Water

Officially, I am a year older having celebrated a birthday last week. That's the least of the story. On the day prior to my planned celebration, Ol' Abner mentioned that he was having difficulty seeing from his left eye. He mentioned this as we were hauling a plastic draped load of furniture on an open trailer from another city in a deluge. He was a little sketchy with the details in one of those "how-can-you-be-so-dense" responses when I questioned the depth of his condition. He has a cataract and recently diagnosed AMD. Since he could still see the little spot in the center of the eye chart posted on the fridge, he vehemently ruled out the possibility that the trouble was anything more than progression of the cataract. The water pouring from the sky caused all other discussion to be postponed. The following day was blessed with rain predictions never fulfilled. We drove over to a nearby city, enjoyed a walk along the water, shopped a bit, then indulged in a delightful dinner. During our leisurely drive home he alluded to flashing and big "floaters" appearing regularly in the field of vision on his left...OH..OH..OH! Relating some of the danger signs listed when researching his condition and the admonition from the medical pros to call immediately if any of that list should occur, I urged him to call for an appointment in the optical lab. He admitted to not wanting to dampen the enjoyment of my birthday celebration and since he had a scheduled foot appointment for today, he had planned to call for a consult in the optical clinic. HMMMMM. Arriving home after regular clinic hours he promised to call Friday morning. I reminded him again, and again and he finally gave up procrastination and called around noon. Response from the optical clinic was "COME RIGHT NOW!". We jumped in the car and drove through sprinkling rain and ever increasing holiday traffic. It's just over a three hour drive via winding mountain roads to the medical center responsible for his care. The diagnosis: Detached Retina (specifically two holes with liquid leaking around them) resulting with vision in the eye in imminent danger. This was not the dreaded Age-related Macular Degeneration changing from "Dry" to "Wet", but equally as threatening. The staff sprang into action, photographing his inner eye, poking it hither and yon, letting him look at charts he couldn't read and then scrambling him into a ready and waiting OR for lazer "tacking". Spring forward to today. His scheduled appointment was conveniently piggy backed with the follow-up from the Friday. He was right about that at least. We left home in sprinkly rain drops and damp roads. On the first hill exiting our town, an oncoming pick-up truck came around the corner in a sideways skid and very nearly helped us over the other side of the mountain. Rain intermittently poured or drizzled all three hours of travel and two more near misses by hydroplaning, sliding and skidding vehicles had us totally on edge. Torrents of water drenching the car made me feel like I needed a towel inside. I really don't like to travel in rain, so it could be said I was in a never ending nightmare. Tonight we are safely home, dry, and thankful for a good progress report on Ol' Abner's eye. Now if all this water will just soak on in and go on into the lake. It could be worse. Tornados are tracing around friends and family in Texas. Enough water everywhere!