This Week's Blog Post

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I love these pretty little flowers. They are antiqued sterling silver and double sided. Great for so many designs! 

Available at Etsy.

Maudslay State Park
Prior to my eye surgery there was some decent weather. 

A pretty weed that was in the grass.

So Jim and I went for a nature walk in Newburyport, MA since I could not be in the presence of dirt for a couple of weeks afterwards!

We went here hoping to see the massive rhododendrons in bloom that we caught at the right time last year. This year they did not look so great. Some had already passed or were not in bloom yet.

Healing from eye surgery has taught me patience (not one of my strong points). 

I really had to take it easy. Surgery day I was home at 10:30am and was not allowed to do anything except eat and put eye drops in every hour. I spent the day on the sofa with my eyes closed listening to talk shows all day long. Boredom to the extreme! I was in bed around 7pm because I was so tired of the eyedrop routine. When you are asleep you do not need to worry about drops.

For some stupid reason I thought my life would be sort of back to normal by Monday after having surgery on the prior Thursday. Not so much! 

We discovered a tree with a heart in it!

My eyes needed MANY closing breaks. It felt a little meditative (something I also need to work on). 

I need to put less pressure on myself feeling like I need to be doing something productive every moment. 

This was also an experience I will gain strength from. I have been fearing it for years due to the risks. I had to give up control to a stranger.

Then I had to trust myself since my biggest fear was screwing up during the vulnerable period by accidentally touching an eye or something. I was worried about the most silly things like sneezing, getting an eyelash in the eye or shampooing my hair!

I was deathly afraid of the corneal flaps created on the eyes being blinked out of place which apparently can happen. Everything worked out ok.

Jim had asked me if this was a bucket list item. I guess it sort of was since it was always on my mind to do. Many of the things I want to do have a little bit of a fear factor attached to them. 

This was way more difficult to go through than jumping out of a plane! Signing the paperwork that acknowledges possible blindness or death (yes, it read death) from the procedure really freaked me out.

Healing Update
So Tuesday around 6:30pm I went to wash my face. When I looked in the mirror I was horrified and panicked! My left eye's pupil was significantly larger than the right and the iris much darker!!!! I thought I would go blind in that eye!!! Serious paranoia!

Luckily it was the one night of the week that my doctor works late so I immediately went to see her. Since this is not a reaction she has seen from Lasik before she contacted the head doctor at the laser center.

The next morning I met with that doctor as well as my surgeon. So I have a side effect that is not a side effect of Lasik! It is swelling within the left eye. I am so special!!! Apparently this would be a systemic reaction if I had something like lupus, arthritis, diabetes, the list goes on. However I do not knowingly have any of these things. (the "knowingly" thought of this a scary)

This laser center has performed over 22,000 of these procedures and has only seen this reaction 3 times. Really! It could be a freak thing that will heal up and never come back. If it comes back though I have to have all sorts of blood work done.

My pupil is currently stuck in a dilated position and according to the doctors this could become a permanent condition. This photo was taken Saturday, days later. My pupil is not budging. I have been given dilating drops to use twice before my next doctor's appointment this Tuesday. I am on a heavy duty steroid drop now versus the Lasik one. 

I just want this to be over with so I know if I need to accept my eyes looking creepy. Maybe they do not look so freaky to others but it really creeps me out. Once I accept the deformity it will actually be a little funny when people notice it! Even if my eyes stay this way I certainly do not regret having the surgery though since I am way better off now than before!

Thank you for stopping by. My eyes are getting better each day and I no longer need readers to see the computer screen or even read a book! Progress!!! I still use them when working with crimp beads though. Those tiny buggers!

Have a wonderful summer week everyone! ~Val

This Week's Blog Post

I am finally getting back to a normal life! I received so many sweet messages from you guys during my healing. Thank you. I really appreciated it. :)

Lasik Eye Surgery!
Bye Bye prescription eye wear!!! This stuff has annoyed me since I was a teenager. We are talking almost 25 years!!!

Hello eye drops! A serious eye drop routine of antibiotics, steroids and preservative free drops follow the week after surgery!

My surgery was a success! I am not going to talk about the procedure since I think it sucked due to its discomfort. I knew when I was handed a stress ball after sitting in the torture chair that I was in for something really unpleasant! 

Here are my eyes 2 days afterwards. They look so sad. I wish my upper lids would just remain swollen because my 39 year old upper lid droop did not show! It is like I had a brow lift. Pretty cool.

The swelling continued at my 5 day follow up appointment so I was instructed to continue the steroid drops and had to see my doctor again the following week. Normal people heal up quickly, but I am special. At the follow up I still need to use the steroids in a much smaller dose until my 1 month post op appointment. Progress!

Technology has officially rocked my world and changed my life. See the thickness of my eyeglasses here? I am amazed that a laser to my eye balls could fix this! The laser time was 45 seconds per eye when most people only require 20 seconds. I feel so fortunate that my eyes could be done. Of course the extra laser time meant a longer recovery process! 

Here are the super cool rock star shades provided for afterwards. They were worn grocery shopping, at work (those damn florescent lights), in a restaurant and of course the post office. It felt somewhat liberating not being able to wear makeup or use hair products. I suppose I could have put some lipstick on for the camera! I was so ungroomed.

These are funny! The sexy eye cups get taped to your face for sleeping! This was when I felt safe during recovering since nothing could touch my eyes. During waking hours I did not trust myself thinking I would accidentally rub my eyes. I so wanted to! I ended up wearing these for 12 nights..

I also had to pick up readers! It can take several days to be able to read comfortably so some people require this assistance afterwards. After adjusting I will pass these on to my mom who just started needing readers more than 10 years after her Lasik surgery! So there is a good chance I will not need these for a long, long time!

So my slow recovery has been the reason I have not been in the blogosphere lately. I had terrible light sensitivity that made it difficult to look at the computer screen and television. Driving was extremely unpleasant with tear running down my face!

Each day I see improvements with the swelling, vision and light sensitivity. It will take up to 3 months to really see the results of the surgery but so far I am more than pleased! It is quite likely I would need enhancements based on my prior prescription but I would rather wear glasses if it is just for driving. Although I am very happy I went through with this I never want to do it again! Once is enough.

If you have been contemplating Lasik it is worth every penny. Is it fun? No! 

Dealing with the unique, not so great vision that follows just after the procedure has really helped me empathize with anyone who is dealing with various eye issues. Even though I could not see without glasses or contacts before, I took my vision for granted since I could see with that help!

Well thank you for reading! I hope to be back to my regular blog visits this week! I miss you guys and appreciate all your support and concern. ~Val

This Week's Blog Post

Black Wood Lanyard

It has been a while since I made a black wood lanyard. I love the chunkiness of these beads. Being wood, they are super lightweight so the lanyard is comfortable for the wearer! This one is available at Miss Val's Creations. 

Use for your ID badge, transportation pass, keys and more. I would normally add cruise card to that list but with so many cruise disasters in the past year I am guessing very few people are booking them these days!

Flowers

My garden areas are looking pretty! Here is the side of my driveway with irises and wegelia in bloom.

I love how irises stand tall and proud…

then blossom into something so fabulous!

It was breezy when I took this photo. I was amazed by how these buds glistened like silk.

These are the purple and yellow beauties.

I have this variety too which makes me think zebra. They are a little sad looking this year.

My yellow ones look a little sloppy but that is ok because the color makes me happy.

I took a picture of my favorite yellow weed before mowing the lawn. The buttercup!

Here are the wegelia buds.

They open into a pale pink flower covering the branches. So beautiful!

Surgery Week

My Lasik surgery is Thursday! This past Tuesday I had to go to my regular eye doctor for a super dilation. I knew it was supposed to be much more intense than a regular one. What I was not told was that my pupils would be cartoon large for 24 hours! So when my doctor told me this I freaked out because I had things to do that night and needed to go to work that next day. This freak out included nauseous! So she had to give me a few moments before continuing the exam. I felt silly having to wear my prescription sunglasses in the office for part of the day following!

I am so sorry for the nasty close up but I have a need to document the process. This was taken 12 hours AFTER the dilation drops! I did not think to take a photo when it kicked in. I was a bit blind the night before and in bed by 8pm since I could not do anything!

Nauseous is a big concern of mine for surgery day. Now I know I am prone to it and my doctor is sending this warning to the Lasik people. I need to work on deep breathing and happy thoughts so I can get through that appointment with no freak outs!

I used to be one of those people who got nauseous whenever blood needed to be drawn or I needed a shot. For the past 15 years or so I have gone through those things easily by looking away and giving the nurse a head's up that I do not want to see any needles. Eye exams have never been a problem but when I was 15 years old and got my first pair of contacts I did become very nauseous at the doctor's office as soon as they were put in. Apparently I still have issues with things happening to my eyes.

My biggest concern is keeping my eyes safe after the surgery. Poor Emmett and Alice will be locked in the basement for more than 24 hours. My doctor did tell me that 9 times out of 10 if there is an accident, it can be easily fixed (I am not sure what happens with that other 10%)!

Next week will be a scheduled post since I have no idea how my eyes are going to react looking at a computer screen. My shops will be closed from Wednesday afternoon and hopefully reopening on Friday. Although it will not be dangerous for me to look at the screen, it may be very uncomfortable so my time will be limited.

Thank you for stopping by! I hope you all have marvelous flowers to admire nearby. Have a great week! ~Val

This Week's Blog Post

Mother of Pearl and Calcite Together!

I love this mix of beads for summer! Included are mother of pearl, white shell and calcite along with copper. 

Very sunny like! I am a sterling silver kind of girl but mix it up from time to time with copper! This set is available at Miss Val’s Creations.

Polenta Dish

This was delicious! 

We started with a layer of polenta and added sliced portabella mushrooms and feta.

Added sliced tomatoes and asparagus which had been sautéed in olive oil.

Then added green bell pepper and zucchini which was also sautéed.

We finished with another layer of polenta and feta.

Then we baked it at 350 for a brief time and it was perfection!!!

Lasik Surgery

I have been wearing glasses and contact lenses since my childhood. It really stinks because I can not see anything without either. It is bad. For years I have wanted to have lasik surgery. At first I waited thinking the costs will drop. Well, they never did! 

A couple of years ago I scheduled a consultation, but I chickened out after watching a video that prepares you for the worst. Everyone I know who has been through it had no problem. My mom had her eyes done 11 years ago and is only now needing reading glasses!

So I finally went for my consultation and have the surgery scheduled in June. I am so excited! I barely make it as a candidate because my prescription is so strong. I just make it within the parameters where the surgeon will do it! Of course the anxiety will build until this is done but I have a huge feeling that it will be one of the best things I will ever do for myself in my lifetime. I have dreamed about waking up and being able to see. This dream is going to come true. :)

Thank you for stopping by! I hope you enjoy your week ahead. ~Val