Super storm Sandy

Storm of the year ...

Started off labeled as hurricane which of course forecast to hit on Sunday 10/28 when I was flying back from London to Cleveland.  I was one of the lucky flights that left on time and was not delayed.  Got to JFK airport plenty early and heard all the reports of the 3 NYC airports going to close sometime between 7pm and 9pm and bus lines and subway also close sometime late that night.  Thankfully my Cleveland connection was scheduled @ 4pm but we still sat on the tarmac waiting for 2 hours for the take-off.  I think by the time we took off, there were over 40 planes lining up on the tarmac.  I didn't get into Cleveland until 8:30pm which was 2hrs later than originally but nonetheless made it.

The hurricane was then re-labeled as superstorm and didn't hit Cleveland until Monday afternoon.  Lots and lots of rain and wind.  It wasn't super cold but expected for the time of year.  Power was out in a lot of places and quite a few street lights and homes did not get power back for 2-3days.  This was probably the worse I have seen personally in all the places I have lived in.

The news about NYC after was definitely devastating as my friend living in the Bronx was said "NYC was destroyed" the day after the storm hit. Definitely sad to hear that boardwalk in Atlantic City was destroyed too.  It was one of the iconic Northeast thing and the re-build is going to be different and who knows how long before everything will be back to normal.

Scotland and England

My trip of the year ... Scotland and England

The trip started with arrive in London and I was able to spend a couple of hours wandering around in London before meeting up with rest of the group. Then next day, bright and early, started the tour going north into the real England as our tour guide say.  It was really different than the London city itself.  These towns were more the English towns that were described in novels, quaint, friendly and has lots of character.  London itself was more of metropolis, high fashion and finance dominated.

We went all the way north to the Highlands.  The mountains scenery is very different from the Western states.  They definitely got the rolling hills with small towns, random ruins, small bridges interspersed.  You can feel the history with the scenes.  It was absolutely amazing.

Of course, can't miss Liverpool with the Beatles, Edinburgh with the castle and palace, Bath with Roman bath house and Jane Austen and York with the Shambles and haunted ghosts.

It was an amazing trip.  There were definitely places that I want to go back.  London (of course), Edinburgh and Liverpool.  I can dream on right?!

Photos

Month 3

Today I had my 3 month post op check.  So far, just experiencing dry eyes after sleeping.  Even with the refresh and lubrifresh pm.  I would wake up in the morning feeling like goop over my eyelashes and still needed at least 2-3 drops per eye to get the day started.  Of course, my left still not crystal clear like my right and still experiencing starburst at night but it usually goes away if my eyes are not dry.

Per my check up, my right eye is 20/15 and left is 20/20 with slight astigmatism.  I was told that usually there's another burst of healing between 3-6 month.  I was given a trial of Genteal gel for severe dry eye to try.  Will see how well it goes.  So far, loving this, no more glasses, no more headaches from glasses.

Next check in 6 months.

NYC ... again

For this weekend in NYC, it was a chill relaxing one.  Had no real plans and kind of just playing by ear.  Originally it was more of a girls weekend but 2 of the girls backed out, so it ended up being me and Kirstin.  It seems like every time we plan for something for NYC, it ends up falling through whether it's with other residents from her hospital or other stuff.  Oh well.  It ended well though.

We had our lobster dinner with champagne.  It was a full lobster from head to toe and we totally destroyed it and have pictures to prove it.

Then we went to Cirque de Soli Zarkana.  It was an awesome show.  There are things that they do that seem nearly impossible. Standing on the pole probably 2 times the height of the girl and the pole on top of the guy. Simply amazing with what they can do to their bodies.

College Roommate Wedding ... LA

What a weekend. Flew to LA for my college roommate, Sarah's wedding.  It's been 6 years since the last time I saw anyone in LA.  I stayed with Florence for the weekend and had a good catch up with her.  It was weird seeing her as a teacher.  She always seems to be free spirited type, not the traditional teacher type.  But I could tell that she enjoys it and her students seem to as well.  It's so weird seeing college roommates/friends to be grown up and working real jobs.  I guess I'm still in the student mentality, sort of as residency is a job but still learning.

Anyways, the wedding was beautiful, on the smaller side but very much Sarah's taste.  I got to catch up with my old small groups and with few other GOCers. It was nice.  It was what I expected with it being at Grace Church, doesn't run too late, no dance floor and nothing too crazy.  But it was done to the true expectations of wedding vows as it should be between bride and grooms and God with friends and family as witness, not some huge celebration or reason for big parties.

Photos

Crazy next 6 weeks

This is the start of my crazy 6 weeks where I'll be either out of town or on call for weekends.  We'll see how much havoc it will wreck.  The first 2 weekends will be weekend calls, hopefully they won't be too bad.  After that, I'm going back to LA for the first in 6 years for one of my college roommate's wedding.  I have already missed 2 of their weddings. Then I'll be flying home then flying back for the next 2 weekends.  Finally, going to NYC to see Kirstin before I get a breather.

Whew! I can only imagine how my life during the week will be crazy.  But can't wait.

Freaky Friday the 13th

This was my first weird day during residency so far. It was like everything gone wrong with every on of my cases.  The first was supposedly simply J tube for feeding but the patient first had a doomsday feeling and then went into PEA arrest where heart stopped beating but still sending electrical activity. This happened when we busy starting IVs and intubating.  We almost didn't believed it happening but we reacted quickly. Of course, case was cancelled.

Then we got another add on, which was a disaster as the surgeons didn't know exactly what they are going to do until they open him.  Of course, we have to prepared for the worse. Since we were somewhat ready, it wasn't as bad as expected. Just busy throughout the entire time to make sure he was very stable.

Whew! what a day. busy, long, tired, so happy when I got relieved to go home.  My feet hurt and I just wanted to sleep.

Month 1

Wow! It's been a month since the surgery.  It's been going great. My vision is clear pretty much all the time with occasional bouts of haziness that clears up with blinking and eye drops.  Today at the check up my vision was 20/15 right eye and 20/20 left eye.  Got a cornea mapping done and had prescription checked, had a little of astigmatism on the left, which I was told that it should get better as time goes on.  Otherwise, I use now about 3-4 vials of eye drops unless I have a really bad day, not common.

Night vision is also slowly getting better. Still got the starbursts but completely clears up when I blinked. I have been able to read the normal computer print about size 11. I have also resume my attempts in working out when I could and officially got the go ahead to get into pool and hot tub. Yeah! I ran out of my steroid eye drops by the end of 3rd week and I call my doc and was told that it's fine to just stop.  Hopefully there's no repercussion from stopping the drops early.  I can't wait to have my dry eyes go away completely.  I asked how long and was told about 6 months to 1 year with PRK closer to 6 month spectrum and LASIK closer to 1 year spectrum.  Hopefully by Thanksgiving, my dry eyes will be thing of the past.

The only funny thing is that in the morning and after shower, I was in the habit of looking for my glasses since I was 6. So now all of the sudden that I don't need them, it felt like I'm missing something at times.  The feeling is getting better and I sure don't miss wearing glasses and getting headaches from them. Now just waiting got 3 month check up!

Week 1

Today I have my 1 week post op check and get to have the contacts bandages out. Yippee!!!

So before removal, I had the eye chart exam. I was able to see without the pinholes and read about 20/30 right eye and 20/25 left eye with little bit of blurriness.  Then the contacts came out, it feels like it was a layer being peeled.  When doc looked at the corneas, I was told I had some dry spots and keep using the artificial tears (refresh plus) as needed and often.  Now I'm down to just using the steroid drops, on tapering dose.  Guess I'll have to up my usage, I have been using about 5 vials a day, I'll just increase it to 6 a day.  Still using the refresh pm at night and need a vial of artificial tears in the morning when I first open my eyes.

Also, it's my birthday!! I had to work late so I just bought myself birthday dinner and dessert.  I got dumpling noodle soup and jade tofu with fish fillet from Wonton Gourmet, and cassata and tiramisu cake from Presti Bakery. I went to my go to Chinese restaurant here in Cleveland and a yummy Italian bakery in Little Italy.  Overall, a quiet birthday, my typical since I've been living by myself and not being able to go home for it.

Day 5/6

Day 5 was better, light sensitivity was not as bad, definitely improving.  Words on monitor are getting clearer and vision in general is getting pretty clear.  Still using the drops as scheduled and as needed.  The contacts bandages were now really irritating, keep wanting to pull them out myself.  Can't wait for the 1 week post op to get those out.

Day 6 was my first day back to work.  My day starts early and I still drive in the dark in AM so lights were definitely starbursts so I keep my focus away from oncoming traffic.  But otherwise, working wasn't too bad.  Used the drops as needed and scheduled, computer screen was turned down dimmer and I had to squint a little to read the words since they were not enlarged due to computers being shared in the hospital. Sunglasses were definitely my best friend during the day time. c(: