Sunday, November 26, 2006

Balancing Act of Life


Do you ever feel life is like one big balancing act? I do. It seems that my life is so full of commitments, obligations, appointments, classes, visiting relatives, running errands, and keeping up with all the recitals and programs and ceremonies my daughter is involved in, there's barely time to create art these days. I try, but boy do I get behind! Right now I need to finish three large paintings (22" x 30") for a hanging at the Indianapolis Art Center, start and complete an 8"x10" piece for a Christmas gift exchange, and create two ornaments for another gift exchange, all within the next two weeks, and still work on making new stuff for my Etsy store. The pressure is on to "produce" so that's what I plan on doing today... making art! Yeah!!

I've been trying to be more consistent with my blog postings and my listings on Etsy and eBay. That's always such a challenge for me beause I'm not a "regular-routine-schedule-type" girl, but more of a "spur-of-the-moment-fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants" kind of girl!
The "Small Works Holiday Show" is now open. This annual event is held at the 423 Gallery in Columbus, Indiana. Invitations from the gallery go out to about 30 local and regional artists to submit one or two 5"x7" paintings to decorate a large Christmas tree in the center of the gallery. The paintings serve as "ornaments", nestled between the pine branches and tiny white lights. I was lucky enough to receive an invitation to submit my work again this year! All work is priced the same, at $100 each. Fifty percent of the proceeds go to a charity and the other fifty percent to the artist. The photos above are the two pieces of mixed-media I submitted. Although the originals are for sale at the gallery, I'm offering 5"x7" prints for both "Faith" and "Violette", as well as ACEO art card prints.

Sunday, November 19, 2006

You Should See the Other Guy!




After a long and arduous night of waiting and worrying, we were so relieve when we received the surgeon's phone call at 7:00am. Dr. Cuilla had been successful in gathering together a team to perform surgery and we would need to be at the clinic at 9:00 for Dale's 10:00 surgery. Now, I've had a total of three surgeries in my lifetime and never have I been so excited to go to the hospital... but then, of course, it wasn't me who was about to have my eye cut open. Several family members met us at the facility to sit with me during Dale's surgery, and for that I'm grateful. Talking and visiting kept my mind occupied for the hour long surgery.

Not too many years ago, a procedure such as this would have required a lengthy hospital stay. These days though, unless you've just had brain surgery, they pack you up and send you on your way. While it's nice to cut down on the medical expenses, it's also pretty scary, especially for the caretaker. The patient is generally so tired and medicated they don't really care to do anything but sleep. The caretaker, on the other hand, is left with a long list of "dos and don'ts" to figure out. What connotates "unusual looking incision"... "extreme tiredness"... or "excessive bleeding"? Awwwhhhh, hellllp!! I'm not a nurse, I'm an artist! It all looks bad to me! Most days, choosing the perfect paint color is the biggest decision I make! I'm pretty sure I didn't sleep or eat for the first five days after Dale's surgery. I'm certain now I would never want to be a doctor or nurse. The responsibility of someone's eyesight (or life) on my shoulders is more than I could handle.

The worst part of this surgery was not the bruising, not the swelling, not prying my poor hubby's eye open four times a day to put in antibiotic drops. The worst part was the requirement that he stay face down for five days! When I say face down, I don't mean lay on your stomach and turn your head to the side, I mean it literally, as in "parallel to the floor" kind of face down. It's kind of hard to breath with your face stuffed in a pillow so one has to find a comfortable face down position that also allows one to breath! Not only was it required to lay face down, but Dale needed to sit face down, and walk face down. Conversation with visitors became somewhat amusing. They would talk and he kept saying, "uh huh, I'm listening". Of course, if he did look up, the moment they saw his eye they'd tell him to go ahead and look back down.

We both got used to looking at his nasty-looking eye which was all back and swollen. The swelling and blackness didn't go away for about four to five weeks. Dale insisted that our sixteen year old daughter (his little photographer-in-training) photograph his eye every day so he could see the progress. He wanted to send his co-workers an email to let them know how he was doing while he was off work, so he attached a photo of himself. The subject line was: "A few bad nights in Mexico". Upon opening the email you saw the photo and it read: "You should see the other guy!!" Always the funny guy, he is.

So I'm sure you're wondering how his sight is and if the surgery was successful. Well, the surgery (per se) was a success, in that the retina was reattached. He can now see light and movement and has fairly good peripheral vision, which greatly helps with his ability to drive. However, it's been a little over two months now and his central vision is still recovering. He can see a minimum of things which are very blurry and distorted, and still can't see the "Big E" on the eye chart. Actually there is another letter above the "E" on these charts. It's a giant "H" about twice the size of the "E"... he can't see that either. His doctor said it could still be several months before he regains more vision and then would need a very strong lens in his glasses. When we were at the doctor a couple weeks ago, the surgeon talked about the possibility of another surgery to remove "junk and debris" from inside his eye. It didn't sound very exciting to us, so for now we're doing the 'ol "wait and see" (no pun intended).

I hope that in reading this story, you will take a moment to click on the links above and here in order to familiarize yourself with the symptoms of potential eye problems. We all know the symptoms of a heart attack or stroke. We hear about early detection of breast cancer. We get checked for high blood pressure and diabetes and skin cancer. We just don't hear that much about diseases of the eyes and early detection. It is such a devastating thing to loose one's eyesight! Not only for the patient, but for their spouse and family members, as well. So please, have your eyes checked yearly. Ask for a dilated eye exam, as this is the only way your doctor can see all the way to the back of the eye and check for retinal tears or damage.

Again, thanks to all of you who have sent your thoughts and prayers. Rest assured, I've passed your comments along to Dale and he's so appreciative of your concerns. We have faith that his vision will continue to improve and I will keep you posted on his progress. Blessings to you all, and have a safe, happy, and very thankful Thanksgiving!

Friday, November 10, 2006

Timing is Everything

Thank you to all who have sent your thoughts and prayers! Please bear with me and my slow postings. I honestly haven't meant to leave you hanging, but it seems my life has been on a fast track for the past couple of months! It's amazing to me that anyone would even bother reading about someone else's troubles, as we all have so many of our own. I know we aren't the only family who is going through difficulties. There are so many other situations that are far worse than this and we recognize that. However, no matter what one goes through in life, it's still important and relevant to your life. Writing about this has helped put into words the emotional rollercoaster I've been feeling. I promise I will soon enter more uplifting posts about art and life, but for now I feel an obligation to finish the story I started.

When Dale finished recounting the events that had unfolded over the past few days, and my heart began beating once again, we were anxious and concerned. We had no idea what was happening. The only thing that came to our minds was the condition his step father has been going through for the past twelve years... macular degeneration. This progressive eye disease creates large black spots in your central vision, eventually leading to permanent blindness. To date, there is no cure. Fearing this debilating disease had also come knocking on our door, we were both very afraid and held each other tightly throughout the night.

Since Dale had already scheduled a vacation day, we called our eye doctor the following morning and explained the situation. The doctor worked him in as her first patient of the day at 2:00pm. After a careful examination, our opthamologist confirmed there was a definite problem and he would need to see a specialist immediately. She personally called and scheduled an emergency appointment with a specialist. We left the office and drove across town to his next appointment.

After a thorough examination, the retina specialist gave us some very good news. Dale's condition was not caused by macular degeneration. Even though Dale still couldn't see anything out of his right eye, this diagnosis was a huge relief! The bad news was Dale had a completely detached retina. This is sometimes caused by an injury, such as a blow to the head. Athletes who participate in contact sports are prone to incurring a detached retina. Although he hadn't had any head injury that he could remember, the doctor said this can also happen to anyone, especially as we age.

Dale would need emergency surgery in an attempt to reattach the retina to his eye. A partial retinal tear or partial retinal detachment can generally be fixed using laser surgery, with a 90% positive outcome. If the retina is completely detached and involves the central vision, a more complicated procedure is necessary. The longer the retina is detached, the more damage occurs, as cells begin to deteriorate and die. The possibility of vision restoration becomes increasingly compromised. Time was of the essence. If only so much time had not already been lost while he was out of the country!

The surgeon said he would be willing to perform surgery the following morning if he was able to pull together a team to assist him. It was now 4:30pm on Friday of Labor Day weekend. He would need to find four nurses and an anesthesiologist who would also be willing to work on the spur of the moment on a holiday weekend. If not, Dale would need to wait until Tuesday morning when the eye clinic reopened. The surgeon said he would call us by 7:00am the following morning to let us know. Needlesstosay, we spent another sleepless night waiting and wondering what the outcome would be.