Finally! A Doctor Visit With Good News!

Since late last year we have been seeing too many doctors. It started with a GI doctor, then a cardiologist, then a urologist, then a general visit, then physical medicine, dental, then an ENT - and those were just for my husband. And after all of them there were more tests, new prescriptions with awful side effects, and more follow ups. It seemed like we were making weekly trips to the outpatient center. Luckily things were tolerable and nothing horrible ensued. But it really puts things in to perspective and limits our lifestyle - especially since the pandemic. And for two months I have been dealing with plantar fasciitis which has been a very slow going process. That means no more morning walks for a while, ice packs, foot exercises, splints and new walking shoes. Between my husband’s dizzy spells caused by medications and my foot hurting it’s been a real drag. Yesterday both my husband and I had our routine six month eye appointments. Last year at this time I had cataract surgery in July on one eye and the other was done in August. I was keeping my fingers crossed that nothing more would surface this time around. We both have glaucoma that is controlled with eye drops and I have some weird retinal thing. The visual field test is at least less bothersome with the new virtual field test equipment. And for the first time that test was a winner. I had the best results in five years and my eye pressures were good. So both my husband and I were able to leave the office without a worry and no need for any more follow ups - except to make appointments in six months. It was  wonderful feeling! 

Losing a Classmate - A Tribute to Rowena

I didn’t know her very well. I think she sat either in front of or behind me in high school home room. With Facebook and LinkedIn a lot of people reconnected with classmates of old. So Rowena was on Facebook and her presence was known. There were daily if not more entries made by her. You always knew what she was thinking about and was a kind soul. Then last year she experienced a medical issue and never recovered. But she remained so upbeat throughout all of the setbacks. It was disconcerting to know that she was in so much discomfort. And when the Facebook entries stopped and were taken over by her best friends sharing updates, it was obvious that something had happened. Finally the obituary arrived and there was a celebration of her life this month. Rowena touched the lives of so many people. I miss her Facebook updates. Rest in peace Rowena. 

52Frames Distortion Weekly Photo Challenge

We haven’t been able to take morning walks lately because of my foot pain. I thought perhaps not walking for at least a week might help things. I’m not sure that is the case. It does put a crimp in my style as far as getting photos for the weekly challenge. It is also very frustrating and demoralizing because it seems like it will never heal I. Spite of the exercises for it, icing it, wearing new walking shoes, and wearing night and day splints. The subject this week was “distortion.” Rather than walk along the Old Town Alexandria waterfront we basically walked to a shaded bench and sat there for a while before going to breakfast at one of our favorite places. I held my iPhone in the same position and took photos of all the passersby - and there were many - running, walking, riding bikes along the path by the Potomac River. So a composite photo was created using three of the original images and a fourth layer was added of the completed image to create even more distortion. Later in the week we drove over to Glen Echo Park where there is a one hundred plus year old carousel. I thought the photo of it was quite nice using a long exposure, but my husband hates carousels so that one was ruled out. So I haven’t been happy with my entries lately but I still enjoy the editing process. At least it gives me something else to think about. 

Old Town Waterfront

I decided to take a week off from morning walks until my foot felt better. It’s been about two months since this horrible plantar fasciitis attacked both feet out of nowhere - at least that’s what I think it is. Luckily the right foot got better, but the left foot is still very painful in spite of exercise, ice, walking shoes made specifically for this purpose, and foot splints worn during the day and night. So we decided to take a ride to Old Town Alexandria and sit on a shaded bench in front of a pedestrian path that overlooks the Potomac River. We thought we would enjoy the view for a half an hour or so before we went to Royal restaurant for breakfast. I thought I’d take the opportunity to get some photos for the weekly photo challenge too. So I held my iPhone in the same position and took several photos of whoever walked, ran, or rode by. I took many more photos than are shown here with the idea of eventually putting them all in to one composite image. I still haven’t been to see a podiatrist about this problem because everyone I’ve spoken to said it takes several months to heal. I do miss walking every morning and it can be most discouraging when you think it’s getting better and then it starts all over again. So we haven’t been going to our routine spots because of the extreme heat and now this. Between my husband and me we have been a couple of live wires since the pandemic. Our lives have changed - and I don’t like it. 

Wrist Splint

It has not been a good year health wise for us. It is nothing serious, but I think we are trying to make a record to see as many different medical specialties as possible - cardiac, GI, urology, ENT…. Along with general medicine and eye of course. But even with that accidents still happen. My husband took a spill the other day and landed by bracing his wrist and elbow to the wall. It put an incredible amount of weight on his arm and the swelling started immediately. Out came the ice packs. He knew he didn’t break anything because he was able to move all of the parts. Of course I wanted him to get an X-ray to make sure, but he decided against it. The wrist split that I already had wasn’t big enough for his hand, so in the mean time I wrapped it in an ace bandage and he tried to keep it elevated. By the end of the day we thought a wrist brace that fit would be the best idea. So we went over to CVS and got a Copper Fit Unisex one size fits most adjustable fit brace. It also had a gel pack in it that could be cooled or warmed. It seemed to fit okay when it was first applied, but it really wasn’t wide enough for his hand and with the swelling it was impossible to keep it the Velcro shut. So we put a rubber band on the end just to keep it immobilized. Incredibly he wasn’t having much pain at all, and by the third day things were so much better. It’s just something else to worry about. 

Pete’s, Royal, and McLean Family Restaurant Breakfast

Since getting plantar fasciitis almost two months ago it has put a real crimp in our routine. Since the exercises and the splints and the ice rolls weren’t doing the trick I decided to stop walking for a week. That meant our daily two mile morning walk came to an end. Aside from that my husband has been experiencing issues that require doctor visits and tests at the outpatient facility. So rather than make breakfast after having a CT scan, we went to our favorite breakfast place McLean Family Restaurant on Monday. Then we decided to take a ride to Old Town Alexandria on Wednesday and sat by the waterfront for a bit. Then we headed to Royal, another favorite breakfast place afterwards. Then our grandson - who is finishing up his internship and staying in a basement apartment in our old Capitol Hill neighborhood - said he was free for lunch. So yesterday we drove in to DC, parked in our old neighborhood, saw his apartment, then walked over to another one of our favorite breakfast places - Pete’s - right across from the Library of Congress where I used to work. We hadn’t been there since we moved to Northern Virginia five years ago but the owner still recognized us and we had a nice chat. So all I have been doing is eating and putting on weight which is the last thing I want to do. We absolutely enjoyed our breakfasts at each of our favorite spots - but not all in one week!! I need to start walking again!

52Frames Water Photo Trending

Yes, it happened again! My water photo for the challenge this week was trending on the 52Frames website. The album opens on Tuesday every week, and I have been checking the website daily to see what photos have been selected. My entry usually shows up on Wednesday late morning or early afternoon and stays posted for about 10-12 hours. And it drifts from the top to the bottom theee photos that are highlighted. Ever since April one of my fellow framers told me that she saw my photo and ever since then I have been paying attention. I still don’t know what the criteria is that is used to select these rotating images out of the 2500-3000 that are submitted every week from across the globe. I’m very happy it does show up - it’s a special perk! I’m hoping one of these days one of my images gets selected for a top 52 again or is highlighted on the instagram thread. That hasn’t happened for a while. All I know is that I love creating composite images - which technically is more of a project than just an edited photo. It’s sort of become a signature element over this last year. I have learned a lot of new techniques and look forward to the weekly challenges. Let’s hope the trend continues!