Cataract Surgery

Sometime during my first remission of Hodgkin's Lymphoma, I noticed I wasn't seeing as well.  Lights had an excessive halo around them and objects often had a cloudy spot in them.  I mentioned this to my optometrist at one of my yearly eye exams.  He noted the development of cataracts; however, they would need to worsen considerably more before anything could be done. 

Fast forward to the spring of 2024.  Tammy and I were attending a music concert.  I had been avoiding night driving by this point because of the cataract's vision impairment.  However, I thought I could handle it this time because traffic might be light on our drive home.  Nope.  Nearly ran into a traffic circle that I didn't see because of oncoming headlights.  

When I relayed this story to my optometrist at my next annual eye exam, he made an appointment with an eye surgeon who might be able to help me.  I had the appointment in May 2024, and the decision was made to remove the cataracts in both eyes.  

Little did I know this would lead to numerous other appointments necessary for the procedure.  My first appointment was with another eye doctor to see if my eyes were up to the procedure.  They were.  Second appointment was to remeasure my eyes for the intraocular lenses that were to be implanted.  The measurements were off from my original visit, so a third appointment was made to remeasure.  This time they matched.  The fourth appointment was with my primary care physician to see if my body was healthy enough for the procedure.  It was.  

Two weeks before the procedure, I received an email that a prescription for eye drops had been made.  After a week had passed, we called the pharmacy to check if the prescriptions were ready for pickup.  They were still missing one.  Three days before I was to begin taking the drops, the pharmacy was still waiting on that one prescription.  Turns out it was one our health insurance didn't cover.  We called the surgeon's office and were prescribed a generic version that required four drops a day instead of just one.  The drop schedule was one prescribed drop 4 times a day and the other drop 3 times a day for all three days before the procedure.

The day of the procedure for my left eye, Tammy and I drove to the ambulatory center.  The procedure itself went smoothly with the help of versed.  Felt some pressure on the eye and saw lots of lights.  Some after effects that I have experienced are blurry vision up close, light halos, scratchy eye, and a purplish hue to many objects.  The eye drop schedule has increased with one drop 4 times a day, second drop 3 times a day, and an added drop 3 times a day.  I will be busy doing drops for the next four weeks only to have their number doubled by the addition of my right eye's cataract removal on August 29.

Montana Summer 2024

 We rented a home in Hamilton, Montana for a family gathering that included the VT Grandparents (my parents), the CT Gangwers (Tammy and I), Lizzy, Stas, and Stas' brother Iliya, Tammy's brother Chad, and the Oregon Laberees.  Tammy's parents had to cancel because of scheduled surgery that unfortunately was canceled last minute.

We all met up at the house on Saturday, July 27th with those of us from CT having travel stories to tell.  Lizzy, Stas, and Iliya were traveling together on American.  On their shuttle to the airport, when getting off at their stop, they discovered someone had mistakenly taken Iliya's bag during an earlier stop.  Once in the airport they were amazingly able to find that person with the bag and get it back.  We were traveling with my parents on Delta.  When we arrived, the Delta counter was chaos with super long lines.  My parents had trouble printing their baggage tags so had to go wait in the agent assist line.  Upon reaching the counter, mom had some sort of anxiety attack and had to be placed in a wheelchair.  Dad finished with the bags.  Tammy and mom (in her wheelchair) were able to cut the TSA pre-check line.  Dad and I went to the end of the line but determined it was way too long so we went to the regular TSA line.  I believe if we hadn't, we would have missed our plane.  We had a three hour layover in Minneapolis where it was discovered that my mom had lost her phone during the CT airport incident.  

Things looked better upon our arrival at the rental house.  One of the nicest equipped houses in amenities we have ever rented.  

Sunday before church, we took some family pictures.  Then Tammy and I, along with my mom and Iliya went to the High Country Cowboy Church in Victor.  The service was held in a tent.  Many in attendance had their dogs and their side arms.  The people were more than friendly.  Music was country.  Sermon was long - about an hour and a half.  We spent the afternoon hanging out at the house with the paddle boat and kayak in the pond.  Others tried their hand at fishing for trout (Blake being the only one successful all week.)  For dinner, the Oregon Laberees grilled us some fine steaks.  

Monday, Blake, Iliya, and Chad climbed Trapper's Peak.  Tammy and I along with Lizzy and Stas and the rest of the Oregon Laberees visited Traveler's Rest State Park.  This is the only archaeologically verified campsite of Lewis and Clark.  We had lunch then returned to the house and swam in the heated indoor pool and soaked in the hot tub.  Tammy cooked barbecue chicken with pasta salad and watermelon for supper.

Tuesday, Tammy, my dad, Lizzy, Stas, Chad, and I rode ATVs through the Sapphire Mountains for three hours.  This was the only day it rained which turned out to be a blessing in disguise.  The rain ended about thirty minutes into our ride but kept the dust down on the trails.  On the way back, we stopped in Darby and explored their main street with a stop for some fudge and a visit to a small museum with an enthusiastic curator.  Afternoon fun was had in the rental's game room and theater room.  Hot dogs, hamburgers, and corn on the cob were grilled by Lizzy, Stas, and Iliya.

On Wednesday, the whole crew minus Chad headed to  the Gem Mountain Sapphire Mine.  The only way there is Route 38 through Skalkaho Pass.  This road has to be personally experienced to grasp the full reality of traveling it! Everyone had a good time at the mine panning through their bucket of dirt and gravel looking for riches from a grand sapphire find.  None were had.  In fact, the opposite as the Oregon Laberees got a flat tire on the way back down the pass that cost a pretty penny to repair.  I also had a scare of a lost car key which Tammy found in my jacket which I forgot I had worn and put on a nearby fence.  After a stop for some Huckleberry ice cream on the way back, we went swimming in the pool.  A dinner of stuffed shells with salad was prepared by the VT grandparents for our final scheduled dinner.

Thursday as we were hanging out at the house, the home's owner returned from a trip with his Robinson 44 helicopter.  Tammy took the grand kids down to look at the helicopter and was able to get pictures of them sitting in it.  When Tammy returned to the house, she received a text asking if anyone wanted a ride in the helicopter.  Tammy, my dad, and I were given a helicopter tour of the Hamilton area.  In the afternoon. Tammy and I with the Oregon Laberees visited the Ravalli County Museum in downtown Hamilton.  Dinner was leftovers.

Friday, Tammy, the VT grandparents, and the Oregon Laberees went out to breakfast followed by a Mill Creek hike.  Lizzy, Stas, Iliya and I drove to LoLo Springs for an hour horseback ride on portions of the Lewis and Clark Trail.  That afternoon, while I gave our Turo rental a good washing, a lot of the clan went swimming.  The rest of the day found most of us packing for the trip home the next day.

Saturday, Tammy, the VT grandparents, and I awoke at 2am for our flight out of Missoula.  It wasn't as eventful as our trip to Montana.  My mom left her water bottle in her carry on getting it extra scrutiny by TSA , while my dad somehow lost his boarding pass once we got through security so we had to get him a new one.  Both our flights had mechanical issues once we had boarded them making for a delayed take off.  On a positive note, my mom found her phone when we returned to CT. 

Pictures off all the adventures had can be seen on this link

https://photos.app.goo.gl/dtoQirsMCDhukqcy8