Things Come in 'Threes'

[Rimmy]

It's a silly saying really - but like many of these little aphorisms - it contains some grains of 'truth' I guess - after all we do tend to notice when more than 'one' unwanted thing happens at any point in time. First it was the cold and hacking cough caught on the plane home (or just previously) from our delightful NZ trip - this bug - which I shared with my partner then provided the 'pleasant' background to the other 'stuff'.

So number 'two' - our plumbing sounded like (no joke) a sinking Titanic after just a flush or two on our return - resulting in several plumbers - with cameras, spades, long lengths of pipe and ultimately even a new toilet to be installed. This was apparently the consequence of some 'bright spark' hammering star pickets through the plastic pipes when the house was built about 12 years ago. We are surrounded by trees so it was inevitable that below us - twirling and whirling around for years were those very hungry roots. Hard to explain really but although I am a big plant and garden lover - I found the thought of all that subterranean activity rather sinister somehow !

Anyway to number 'three' - my much adored 'white' Toshiba Satellite PC crashed after I managed to stick the power cord into the wrong aperture and 'fried' the hard drive. OK it was 'old' and 2nd hand to begin with - but I kind of liked it and even dragged it around NZ with me as I knew I would have felt 'lost' without it.

To be fair - none of these are really major issues (although dreading the size of the plumbing bill) and I have already bought a smaller, cheaper and more contemporary pc/notebook - and very relieved to find that OneDrive did its job and 'saved' all my significant docs and pics - and the cold is much better - although 3 weeks worth and I risked the flu vax in the middle in case - as it is rife in our wee town at present - but as you might understand all this felt initially too much to come home to.

Not to be 'classified' as being too 'off track' here I managed to taper on our trip to 13 mg and I am about to reduce again to 12 mg tomorrow. I am however feeling a bit nervous about this - as this is close to the lowest dose I have managed since my dx when I got to 11.5mg - several months ago now and found myself in a nasty 'flare'. I am hoping my slow reductions will be sufficient (bloods have only shown smallish variations) to permit me not to 'overshoot' the mark again this time.

Best news is however I had my 2nd cataract op a week ago and as many others have testified everything then 'looks' amazing. I can't help but compare the new clarity and colour in my life to the removal of old varnish and dust from an antique painting - revealing a world of beauty, detail and nuance that I had almost forgotten. All this extra 'light' is very helpful in terms of mood I think - what more can I say - this is just 'bloody marvellous' !!

Hope everyone is doing as well as possible - I have yet to read some of the posts I have missed -but with a new PC and storms for the next week I will certainly 'catch up'.

Best wishes to you all

Rimmy

[SheffieldJane]

It’s good to hear from you Rimmy. I was wondering how NZ was going, sorry about your triple whammy. Really fascinated about your toilet situation, what thorough plumbers! Technology we’ll pah!

Marvellous to hear that the stories about cataract operations are true! I would say that seeing the world in all its kaleidoscope colours and detail, just about cancels out the other 3. I hope the bill is not too eye watering!

In your present state, I think you might just get away with a taper. Resilient lady! 🌺😘

[Rimmy in reply to SheffieldJane]

Yes the stories about the end results are REALLY 'true' and quite startling if you experience them. I have actually thought maybe it was almost 'worth' getting the (expedited by Pred no doubt) cataracts to have such an amazing improvement - after all the lenses on our eyes 'yellow' over time cataracts or not. Not that anyone's 'naturally good' eyesight can ever be improved upon of course - a bit like when we first get glasses - we feel shocked that things seem so much 'more' in every way - but maybe not as 'real' - if you get my gist. Only other addendum about these ops is that I had my first done privately (paid for) and everything was exactly the same in the 2nd (almost) with even same surgeon etc - BUT no 'sedation' is usually given in the 'public' or 'free' hospital. They do of course anesthetise the eye completely - but the sedation they gave me with no discussion in the private hospital made things much more 'pleasant'. This isn't really a complaint - as both ops went very well - but is an interesting (I think) 'observation'.

Hope you are doing OK SJ !! X

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Rimmy]

I still remember the amazement I felt when travelling home on the bus with my first pair of specs at age 7. Trees didn't look like the sort small children draw - they had LEAVES! Who knew!!

[Louisepenygraig in reply to PMRpro]

That sounds like my younger daughter who is short sighted. We didn't realise until she was 12 or 13. I remember walking back to the car with her when she had her glasses and her amazement at seeing the lampposts going into the distance down the road and the mountains in the distance. She'd just assumed that things got less clear when they were further away. I'm afraid that when she couldn't see things like the 'dinosaur' on the hill opposite i thought she was a bit 'dozy'. I felt guilty afterwards 😁

[bunnymom in reply to Louisepenygraig]

We found out our son had terrible vision in fifth grade. He could never find his way around our small town. It was because he couldn't see! I too felt bad. We thought he was an airhead, not paying attention.

[HeronNS in reply to PMRpro]

My father used to take me to movies on his afternoon off when school was out, and as I couldn't see the picture on the screen properly I made a little pinhole with my thumbs and forefingers so I could see. Oddly enough my physician father didn't cotton on. It was a teacher who told him I could hardly see a thing. Got glasses after several years of living in a blurry world. Children just accept things as they are.

[Rimmy in reply to HeronNS]

I find that a 'moving' story HeronNS - to think of you doing that to 'see' - and I have seen my brother do the same as a now 70 year old - but still with eyesight issues. Pleased you emerged from that blurry' world - it is not the best place to be if you can avoid it !

[HeronNS in reply to Rimmy]

I didn't know any better. But apparently I'd needed glasses for about two years before something was finally done about it. I think I was about ten when I got them. Still find nearsightedness useful at times, for reading fine print for example. I remember when I moved at about 21 to a different community and got new glasses from a new optician how clear everything was, so I think for the previous ten or eleven years my vision hadn't even then been properly corrected. I was dazzled by the clarity of the leaves on the trees and the detail in the ground beneath my feet.

[Hidden]

Oh dear oh dear oh dear. It's true though...these things seem to come in threes. Seeing the world and nature in all its glory is fantastic.🌻

[scats]

Glad you enjoyed the trip even if the home comming wasn't so good.

You really can't beat rural plumbing for problems, we had the best raspberries I've ever seen until out septic tank leak was fixed!

[Louisepenygraig in reply to scats]

Our septic tank helps our fruit too!

[SnazzyD]

Jeepers. I’m impressed that you got the power cable into the wrong hole enough to fry it. Would have been nice if just upping the Pred helped these mishaps. Not doubt some docs would have blamed the Pred.

[Louisepenygraig]

What a homecoming! Things can only go up now.

[Constance13]

Now, of course, three good things will happen.💐🍸🍾

[Blearyeyed]

You don't have to taper on a super rigid timetable , and in fact it is recommended not to start a taper just because it's time to go the next step down in the plan if you have recently been suffering from illness , injury , alot of activity or mental stress , or have some of these about to occur in the first week on a new dose.

You mention yourself you are a little nervous about it , this is totally understandable at this time , especially if you are conscious that you are getting close to the dose that you got stuck at before.

The combination that you haven't probably built up your energy level yet after your cold and cataract operation , and the side effect of general stress from the plumbing may not mean that your body and mind are best " match fit" for the next step down for a couple of weeks.

I , personally, would give myself one or two weeks to get my nutrient level and body strength back up again before the next taper.

Then , I might choose to go down in increments of 0.5 mg whilst getting past a plateau that I know I have struggled with before , just so that I could feel less nervous on trying it from the beginning , knowing that having that extra concern reducing my confidence might cause me to have more side effects because I felt tense.

Just thought I'd offer up a suggestion you might want to try yourself , options are always helpful , I wish you luck with it all.

Let's hope that the " Power of Three" will be on your side next time .

xx

[Purplecrow]

Hi, welcome back! Sorry for your run of crappy (pun intended) luck! But wonderful news about vision improvement. I think I am getting closer to my time under the knife. No prob, everyone raves about the improves! J

[Jackoh]

Good to hear from you again Rimmy. Glad you had great holiday but had to come home to all those niggles. I had both cataracts done recently and it is so wonderful to see so clearly,to be able to read again and drive. Best wishes x