Saturday we did a walking tour at Kinderdijke, the Nederlands.  It is designated a UNESCO world heritage site.  There are 19 windmills that were used to drain and claim land, basically peat in this area.  We were able to tour one completely.  As the breeze came, the canvases were opened on the blades.  Then the whole roof is turned to catch the wind power. Pretty ingenious workings.  The later mills were built of wood instead of brick and were octagonal instead of round to better distribute them weight.  As fascinating as all this engineering is, we left the tour and walked back to a shop torent

Today we are starting a new adventure. We will arrive in Amsterdam on Friday morning and leave Friday evening on the Mimir river cruise ship. We are with our traveling companions who are part of our church family and good neighbors.  We have taken vacations and expeditions in all seasons over the last dozen years or more. We always have a wonderful time.

From: Jan Doudna

Hi! How are you? Breaking news http://manager.kz/twenty/sweet.php It works! Jan Doudna Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPad

Visit to the Retina doctor

Officially it has been nine months since my surgery.  There was the post surgery doctor's appointment in 24 hours.  Then there was another appointment in a couple of weeks.  And I saw the doctor again in November before we left for the winter.  There he took another photo--some topography of the retina to see how it looked.  It had definitely smoothed out some from the original photo.  I could see a couple more lines on the eye chart and he had me read a card for close-up reading.

I was aware of night time halos in just a couple more weeks.  That indicates a cataract.  After the surgery a cataract usually forms within a year. Three months for me.

Now that winter has ended we returned to Iowa and I went to the doctor again.  I can barely see the BIG E with the affected eye.  Next step is to make an appointment to have an evaluation for cataract surgery.  That is scheduled for late July.  Guess that you can't be in any hurry.

I went back to the internet and reread about this epiretinal membrane.  Most articles say that you will not get all of your vision back.  Most also say that recovery occurs within the first three months after surgery.

I will visit the cataract surgeon in July.  Hopefully I can get that surgery in August.  Then I am desperately praying that there will be some improvement of my vision.  I have given up playing tennis.  It is too hard to time the ball and see it if there is much pace.  My other complaint is depth perception.  I have a fear of missing the bottom step because I can't see.  Maybe I could use my lack of vision as a golf excuse???

Rolling with The Final Four NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament

Who knew I would ever be at The Final Four?
This is how we roll.
We arrived Friday on a direct & uneventful flight on Spirit airlines.  Our first flight on this carrier and it went well. No guarantees on future travel.
I haven't been to Dallas for decades, but it Is Texas Big.  We have been on shuttles to various venues and I have loved seeing the architecture and lots of public art.

Yesterday my wonderful and devoted husband got up before daylight to participate in the Northwestern Mutual NCAA 5K.  No shuttle service to Fair Park so I had my plan to take public transportation.  No surprise here if you have ever traveled with me.  We asked the hotel driver if he could take us to the DART station to catch the green line.  He just drove us to the park. Thank you!
Fair Park was wonderful.  Built for the Texas Centennial in 1936, the park is now home to the Texas State Fair.   Art Deco buildings and beautiful areas. It was a nice event and good exercise.

After lunch we boarded coaches-think Cinderella - at 1:30 to go to AT&T Stadium.  There was a fan Tip Off Tailgate party.  Alas, the weather didn't cooperate so we skipped that and entered the stadium.
The stadium is all that it is rumored to be. HUGE. We had access to VIP hospitality so all our needs and wants were met.

Sorry to see Florida lose, but UConn looked strong and smooth.
We helped out the Wisconsin crowd, but Kentucky hit that 3 pointer and Wisconsin missed their last attempt.  Back to our hotel by midnight.  Now we remember that we were up before dawn.  Tired!

Recovery

It has been 3 weeks since I had the surgery.
The doc sent me home with a patch over my eye and one page of instructions.  I was a little tired when I returned home so I took a nap.  Ate very lightly and had a good night's sleep.
The day after surgery I had an appointment to see the doctor.  He removed the patch and checked out my eye.  I COULD SEE THE TOP E ON THE EYE CHART!!  He said that it all looked fine and gave me a prescription for a couple of kinds of eye drops--an antibiotic and steroid.  I used them four times a day.  There was little pain, just some discomfort.  I wore sun glasses because the eye was dilated for several days.

I had another appointment one week past surgery. I think it was just another check to see how the eye was healing. I drove myself.  THIS TIME I COULD READ THREE ROWS ON THE EYE CHART.  It is still poor vision, but the vision could keep improving for months.  The doctor said that I should use the eye drops just twice a day now.  That's double progress.  I was cleared to golf 10 days post-op.

Two weeks after the surgery the doctor said that I could bike.  I always forget all my questions when I am at the office.  Luckily, my doctor's office has a great staff to answer my questions on the phone.

Now I am using the eye drops just one time a day.  I have biked once and played nine holes of golf.  The doctor said that I had to wait for one month before I could go swimming.  Coincidentally, I have another doctor's appointment on the one month anniversary.  I want to ask about jogging that
day. AND, hopefully, I will be able to read further down the eye chart.
 

My" 25 Gauge Vitrectomy Membranectomy" aagh!

What a mouthful, but that is what the paper said when I signed the releases prior to surgery on the 14th.
I couldn't eat or drink after midnight.  Just a minor inconvenience.  Arrived as instructed at 11:30 a.m. at the outpatient surgery center.
Signed those papers, changed into the "gown" and started with eye drops.  Plenty of time to relax for the 1:00 surgery.  The nurse put in a port for the anesthesia.  I was to have a "conscious sedation. "
About 1:00 the doctor and I went to the OR.  I could hear and see, but not sure that any of my muscles would have responded if asked to do so.  The surgery was over within the hour.  He removed the vitreous fluid and the membrane that was covering my retina.
My recovery was quit easy.  I had a patch over the eye.  Felt tired and a bit loopy.  I think that we left for home about 3:00.  I took a nap and generally took it easy.
Kudos and gratitude for husband Don. He is my hero.  And my nurse and driver!
And thanks to friends that fed us Wednesday and Thursday night.