I'm BACK..........

Okay, I'm totally mortified that I haven't blogged in almost a month, but it's been an incredibly wild and busy time--consumed with travel and entertaining friends and family here in beautiful South Carolina. I'm back on schedule now (I hope) and feeling like a blog delinquent--overcome with guilt.

In the past two weeks, I've seen more Grand Strand attractions than the Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce. While my friend, Lori, was visiting, we saw the Magic of Ireland show at the Palace Theatre at Broadway at the Beach, a tour of Brookgreen Gardens, time at Huntington Beach State Park, shopping, and an evening at Legends in Concert. Love those Blues Brothers!

When our son, daughter-in-law, and three grandchildren arrived, we went to Alligator Adventure, the Aquarium at Broadway at the Beach, enjoyed time at our Blackmoor pool, dinner at Medieval Times, played miniature golf at Jungle Lagoon, and thoroughly kicked up our heels in the warm ocean waves at Huntington Beach. Had a fabulous, memorable time!

On a different subject, I keep wondering why someone doesn't provide us with a list of events to anticipate as we age--just so we'll know what to expect. For instance, after Lori arrived a couple of weeks ago on a Saturday, we were sitting there calmly enjoying a delicious lunch at the TPC of Myrtle Beach, where we were overlooking the infamous 18th hole. I saw this sudden flash before my eyes, as though someone had just taken a photo with a flash or lightning had just struck directly in front of my eye. Then the best part occurred. I began seeing black spots through my left eye. I'm the kind of person who doesn't like to panic and seek medical attention at the drop of a hat, so I calmly sat there and didn't tell Lori or my husband, Fred, who was then chatting with us at our table. I recalled a few years ago when Fred had a similar experience, he was told by the doctor that this was a common occurrence and the "floaters" he was seeing would likely be permanent, although in time, less intrusive.

On Monday morning, I visited a recommended ophthalmologist, who essentially told me, after examining both eyes thoroughly, that in our 50's and 60's, the vitreous gel (the clear, jelly-like fluid that fills the inside of your eye) can pull away from the back wall of the eye, causing a posterior vitreous detachment, creating "floaters" (which are tiny clumps of the gel or cells inside the vitreous). He did say that they tend to fade over time and become less bothersome, but never really go away completely. GREAT!
I've also been told by other people who have had this experience that your brain begins to adjust to seeing these spots, and it does become less annoying. GREAT!! I can't wait.

The point is this.....if and when this happens to you, the important thing is to see an ophthalmologist as soon as possible to be certain that the retina isn't damaged. That is the danger in this occurrence. I am fine and am adjusting to the aggravating spots..I am less aware of them each day. But why doesn't someone warn us about these weirdo things that happen to people as they approach senior citizenship? If my husband hadn't already had this experience a few years ago, I would have thought I was having a stroke. So I just thought I'd write about this experience in the hope that if and when it happens to you, you'll know what it is all about and remember to seek the attention of an ophthalmologist at first opportunity!

That's it for tonight, but I'll be writing within a few days about my upcoming lifewriting workshops. I promise......