Friday, July 31, 2015

Old problem rears its ugly head again

Looks like my eye, righty, is not doing what it should be. 
I had been a week ago, Monday, in to see my internist for a yearly physical and hear about the results of my bone density that I had had per her orders and blood work too. Mostly all was well, although my triglycerides were still too high and we both agreed I would go back to using fish oil for that with my healthier diet and continuing exercise program, my total cholesterol was 161 otherwise, good. Even my A1c was down from 6.1 to 5.8 that tests your glucose, still needs to be down below 5.4 to be out of the woods for prediabetes. My cardiogram was fine, and done right in her the examining room for my heart. My bone density was very good too, just the continuance of slight, very slight Osteopenia, normal for my age.  
But she felt it necessary even with that lower A1c for me to go for a diabetic retinopathy test at my ophthalmologist's, the one who did my cataract, laser and other minor surgery all on my righty eye, just last year. Lefty's cataract was done way back in January of 2010, the day of the Haitian earthquake, horrifically.
Yes, righty has been going in and out, vision-wise and causing pain, but not a constant, just sporadically. And so getting it checked out wouldn't hurt and when I went to the Doc he found that I needed an antibiotic-steroid combo med eye drop; tried for one week then stopped and to call them after to see how it worked
Well that was a week ago Tuesday, and today I had a weird experience with the eyelid drooping on the right, the left had been that way for a while, and I felt that my vision was not getting any better. I wanted the 20/30 I had after the initial cataract surgery Last March! If you recall I had been legally blind prior to surgery.
Last week it was down to 20/70 and today it had actually improved to 20/60.
guess I was an impatient patient?
No, I have been diagnosed with optic neuropathy this time, not neuritis, and so I am on the step down steroids pills for six days.
I have been on these too many times before for so many things after Solu Medrol 1000mg. IV and for respiratory infections etc.
The eye doc said he was going to talk to my neuro and decide if I might then going on a low dose daily steroid or if this doesn't work back to the IV.
So we will see, interesting choice of words.
All I can say it is nice to know that lefty is there to pick up for the slacker righty's not doing a very good balancing job, but hey it is what is and I still have that spare, functioning just fine thank you very much.

My problem is that with the rain and the eye situation I have been not going into the pool as much as I could be, and I do believe it is not going very well for, physically. More days are harder to move from here to there. And if any of you recall I was put on Ampyra on July the 14th, for me to walk better and although I told by them it takes about six weeks to kick in I asked on my social media page and was told by a four years user of the medication hers took three to six months but it did work for less falls and more energy, boy I can't wait!

I am more than sure that it working on you is an individual thing, in a time frame, so I will be waiting; sort like that turtle in the Bye Bye Birdie movie: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bye_Bye_Birdie_%28film%29 with Dick Van Dyke and Ann Margaret, ya know the one? I had the good fortune to be in an off, off Broadway version of the musical in Ridgewood NJ in 1965 being part of a theater group called Thunderbird Teen Corporation, I was a cast chorus and dance member that's all, but boy was that ever fun!

Anyway, the story line was that this rocker, sort like and Elvis guy was going into the army and he was to bestow a good-bye kiss on an American teenager on the Ed Sullivan Show, a world famous novelty acts, entertainment show of its time: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Sullivan

Acts like Elvis and the Beatles were first seen on that show by millions all over the world.
Any-who, and so they were running over the time allotted for the kiss of the American teen for the BIG goodbye and so one of the character's gosh I can't remember which one, makes a concoction that he calls speed up, no NOT speed and tries it out on the family of the teen's brother's pet turtle, and he, the turtle did zoom across the room. All this to speed up the Russian Ballet by giving the potion to them so there would be enough time for their little girl, the beautiful red-headed teen, Ann Margaret, to have her fifteen minutes of fame on the TV!

Thus my analogy, and my hope for Ampyra, or not.
It would be so nice to get rid of my walker and go back to a cane; the wheel chair has been in the wind since my sight was restored last year!
Hopefully this latest eyesight glitch will be only temporary and Ampyra will kick in and I will become whole again in the sense of being able to do what I love... walk without aid and see just right!

On that note allow me to be the very first to wish all of you a very happy good night and ask all of you to kindly count all your blessings and share all your overages with you know whom and so will we!

And next time please be here or be square, ya hear!

PS: Update: brain MRI results were stable that were taken last month and my VEP taken earlier that month was normal too, odd with my eye issues over a month later. But my eye doc said these things can happen fast and it might still be the optic neuritis, oh pooh!

Speaking My Mind: Which way will the war go?

Speaking My Mind: Which way will the war go? :   My eyesight is going again... in case you missed it... Netanyahu snaps back against growing...