Eyeball Mo’ Betta’; Doctor Fights; Three Anniversaries

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

8/28/21

Aloha All –

My appointment with my eye doc last Saturday went very well.  My acuity was slightly better in the right eye (20/80), good pressures, no new edema.  The plan is to go back in four weeks just before our trip and probably have a precautionary shot then.  That will make 10 weeks between injections – a record!  By the way, I happened to stumble on the date when all this started – it was in the fall of 2013, nearly 8 years ago! I’m guessing I’m up to 50 or more jabs in the eyeball during that time, so I welcome the slowdown.

I also saw my internist for my usual 6-month followup.  This didn’t go quite so well, at least at first. My preliminary blood work showed – you guessed it – low sodium.  I got the usual call from his nurse – restrict fluids to 32 oz. and stay away from demon water. Deja vu all over again!  I know, I know, I was going to change physicians after the last episode of this, but somehow I never got around to it.  Then my prescriptions ran out and I figured the quickest way to get them renewed was to go back to Dr. “You-drink-too-much-water-stop-that-you-dufus” one more time. This was an actual office visit, not a Zoom call, and he’ll only see you in person if you’ve been vaccinated. The session actually went pretty good – I think he had reviewed my history in advance this time. He admitted that I’m somebody with normally low sodium (not caused by drinking gallons of liquid) and it can get even lower if I drink lots of water or if I sweat (or if somebody prescribes a diuretic without checking the patient’s history).  He backed off the restriction mantra but warned me of the danger of taking in too much pure water all at once with my condition – namely the risk of a brain aneurysm, aka exploding brain. There has to be a delicate balance between retaining enough salt in my blood to avoid this, while not having it so high that it raises my bp. Isn’t this fun!?  

We’re still on track for our Mexico trip.  Some of our acquaintances here have expressed grave concern over our safety in terms of the Covid upsurge.  It turns out that the current infection rate here in Kona is twice what it is in Mexico City, and it is 6 to 10 times higher in Kona than in the other areas of Mexico where we will be spending most of our time.  In short, we are far safer in Mexico than we are in Kona right now.  Anyway, our biggest concern is that Mexico may impose restrictions while we are there that would make it difficult to enjoy the trip, so we’re tracking developments closely.
    
Wednesday was our Wedding Anniversary.  Last year we celebrated with takeout.  This year we had

Complimentary Chocolate Souffle!

dinner at the Four Seasons resort up north.  Guess which was more enjoyable, though way more expensive. Also this week we had two other anniversaries which we always try to celebrate: The last first day of school for Karen on the 27th and the last first day for me on the 28th.  These days always put a huge damper on celebrating our Wedding Anniversary, so now we eagerly celebrate their absence.  We split a bottle of champagne three ways – a little before our dinner at Four Seasons, and then the rest on the other two days.  Let’s hear it for anniversaries!

We got our electric bill this week and it confirmed that June, July, and August have been the cloudiest consecutive months since we installed our pv system 8 years ago.  We still have a surplus for the contract year with Helco, but it is the lowest ever.  Actually this is kind of good news, because the surplus will revert to the company at the end of October and we will start from zero for the next 12 months.  Usually we give up hundreds of dollars when this happens, but this year it will be a pittance.  Our solar investment is paying off, in other words.

Ok, take care everybody.  Keep you head clear and your body safe.  Off to the beach (still open so far) for our picnic breakfast.