Seems like I've been neglecting the blog since finishing the updates on the Italy trip, so here's the first of a few posts to bring you up to date.
We stayed in the Phoenix area through the end of June. Both Vicky and I had medical issues although hers were more serious, and we needed to see doctors. Vicky had cataract surgery and now has 20/20 vision for the first time since age 11. She only wears glasses for reading (and the sun!) now. The operations went smoothly with no pain, but we had to be there for follow up visits.
I also had an eye exam, resulting in what now, in retrospect, seems a comedy of errors. I did need a new prescription for glasses - not surprising since it had been over 4 years since I got my last pair. However, the doctor discovered I had high pressure in both eyes. He was so concerned that he sent me to an eye surgeon(the same one that did Vicky's cataracts) for a laser procedure that same day!
Dr. Justo believes it's important to tell his patients in detail about procedures. This isn't a good thing for me, as I get queasy when anyone talks about medical procedures. As he was describing the laser procedure he was going to do, I passed out in his office. It was the next morning before I was back to normal. So I survived a week with drops to reduce the pressure, and returned next Friday for the procedure - with NO advance description this time. The whole thing took less than 5 minutes and I felt almost nothing, The next week I had the oterh eye done and now, with the new glasses, all is well.
The other issue with Vicky was a diagnosis that she has buildup in the arteries near her heart. She's had no symptoms and the doctor felt surgery wasn't needed and gave her medicine. SInce Vicky's family has a history of heart problems, we went for a second opinion and got the same advice. However, Vicky was warned not to go too far from a hospital or from internet access, so our plans to spend the summer in the wop-wops of Northern Utah went by the board.
While in Phoenix we were able to volunteer at the Herberger theater for a couple of shows, and also went to Algodones (Mexico) for dental treatment. We'd both been told by an AZ dentist that we needed deep cleaning (read large expense) on our teeth.We have a reliable dentist in Algodones so went there for the treatment. After taking X-rays they informed both of us that the deep cleaning would do nothing beyond a normal cleaning except enrich the dentist, so we just had the (very thorough) normal cleaning. If you're within striking distance of Algodones, try Sani Dental The quality of service in that city varies a lot, but Sani has up to date equipment, US trained dentists and has never steered up wrong.
We left at the beginning of July and have had a fun month, but I'll make that another post so this one doesn't get too long.
