grateful for the rain

My eyes almost look black instead of their usual hazel-blue-green medley.
That's because both pupils were dilated about 4 PM.
By the time I was released an hour later, I still had to be mindful of bright lights until at least 8 PM, provided my pupils would be good and return to normal in the typical four-hour span.
How could I possibly drive three hours back to Savannah in this condition?
No worries.

My angels were mindful of that need for muted lighting.
How could I tell?
The skies had changed from bright and sunny to completely overcast.
A mild rain was even falling, to blur the headlights of oncoming traffic.
Plus, the contrast was low between those lights and the light level of late afternoon.
I was able to simply wear my sunglasses for the rush-hour traffic in Charleston.
i thank You, God.

This trip to the Ralph H. Johnson VA Hospital had not been long in the planning. The call from them had come late yesterday morning. My request for Community Care had been denied. That meant the ophthalmology appointment that I had awaited for a month would now have to be in South Carolina.
My options had been to take this appointment or wait until after my trip to Florida. Well, that trip with my eldest niece and her family had been planned since mid-April.
I accepted the 3:30 PM time slot and decided to try to enjoy the hand I was dealt.
Attitude, after all, makes a big difference in stress level.
i thank You, God.

I left town immediately after my weigh-in at WW.
That was good, as there was much road construction in South Carolina.
However, because I left early, I had that extra time in my favor.
I was checked in at the Hospital by 3:00 PM.
That gave me time to grab a small garden salad from the Canteen before I settled in to wait my turn in Module 5.
I was blessed to sit across from a woman whose husband was off on his appointment. She and I had a very pleasant conservation while I dined. As I finished my last bite, her husband returned and they left.
Such excellent timing!
i thank You, God.

I was called into the assistant's office not much later.
She asked questions to verify what had happened to me on May 5th.
Then began the battery of vision tests... but first, my eyes were dilated.
I had expected that, but part of me had hoped I would not need it.
The dilation was definitely needed, to determine the level of clarity of my vision.
Most of her tests were the typical ones by optometrists.
First, the projected chart had four lines of letters in different font sizes and I was to pick the line I could most easily read.
We began with my right eye.
Oops! So she found out right away that my vision there is not right! I could see the four lines, but I could only read part of the top line, missing the identity of all but the first and last of the five letters.
That was no news to me, of course.
As I told her, that eye has had a blind spot since I was "11 or 12 years old." (In truth, it's been since I was about 9 years old, back in 1967, with that partial solar eclipse.)
When we switched to my left eye, all was well.
She also had me go through the "which one is better" with the lens-swapping device. I was relieved when that was done, as it was quite a strain on me.
Next up was scans of each eye via optical coherence tomography. That required me to focus on bright green asterisk-like symbol in a field of moving red lines, remaining very still during the actual scan. The assistant had to repeat the scans of my right eye several times, as my focus would drift.
Finally, it was time to see Dr. Charles Beischel, the ophthalmologist himself. He discussed the test results with me, basically telling me that the tests had been negative for macular degeneration or retinal detachment.
That was good news!
The OCT had revealed that my right eye has a macular pucker, giving a name to the centralized blind spot I already knew was there. He told me that surgery at this point most likely would not alter my vision.
That was good news!
My optic nerves have "bling", apparently. The OCT showed them with yellow spots, indicating the genetic condition optic nerve head drusen. Apparently, those golden discs have not been linked to any particular health risks, they're just "there".
That was good news!
i thank You, God!

So, what had caused the optic migraine I had experienced?
Nothing concerning my eyes or vision, thankfully.
What should I do to prevent having another episode?
Well, this type of migraine is more often a result of extreme stress.
That meant I should avoid allowing myself to become overly anxious about anything.
In other words, I need to follow the Tibetan saying.

If the problem can't be solved,
there's no use worrying about it.
If the problem can be solved,
then worrying will do no good.

Amen to that reminder of a Post-It I have had many years.

Then I found myself released from the good doctor's care, free to do whatever else.
The sky was completely overcast and a light rain was beginning.
I had initially planned to go see a movie at a nearby Regal Cinema. I was due a free birthday movie and was wanting to see the latest dog movie, which I had missed in town.
I had even pulled up those directions in Nuvi once I was in my car.
Then I had a vivid mental image of me driving through the night afterward, being blinded by overly bright truck and SUV headlights on the dark, black top, highway.
I programmed Nuvi to take me to "home" instead... and felt more relaxed immediately.
Even though I had the Charleston rush-hour traffic to deal with, at least it was under cloudy skies and in late afternoon.
Even though I had the glare of oncoming headlights, those lights were muted by the cover of raindrops on my windows.
Even though I had lights of all types behind and around me, those lights blended in with the general light of the waning day.
i thank You, God.