A New Year and Stop the Clock

Where does the time go?   Happy New Year!    

First of all, thank you to those who have sent me email updates over the past few months.   I so enjoy hearing from you - and I apologize if I haven't gotten back to you or have sent a delayed response.  Just so everyone knows, some of us have had eye surgeries  (both glaucoma and cornea dsaek), changes in medications, good news, bad news, so-so news.    It's the life of an ICEr.   It's just so important to KNOW that you are NOT alone out there!  If any of you ever want to share your ICE experiences out in blogland, please let me know and I'd be happy to include your story in an upcoming post.   This spot is to be a place to help us get through all of our journeys - not just mine!   

As for me, the past six months have been so crazy - let's just say that I'm glad 2012 is over.   Between the fire, family illness, middle school life & activities, my small online business, significant home improvement projects, holidays & more, there has been a lot to handle, process and maneuver through.   (Did I mention I had a very significant birthday milestone in that time frame too?  YIKES! Say it ain't so! )    And through it all, I'm happy that my eye held up - without any drastic changes.   Sure, double shadow vision - cloudiness - wandering eye.....that's just part of my new normal.    But to have gotten through those six months with no pressure increase, no cornea pain - it's nothing short of a miracle to me.   I know 2013 will continue to present challenges - but at least it is a NEW YEAR!  Regardless what happens, it's up to me - my choice - if it is happy or not!

My next appointment is with my glaucoma specialist in two weeks.   The past few days I have had that oh-so-familiar dull achiness behind that eye.   I'm so hoping it is just an anomaly - and nothing.     Trying not to worry for we know that does us absolutely no good!    Que sera sera.

 The other day I was flipping through an old issue of Health magazine and came across the following paragraph by Susan Hall.   I thought I'd share it with you and close with it.   It is such a good reminder!   Take care everyone!   I'll try to be better in 2013! 

Stop the Clock

You wait all week for Friday at 5, and the next thing you know Sunday night is staring you in the face.  Instead, make time feel like it's slowing down by living in the present.  Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found that when people made a point of actively savoring the things they usually hurried through - maybe it's eating breakfast, drinking a cup of tea, or walking to the bus - they experience more happiness and fewer negative emotions.  So revel in the softness of your fluffy duvet, the smell of an orange while you peel it, or the carefree giggles of your kids.   

Live Well - Thoughts after Thanksgiving

Live Well.    This had been on my mind before Thanksgiving.   In fact, if you read my previous post a couple of days ago, you may have seen a couple of paragraphs at the very very end that I meant to "edit out" - but just forgot - oops (I've edited it now)!   One of those paragraphs was about "living well" - and I just didn't want to bombard you with another quote or commentary after my wordy Thanksgiving thoughts and update!   :)

So now that it is after Thanksgiving - let me try this again.  This quote from Ben Franklin got me started:

 You have heard me say before LIVE TODAY!  Make the most of - and enjoy - the limited moments and days we are given on this earth.  And quite frankly, I haven't done a very good job of this over the past couple of months.  Just too much worry has seeped back into my life.  So I'm going to work on this - and the holiday season is a perfect time to start up again. 

But now, I'm going to also add  LIVE WELL to my mantra.    Regardless of our financial situation, family situation, health situation - we can live well.   We all have different definitions of "living well" - but I believe it all begins with our attitude and our conscious thought of living daily - not just getting through the day.

So my friends....

Live Today.

Live Well.

All is Well. 

Thanksgiving, Stable & A New Normal

Friends - it has been waaaay too long since I have posted.  Clearly not my intention to post so infrequently - but you do what you can do.  To say my life has been hectic is an understatement - just way too much going on right now!  I hope this finds you well. 

 First of all, here in the U.S., it's almost Thanksgiving - a day of giving thanks!   Through the rumbles and tumbles of life, sometimes it isn't always easy to be thankful for our circumstances, for what we're going through, for what we've been dealt.  Life IS difficult.   But if we just stop, take a deep breath, we can realize there is so much to be thankful for.   So make Thanksgiving, make everyday - a day to push our troubles aside at least for a minute, and be grateful and thankful for our blessings - even if they are currently disguised!   One thing I know I'm thankful for - YOU!   Through this past year, many of you have lifted me up with your comments, with your own stories.  Thank you.  

 An update on my ICE...in the past weeks, I have seen both my glaucoma and cornea specialists.  In both visits, as I walked out the door, I lifted my eyes to the skies above and whispered "thank you".  As you know, ICE lives with you forever.  You don't get over it and you never know what to expect.  But - my eye pressure is hanging in the normal range - and my transplant is okay.  The vision in my right eye is extremely poor but STABLE is the word I choose to hear.   I am thankful.   Stable means no surgery in the immediate future.   

I do continue to struggle with my "ghosted" "crooked" double vision.  The current hypothesis: too many surgeries, too much scar tissue, alignment issues.   Probably not fixable.  Prisms probably can't address it.  Eye muscle surgery tricky, not recommended now.  Double Vision is the new normal.   I will live with it.  I have no choice.   I will continue to learn to deal with it.   

So, in conclusion, just THANKFUL for STABLE and accepting of a NEW NORMAL!

All is well. 

  

An Update, Worry and Corrie Ten Boom

Just an update friends.....

Life continues to be hectic in many ways.    It's a good thing I'm older and have a few life experiences behind me as I don't think I could handle it all if I were younger!   (Guess that's a benefit of nearing that mid-century mark!)   I have been able to reschedule my visual field exam and eye appointment until late next week - in hopes things will be a bit calmer by then.    Stress is never good for glaucoma and ICE - or general health for that matter - but I do think that my eye has been able to handle the chaos pretty well.   I'll find out next week. 

In the meantime, another great quote popped up in my inbox the other day.... 

Source

   

 Love it!  and Oh so true! 

If you're not familiar with the quoter - Corrie Ten Boom - web search her name and you'll learn of the amazing person she was - what she endured, how she got through it, and how she allowed the experience to change her life and the lives of others.   I remember her in the 1970's and the movie about her experience ... "The Hiding Place".   What a wonderful lady and an eye-opening movie.   Given her circumstances, she knew that there was a plan for her to make a difference in the world and that is exactly what she set out to do.   She CHOSE her response to what had been dealt to her.  

May we all have the strength to know there is a plan for us and to respond to our circumstances in a way that will make a difference in others' lives. 

May your day be filled with PEACE and JOY!  

 LIVE YOUR DAY TODAY MY FRIENDS! 

Tough Times Don't Last - Tough People Do!

I have been struggling for several days with what to write in my “next post”.    You see, life continues and the unexpected happens.   This represents my past couple of weeks.   Yesterday, as I waited during my son’s soccer practice, I tried to write – but the words just wouldn’t come.   And  then back on the road in the car to take my son to his next appointment – the radio was on – and the answer was right there.  

Tough Times Don’t Last

Tough People Do

It’s a phrase I have known for years. But this time, the phrase came to me in song….a song by country music singer Trace Adkins.    It spoke to me – and was my answer to my post dilemma.  (You can listen to the song here if you'd like.) 

My past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of happenings.   The most devastating – an uncontrolled brush fire that swept through – destroyed - my family’s heritage farmstead.   No one lived there – no lives were lost – thank God.    But the physical loss and the emotional toll on my parents – in their 80's - has been rough.   Trying to be "steady" for my folks and dealing with my own emotions of memories of the farmstead - and of dreams lost - controlled me for days.    

My son and I "picking pears" on the farmstead several years ago.

Throw in the start of middle school for my son and all that entails – new routines, back-to-school night, fund raisers, homework.   Adjust to new schedules for soccer, baseball and basketball practices and games.   Add in the start of middle school Church “Confirmation” classes on Wednesday nights and continue on with some weekly medical appointments for my son.  Hear of two acquaintances that have passed away.  

To say I have been emotionally and physically overwhelmed and exhausted is an understatement.     I just now feel like I’m starting to emerge out of the fog.   You know why?    Tough Times Don’t Last – Tough People Do – and  I am tough!   My faith helps get me there. 

We all experience tough times – it’s part of life.   But it is up to us to know those tough times won’t last and it is up to us to choose to be tough.   I do think there is a time for us to feel  the sorrow – feel the loss - feel exhausted during the tough patches of life.   But we then must pull ourselves up by the bootstraps, stay strong and get moving again.   

For us ICErs, we know we are in this ICE thing for life.    So you may question that this “tough” disease is one “tough time” that will last.   BUT I challenge you to look at lCE just a bit differently.   Take it day by day - event by event.  There WILL be tough times – perhaps a high pressure reading, another surgery, a dull ache, more drops,  poor vision - you know the routine.   But through each of those tough times, CHOOSE to pull yourself up by the bootstraps, and know that you WILL get through it.  Adjust to a new normal if necessary.    Be tough and LIVE your life.

God bless!   All is well!