Thursday, November 27, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.

I always feel rather pleased to be out of it. Christmas, here, involves a full-scale ritual meal as well as all the rest of it. The idea of another full-scale ritual meal a month earlier is Just Too Much. In practice, I think it takes some of the pressure off Christmas. Anyway, have a good day.

I didn’t, yesterday. I saw a doctor of oriental aspect and severe mien. I have got Retinal Vein Occlusion, which is like having a stroke in your eye. (I suggested this very analogy to the first doctor I saw six weeks ago; he patiently explained the difference between blood vessels in the brain and those in the eye and said it was really quite different. Maybe he was just trying to cheer me up.) They took various bits of blood to test for various things that might have precipitated this – diabetes, high cholesterol, anaemia, etc.

But the big one is that I have been sent away for a whole three months with a leaflet about RVO which contains the killer sentence that laser treatment – it may still be wanted, down the road – will not improve my sight.

I will eventually start googling, and will probably take further human advice. It’s all a bit distressing. Is spontaneous improvement still possible?

Knitting

Much brighter news on this front.

I knit on, on Ketki’s sweater, getting more and more anxious about the colour. I liked it, I liked the way it worked with the other colours, but was it (like Thanksgiving) Just Too Much? Could I imagine the finished sweater being worn?

You will remember that the original plan was a two-colour all-over pattern, so I bought enough yarn to knit the sweater in each of the two colours, not knowing what else to do. A circular swatch showed that a two-colour pattern wouldn’t work – the colours were too similar and I couldn’t see where I was going. I tried another swatch, striping them, and felt that they didn’t speak to each other. So I chose one, and put the other away.

Yesterday I went back to the cupboard and found that the other colour now looks perfect, much more subdued. I ripped out what I had done. It’s a nice, crunchy, stand-up-and-speak-for-itself yarn and I had not too much difficulty picking up the stitches and knitting a round, catching one or two escapees and settling everybody the right way round on the needle. Orientating things by the Calcutta Cup in the area just below means that I am sure I have picked up everybody. I will press ahead and have a picture soon.

I feel much happier.

If in doubt, rip it out.

6 comments:

  1. oh i am so sorry for you. hopefully everything will turn out just fine eventually. i hope so.

    oh and thanks for the ideas for shawls. i like the shetland shawls a lot. and shetland wool which is not matched by anything in my opinion.

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  2. Anonymous1:42 PM

    I saw an ad for a homeopathic treatment. Ask Swapna for an opinion. She's got twelve pound textbooks about all this stuff, and you know she'd be glad to help.

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  3. I'm sorry the news about your eye was not what you hoped; I am definitely keeping my fingers crossed for spontaneous improvement!

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  4. Anonymous4:37 PM

    Oh, no! (Though I suppose it could be worse.) Why won't doctors ever listen to us? Would varicose vein be a closer analogy? Spontaneous improvement is always possible, just rare. My guess is probably the first palliative would be blood thinners. I hope the occlusion dissolves with moderate speed without causing a real stroke (any clot that close to the brain, etc) _before_ further damage occurs. Frankly, I think laser treatment might help, if only to prevent spreading. When in doubt, rip it out, indeed...

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  5. Jean, I'm so sorry that you received negative news at the doctor's office. Were they specific with you as to whether it's branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) or central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO)?

    Don't be afraid to do some research - there's a bit more positive information out there. Depending on which it is, all hope may not be lost.

    I would gladly give up Thanksgiving in exchange for Boxing Day. :-)

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  6. Happy day after Thanksgiving oh-so-wonderful leftovers!

    I have not kept up with your blog due to pesky details of finally moving and still more boxes to arrive, but still wanted to add my "take care of your eyes" wishes!

    I look forward to the days when I can read your postings word by word and keep up with your projects!!

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