Eyeball Shot, Splashy Hike, 0's & 1's

[Note: this is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland.] 

2/20/21

Aloha Everybody –

How’s that snow shoveling going?
    
I mentioned last week that I thought I might need an eyeball injection.  Sure enough, the scans of my retina showed considerable build-up of fluid since the time before, so I had a shot.  My retina guy seems to think I may need one every 2 to 2 ½ months and that this last interval (3 + months) was just a little too long.  Ok by me, as long as he’s the one giving me the injections. Anyway, I also had a visual field test that tracks my glaucoma, which has nothing to do with my retina problem.  It showed no change, and along with low internal eyeball pressures, is good news.  BTW, the visual field test is the most unpleasant *painless* exam there is — trying to decide whether you’ve seen about a million dots of light when you’re almost never sure.  Give me an injection any day.  I did have a little reaction to the shot this time because the doc tried a different technique of numbing the injection site.  Next time I’ll make sure he goes back to the way we’ve found works best.  This is the reaction that started about 1 ½ years ago when I developed a sensitivity in my right eye to the numbing fluid.  The symptoms begin about 4 hours after the injection, and last for another 8 hours – a sensation like ground glass in the eye, with pretty disgusting blood-shot look for a day afterwards.  This time was much more mild, so it wasn’t agonizing, but I’d rather not experience it.  The shot itself hurts a little more, but it’s well-worth it.
     

On Monday Karen played golf and I went on a short shoreline hike just south of our airport.  This is a

special area that is a natural preserve and is an important source of plants that sustain a kind of bee that is found only in Hawai’i.  It is also a place where surf really crashes during the winter, when storms far to our northwest churn up the ocean.  (In the summer the higher surf occurs on the east shores, because the storms that produce it form to the southeast.)  Anyway, it was a pretty good hike and it was interesting that directly up the slopes of Hualalai was where Karen was playing golf – I was nearly at sea level and she was at about 3k feet.

We worked out at PF on Thursday, a week after our 2nd Covid 19 vaccination.  This was "MI-Day," the day we hit maximum immunity to the original virus strain, a very good feeling!  The variants that are developing from mutations in the original virus so far haven’t made inroads here, and if we can get most people vaccinated before they become prevalent we’ll be ok.  I’ve done a lot of research on this, and my conclusion so far is that we need more data from real-world cases where vaccinated people are reinfected before we declare that all is lost.  We should keep in mind that “effective” in medical jargon when talking about a vaccine means *no* symptoms whatsoever.  The laboratory studies that have been reported show a reduced effectiveness of the current vaccines, but it is very likely the cases that vaccinated people might get will be much less severe.  Nothing I have seen would warrant not getting the vaccine if you have a chance.  In the meantime, we aren’t altering our precautionary behavior, but we do feel a lot more relaxed.  Adding to the relaxation is that this past week our island had several days with either just 1 new case or 0 cases, definitely making us feel even more fortunate to be right here, right now....

I am, of course, fascinated and awed by the successful landing of our new rover on Mars this week. What a technological feat! And how awesome would it be if they can get that drone flying! At last, some good news instead of a steady bombardment of political, cultural, medical, meteorological and economic crapola.

Take care.  Stay warm, safe, and sane.