Good Visit With My Cardiologist Today

I had been looking forward to my appointment with my cardiologist today.  This was like a check-up to see if I'm okay.  

He asked me if the Radio Frequency Ablation surgeries on my legs were working.  And I was able to answer an enthusiastic "Yes."  He noted that the formerly swollen legs looked fine and told me to keep doing what I'm doing.

Also, my heart and lung sounds were clear and strong, as were my aorta and other noise producers.    Even my EKG was perfect.

I also pointed out that I had lost 15 pounds, had returned to my exercises. And I had started seeing a therapist for my troublesome bladder.  And I was getting a Scleral Contact lens any day now for my good eye.  

I had given him one of my Christmas Cathedral Birdhouses just before Christmas, for "Saving my life." He came through the door thanking me for it.  He said his wife and daughter loved it.  

I see him again in two months.

Sweetie and I had not had lunch so we decided to celebrate with a Mexican lunch, and me a very large margarita that tasted wonderful after three weeks of not having alcohol.

Our good fortune did not stop there.  On the way to the restaurant, we went through a neighborhood with schools.  And, you guess it, Sweetie got stopped for 30 in a 15 mph school zone.  The Policeman was nice and reminded her of the school zone times, but let us go on.  Lesson learned, again...

And now we're tired and I'm about three winks from falling asleep.  But it was a good day.

Buc-ee's

 Growing up in Harrisonburg, Louisiana in the 1940s and '50s was, I suppose, not that much different than people growing up anywhere.  We didn't give it much thought.  After all, it was a very small town in a very rural part of the state, and although it had an old Civil War Fort where bullets flew, it was pretty boring.  The town had been there for a long time and even prospered after WWII.  But growth seemed stimmed by the people leaving for greener pastures..  

Families would sometimes move to town for a while, and then move on.  The population remained fairly steady at just under 600.  And as soon as I graduated high school in 1959, I also packed my bag and joined the Army.  Surely there was a place for me in the world if I looked for it.

Meanwhile, one of those families, the Arch Aplin's, decided to pack up and head to Texas.  And just like that, the town was one family less than it was the day before.

My only connection to the Aplin's was that Arch Sr. married my grandmother Hazel 'Terry' Mcmillin's sister, Mae 'Terry' Aplin, Arch III's grandmother. 

But the Aplin's had a plan and they designed their life to make it work for them.  And the plan came together in a remarkable way as Arch Aplin III gradually grew into the goal.  He opened a small store and named it Buc'ee's.

As I began writing this post, I was wearing my Buc'ee's T-shirt, silently celebrating with the students at my old school in Harrisonburg as they recognized the family that became a familiar name to travelers driving through Texas.

This article in the Shreveport Times sums up Buc'ee's story quite well.  It's worth a read, just as stopping at Buc-ee's is well worth the stop.

https://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/2023/01/13/a-boys-dream-that-began-in-louisiana-became-the-buc-ees-phenomenon/69804135007/?fbclid=IwAR15ps7mgSUH8dRVTzUZg0lkkwn8F_mlWmD8y207ooSD9W7cFXf8i-xufs4 

Scleral Lens May Be The Answer

 It is no secret that I've had my share of eye problems over the years.  Not all were able to be corrected.

My current concern is glaucoma in my only 'good' eye.  Yeah, the right eye got infected during cataract surgery about twenty years ago.  After that, my left eye served me well but gradually started to degrade due to slowly worsening glaucoma and normal aging.  And eventually, there wasn't much else doctors could do about it except to keep trying different eye drops that hopefully would lower my eye pressure to an acceptable level.  They are still trying.

Meanwhile, my glaucoma specialist referred me to another ophthalmologist who had some experience with patients who had similar damage to their eyes.  One look and he couldn't help either.  But he suggested that I go see an optometrist who had some notable success with patients who had eye damage similar to mine.  

The optometrist examined my eye and determined that she thought a Scleral Lens, a custom-made contact lens, might help.  

After some tests to be sure I qualified, she asked me if I wanted to try it.  Well yeah!  But it would be at my own expense and not all of it refundable or reimbursable by Medicare. or any other insurance.  She ordered the lens just before New Year's.

It arrived earlier this week and I tried it three days ago.  Wow!  It didn't hurt like I thought it would.  And things were definitely more in focus.  I knew then this was going to help me see again.  

Just as she had predicted, the lens would have to be re-made to accommodate the new data from an hour of wearing it and additional tests.  

It should be here in less than two weeks.  I can wait, knowing that I've got a very good chance of getting my life back to normal.

Time To Crow A Little

 Three days after Christmas, I weighed more than I have ever weighed in my life.  And if I didn't change something, I would set a new record the next day and the day(s) after that.  So I did something - I went on a low-carb diet.  

Although I was determined to make it work, I was also realistic in my goal, knowing full well that I would eventually cheat on it.  And I did cheat three days ago when I baked some bread for Sweetie's Crows.  She didn't buy bread for us, so the Crows didn't have any old bread to eat.  That's why I baked some bread in my $5 bread machine.

But the bread turned out so nice that I just had to have a small slice.  And a second one.  And some buttered toast.  I finally stopped or the birds would soon have nothing to eat.

Except for that incident and a couple of cookies a neighbor shared with us, I've been satisfied with whatever Sweetie came up with to eat.

Today is January 11th and I'm happy to post that I've lost 12.2 pounds so far, and Sweetie has lost 5 pounds.  

I think we can now set a goal to shoot for.  So by January 31st, I would like to have lost 30 pounds.  

Stay tuned.