Oy, Oy, EYES

I have continued to have trouble with my eyes. The doctor I was seeing at Ophthalmic Consultants of Boston in their Yarmouth office said that I had to see their glaucoma surgeon. I waited three weeks for an appointment., I was scared, frankly, very scared. My ophthalmologist for many years, Dr. Gorn, who saved my vision many years ago, diagnosed my eyes and sent me to a an excellent practitioner after the highly vaunted Harvard Med School ‘specialist’ I had been seeing at Beth Israel told me nothing could be done.  Dr. Gorn advised me years ago that I should never have an eye operation unless I really needed it as there is a chance in any operation that I could end up blind. Naturally, I was frightened this time around that that was exactly what they would recommend.

The last two nights before I saw Dr. Ney I had terrible nervous stomach trouble all day and could not sleep at night.  We had to take any appointment we could get and had to drive nearly off the Cape to Sandwich. Dr. Ney said that the spot in my vision was probably caused by glaucoma but no technician or doctor I have seen understands what the spot actually is.  However, with the new meds, my pressure is lower than it has been in decades. I was incredibly relieved not to face an eye operation.

We had a bumper crop of broccoli, far more than we ever had before, I froze eight pounds. We have no idea why all the cucumbers I started all died and the broccoli I started, that Woody planted in the same garden, did so well.  Gardening can be frustrating but also a reminder of how little control we have over anything. You’re never too old to be humbled, I suppose.

Sometime this weekend I need to pull the arugula and Chinese cabbage in the farthest bed of my garden that have bolted and need to be taken out and composted. I will plant more arugula and some winter squash, probably delicata, in that space. I froze many small packets of cilantro and dill this week. (Excellent toi have available in the winter months for guacamole chicken soup.) Also, I began freezing rhubarb.  I’m constantly freezing local strawberries from Friends Market in Orleans (which I gave up growing some time ago as it was a constant war with the birds).

I had to move my poetry group because that would have been the day I saw Dr. Ney. I knew my vision would be so blurry I wouldn’t be able to focus on print. We’re meeting the first Wednesday of July, instead of the last Wednesday of June.

Nina, my new assistant, works very hard and makes herself useful in many ways. She is smart and learns quickly. When she makes a mistake, instead of being defensive, she just goes ahead and fixes it. The job is complicated. I’m lucky to have her. I’ve had dozens of assistants over the years, five these last few months before I hired her.