Blog Archive

Thursday, March 27, 2014

NOT the Routine, Plenty of Down Time

Saturday, March 22nd through Thursday, March 27th

Either the smoking environment in Laughlin or the March Madness Marathon got Duffy down. On Saturday, he mustered up just enough energy to watch SDSU Aztecs rout their opponent, and has been sick ever since with a nasty chest cold. Sunday through today he has spent either sleeping, reading, or taking short birding walks here in the park. It's times like this that our Baby Beluga gets mighty small.

On Satuday, Duffy decided it was time to do something about the flashing lights he'd been seeing inside his left eye, followed by an organized cluster of floaters. After at least an hour trying to connect and on the phone with the Group Health (our Washington HMO) consulting nurse, he was advised to call Kaiser Urgent Care. Then after what seemed like another hour, he managed to make an appointment with Urgent Care at 8:30am Sunday.

His chest cold was just coming on, so getting up early was not as difficult as it would become in following days. Looking back, this was the most painless urgent care visit either one of us has every experienced. No waiting – Duffy's was the first appointment for the assigned doctor that morning. The doctor, an M.D. was careful to include both of us in his assessment, and very caring. Amazingly, he called an opthalmologist an call who was on call that weekend, and learned she was just on her way in to see two other patients anyway. It did not take long to be seen, since Duffy was already there and the other patients had not yet arrived. Wow! The verdict: floaters forming in his eye, good that he came in because the same cause can lead to detached lining or detached retina. She checked his other eye that his doctor at home has been watching, and found it to be stable. So...great relief!

The rest of the week has been spent at Santee Lakes, with occasional trips for me to the store. We are fortunate to be very close to a Sprouts Farmers Market for fresh and gluten free foods, a Starbucks for coffee (almost daily), a Walgreens for medicinals and incidentals, and a Costco for gas. Everything is within a few blocks. Oh, and did I forget a favorite spot of ours, the Friends of the Library Used Book Store, a full store of already-read books from library patrons and supporters. Oh, and also within just a few blocks o9f us there is a great little Mexican restaurant we discovered by accident when we were looking for a quick and casual meal out. This is not your remote kind of camping.

I have had time to go through photos I've taken and make some collages which I've conveniently ordered from the Walgreens just a couple of turns from here. I've been wanting to supply some family photos to my Aunt Bonnie, my mother's only sister, for a long time now. Bonnie lives in her home in El Cajon, and I hope to visit her today with photos in hand. She loves to read books she can hold, and look at photos printed on photo paper. Bonnie is very easy to gift.

Tonight we, or I, will go to Skip and Susan's to watch the SDSU game against Arizona – they beat Gonzaga on Sunday (I followed the scores online while I struggled to find a way to watch the game online. Duffy might have enjoyed the diversion from sleeping, coughing, reading, sleeping, coughing, etc.)

We had to cancel our scheduled visit on Wednesday with Duffy's cousin Linda and her husband Chuck in San Clemente due to his miserable cold, and are hoping he is well enough, and not contagious, to go tomorrow. I will report on the success of the trip in my next posting.

Until next time...Pam and Duffy

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