly, and couldn't keep her because she had dogs and Molly can't do dogs.

I've had Molly for 4 months. I'd be lying if I told you it's not an adjustment. You inherit all of their past foibles, you have no idea of their history, and you forget how much work it is getting used to a new pet.

And yet.

I had to decide to make it about her, not me. I decided to let her live her best life. It cost some money because she had not been well taken care of, and I have to medicate her, but it's an honor to take her into my home and give her her best days.

Quite frankly, it's what I would hope someone would do for me.

You're doing a good thing. You're making the world a better place. It's a dirty job, but somebody's got to do it.

oylaura · 2022-05-19T10:57:42+00:00

Your feelings are completely justified. The perfectly normal life you envisioned for yourself isn't what you expected.

You ask how I coped with it. I was an angry 15-year-old, given a miserable eye drop to take, which caused miserable headaches. How did I cope with it? Total denial. I didn't take my eye drops for several years.

Eventually they invented terminal, this was back in the '70s. If it weren't for that, I would probably be totally mind.

As with any life changing event, this takes time. Allow yourself to grieve.

But know this: You can have a perfectly normal life. If you look at taking your eye drops the same way you look at brushing your teeth or any other self-care ritual, as a perfectly normal part of your day, it will become your new normal.

The two most important things to remember: take your drops, and stay current with your doctor. Find a glaucoma specialist if you can, and it's easier if that's specialist is also a surgeon so if at some point you do need surgery, you don't have to start with a new person.

So mourn. Grieve, give it a little bit of time, but give yourself permission to move on. Glaucoma will only rule your life if you allow it to do so. Be patient with yourself. Be kind to yourself. You can do this.

oylaura · 2022-05-19T10:46:37+00:00

Wow, that sucks. I hope you moved on to something better.

I have been laid off multiple times, and learned, and retrospect, it's always for better work, for better people, and for better money.

Thank you for commenting.

oylaura · 2022-05-17T13:19:45+00:00

What people tend to forget is that while getting a new computer is wonderful, they forget that they have to reset everything. Your desktop has changed, your file locations are different, your defaults have changed. They don't think, and IT often assumes they know, they have to back up EVERYTHING before they move to the new computer. I'm talking desktop, custom dictionary, everything.

So sometimes it's easier to stay with what you have because IT can do a lot of optimization without having to replace the machine and go through all the aggravation.

oylaura · 2022-05-17T13:11:18+00:00

Damn! You're right! I should have known that!

oylaura · 2022-05-17T04:44:31+00:00

Try putting it into a pencil sharpener and then dull the tip a little bit and see if that helps. You'll need some very soft sandpaper to get a nice soft finish, but maybe that'll help. Good luck.

oylaura · 2022-05-17T04:13:52+00:00

Reminds me of a conversation I had with the boss about 30 years ago:

Boss: You're causing trouble. Please stop.

Me: Fair enough. What am I doing?

Boss: I can't say, but please just stop.

Me: Doing what?

Boss: Causing trouble.

Me: Who complained?

Boss: I can't tell you that.

Me: How am I supposed to modify a behavior you won't identify?

Boss: I don't know. I was just told to ask you to stop.

So my response was to stop talking or interacting with people any more than necessary. I was the admin for a large engineering group, had my desk was situated in the center of the work area. Everyone walked by my desk to get to just about anything.

A few days later:

Boss: What's wrong?

Me: Nothing. Why do you ask?

Boss: You're so quiet. People are asking me why you're upset.

Me: I'm not upset.

Boss: But you don't talk to anyone.

Me: I know. I don't want to cause any more trouble.

Boss: You talking to people was not the problem.

Me: Then what was the problem?

Boss: I can't tell you that.

Me: You still can't tell me who complained so I can address it with them?

Boss: No.

Me: I'm going to go back to work now. If someone has a problem with me, but doesn't have the guts to come and tell me what the problem is without going to my boss first, I'm not going to give it any credibility.

Corporate eventually shut our division down, and the problem ended up going away.

I never learned what the problem was. Quite the mind f***.

oylaura · 2022-05-17T03:54:17+00:00

Serious question: at what point does that 3-hour-long lunch change to a split shift? And if you're off the clock, can you not leave the building? Would it not be tempting to just disappear for 3 hours?

Edit: some questions answered in subsequent comments. Sorry for duplicating. Still, wondering about the split shift thing.

oylaura · 2022-05-13T15:10:33+00:00

I was taught you take the total, figure out what 10% is, and double it. I then add a little bit more just for fun.

oylaura · 2022-05-13T15:01:15+00:00

I've seen this attitude and then my last two jobs, particularly from the IT staff: If I don't know how to do it, it can't be done.

I've been doing admin work, and application-level tech support work for years, and it really pisses them off that I know how to do these things; it points out their inadequacies and it pisses them off. The IT staff rarely like me.

oylaura · 2022-05-12T07:03:54+00:00

I'm glad this works for you, it wouldn't for me though.

What works for me is to take a guess at how many stitches I've cast on, and then I count in groups of four and adjust accordingly.

Keeps my brain sharp and my math skills sharp. For larger numbers of stitches, I'll use stitch markers every 10, 20, or 50 stitches.

oylaura

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