she's just saying...

The last week of summer

This post was written last Sunday.

Henry is 10, going on 16. He's a true night-owl and can sleep in til 11 am easily. So reentry into the school routine makes for a living hell over here.

I decided to wake them (Gavin here still) at 8 am this morning to get them slowly acclimated to an early wake-up and hopefully an earlier bedtime.

"Thanks for ruining my summer!" Henry said as he dragged himself into the bathroom.

Then I made him clean up his room big-time, which was quite painful and included yelling.

"This is the worst summer ever!" he complained as he pulled out filthy, dusty socks from under the bed.

Then I pushed onward, going through his clothes drawers to see what still fit. I made him hold a few things up (no chance of getting him to try them on) as the discard pile grew.

"I hate clothes!" he cried.

Then I showed him that I had sorted all underwear and matched all matchable socks.

"You're the best mom ever!" he said as he flung his arms around me.

I'm really looking forward to the teen years...

More than you wanted to know

The diagnosis:

Glaucoma, with slight but measurable vision loss in the left eye.

The definition:

"Glaucoma refers to a group of diseases that affect the optic nerve... Raised intraocular pressure is a significant risk factor for developing glaucoma. One person may develop nerve damage at a relatively low pressure [that's me], while another person may have high eye pressure for years and yet never develop damage. Untreated glaucoma leads to permanent damage of the optic nerve...which can progress to blindness."

The recommendation:

Reduce the pressure as much as possible. Since laser surgery and multiple medications have not worked well enough, the next step is filtering microsurgery, i.e. trabeculectomy.

The procedure:

During trabeculectomy a piece of tissue in the drainage angle of the eye is removed, creating an opening. The opening is partially covered with a flap of tissue... This new opening allows aqueous humor to drain out of the eye, bypassing the clogged drainage channels of the trabecular meshwork.

The weird diagram:

 

The risks:

Bleeding, infection, swelling, scarring, retinal detachment, a droopy eyelid, double vision, loss of vision or even loss of the eye.

The result:

I'll let you know...