All Will Become Clear

Ellie has a favourite position when clinging to her mother: she pivots her right arm inwards at the elbow and curls up the fingers behind her.

Yesterday I photographed the phenomenon.

This morning Martin removed most of the last of the patio paving and will need to hire a skip to take it all away before he can continue. Depending on the accuracy of the less than optimistic weather forecast he will carry out his normal more than simply gardening tasks tomorrow.

In the meantime I underwent an eye dilation procedure at Boots Opticians in New Milton. The purpose of this was to confirm or disprove the recent assessment about a developing cataract.

An instillation of Tropicamide increased the size of my pupils, enabling my optometrist to view the inside of my eye more easily.

Jackie was able to record this increase with her mobile phone while we waited in nearby Costa Coffee, and is therefore to be congratulated on working out how to e-mail her observations to me.

The original assessment was confirmed. I will need neither surgery nor new specs – at least until my next annual check – and was given the comforting view that “many younger people would really like [my] eyes”.

Blurred vision and temporary photophobia persisted this afternoon, but all will become clear tomorrow.

This evening we enjoyed second sittings of yesterday’s Hordle Chinese Take Away fare, with which Jackie drank Hoegaarden and I finished the Cabernet Sauvignon.

90 comments

  1. I am glad that you don’t need surgery, Derrick! I have had the dilation treatment several times and it is never fun. In fact it kind of hurt! Great photos, you do a great job with your beard.

  2. I see you Derrick … through my blurry morning eyes …. Usually things become clearer for me when I get up and about and “clean” my spec’s!!

  3. Tell Ellie that it’s ok to sleep with her arm that way — I do it too! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ It used to be that cataract removal was a daunting procedure requiring weeks of lying flat on the back with a patch over the operated eye. These days, you can be up and around (though not driving) almost immediately afterwards, wearing a patch only at night to keep you from rubbing the eye for a few nights. Here, they usually do the second eye a week after the first one. How times have changed!

    1. Thanks very much, Janet. Ellie will be pleased to be in good company. I am expecting this cataract op, if I ever have it, to be smoother than my last one 25 years ago

  4. I’ve had some cataract on mt left eye, long ago, but the doc didn’t do anything, because it wasn’t bad enough to do a surgery. Then it went away by itself! I understand why your doc didn’t do anything to your eyes.

  5. I loved all your photos, Derrick. You look dapper in your linen jacket, and since you were glancing at Jackie, you look content as well. Gosh how I miss holding babies. My sons are young adults, so no grandchildren in my immediate future. The baby days are fleeting but precious.

  6. Looking good, Derrick! My theory on Ellie’s sleeping position is that she wants her heart to be close to her mom. Babies are very in tune when it comes to heartbeats.

  7. Your eyes are beautiful! YAY on the good news! I wish your eyes good health for eons to come!
    Aw, on Ellie’s sweet, so relaxed sleeping position! I bet she IS feeling and hearing her mom’s heartbeat like she did those 9 months in the womb. 🙂 That has to be so comforting! 🙂 ❤️
    (((HUGS))) 🙂

  8. That’s good news, Derrick. Clarity re the conflicting prognoses and hopefully, now the procedure is passed, clarity with which to enjoy the visual world again today!

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