The weekend

Wow what a fabulous day I had at the Qld INBA's yesterday! It was so inspiring to see all those gorgeous girls on stage flexing those muskels - almost made me want to get up there myself! It was good to catch up with Sue again - she is almost an honourary Queenslander by now! Thanks to Sue I got a great seat near the front, so we had a good view all day - although I was nearly deaf by the end of the show... the speakers were SO loud! You know when you go to clubs and the music is so loud that you cant even hear yourself shout? Thats how loud it was at the front! I had a headache by the time I left.

Tracey and Alicia looked amazing, both looked very confident and not at all nervous - way to go girls! Di and Deb also were fantastic, Debs physique has changed so much since I last saw her, all I could say was WOW! And Di looked so calm and confident, and her routine was one of the highlights of the show - fantastic!

The rest of the weekend was dull by comparison! I did however finally buy myself a new pair of jeans. I took Kelly's advice, and instead of trying on skinny leg jeans, I tried on the straight leg ones, and Kelly you were right - they are much less severe, and a little more flattering on me. I have to admit though, when I put them on to show OH when I got home (and paired them with my new knee high boots and stripey top) one thought kept recurring... "mutton dressed as lamb" !!! hehehe I had to ask OH "Do I look ridiculous? Do I look like I'm trying to look like a 16 year old?" Paranoid that I'm too old to dress like that. He assured me that I didn't look like I was "playing dress-up" in some teenagers outfit... anyway, I'm not 100% convinced yet!

I am also not 100% convinced that my eye has totally settled yet. Some days it feels better than others. Some days I get a funny 'sensation' in the eye - its hard to describe. I'm thinking of taking it a little easy this week in terms of training, especially since I was starting to hit it a little harder last week and my eye didn't seem to like it. In the grand scheme of things, a little more rest isn't going to make a whole lotta difference. Its difficult not to feel guilty about resting though.

My left eye is now scheduled to be done in 2 weeks time and I cant wait!

Here's a few photos from Sunday (sorry some are a bit blurry)

Alicia
Tracey

Di and Deb

Penny, Sue and me

20/20

Its official... the vision in my right eye is now BETTER than 20/20!!!!  I was over the moon when I found that out.  Went back to the surgeons office on Tuesday and found out that its all healing very nicely, my vision has now stabilised and the new lens is sitting in the right place.  Here's an interesting fact: did you know that 20/20 vision is actually the 3rd line from the bottom of the eye chart???  I didn't know that.  With both eyes open I can read the bottom line, but with my left eye closed I could sort-of read the 2nd bottom line.  Interestingly, he said that if I'd had LASIK instead of the ICL, we would be waiting another week to have the same result in vision.  BIG thank you to you all for your wonderful comments over my last couple of posts - I'm sure all your positive messages have added to a speedy eye recovery!

Anzac Day yesterday, I took a few moments to think about all those who have fought for us.  I have not been to an Anzac Day March in years though, and I think its about time I went to another.  I have a problem though, I cannot hear "The Last Post" without getting all choked up, teary,and goosebump-y.  Its a very emotional tune...  

Yesterday we went to visit a friend in hospital who had her first baby on Tuesday night.  So I got to cuddle a baby not even a day old!  Very cute, he was quiet as a mouse too.  Normally they start crying when I pick them up - I always thought it was me!!  And ANOTHER boy!!  I dont know anyone who's had a girl lately.  Must be something in the water.

Hit it a little bit harder at the gym today - did 30 mintues on the cross trainer - had my heart rate up to 150bpm, and then followed with 20 minutes incline walking.  Dont know if I did too much, as my eye feels a bit funny now.  I'm sure it will be fine.  I am champing at the bit to get back into weight training - cant wait to have some DOMS again!  I feel like my muscles are going to mush with all this waiting... oh well - only a week and a half to go!

Good luck to all the girls who are competing this weekend!!!  And I cant wait to see the Queensland girls in action on Sunday!  I promise I will take lots of pics!

I can see clearly now...

Its so amazing what doctors can do.  Imagine a doctor somewhere sitting there saying "What if we put the contact lens permanently INSIDE the eye...???"  Its just amazing.

Each day my vision improves a little more. I'm now at the point of wearing a contact lens in the left eye, and NO VISION CORRECTION in my right eye, and I can see almost as well as with glasses. My night vision is still off - I get some halo's around lights, which could make driving at night a little dangerous. Focusing for reading up close still gives me eye strain, but I guess its only been a week - things will only get better from here!

I was going stir crazy at home alone this week, so I went back to work on Friday. I got picked up as I wasn't confident of focusing well enough to drive myself. 6 hours in the office was enough, the airconditioning really played havoc with drying up my eye. It was getting really uncomfortable and my eye was stinging, so I got chauffer driven home again! What a life!

I've had a week off exercise completely, and I'm over it!  Since I'm allowed to do gentle walking, I went back to the gym this morning to spend an hour on the treadmill - walking gently. I'm really just going so that I dont lose my habit of going - if that makes sense  :-)  It took me 50 minutes to burn 200 calories!!!  OMG it was boring, but better than nothing I suppose.

In the past, a week of sitting at home alone (and being totally bored) would have spelled a nutritional disaster. I would have used it as an excuse to eat the fridge and pantry empty. So I'm very happy with myself that I have eaten 100% on plan, the right food, all my water, at the right times. This change in mindset has been slowly happening over the last couple of years, always with some slip ups though. I feel like this last week has been a bit of a breakthrough - almost a light-bulb moment! I'm feeling very motivated and inspired at right now - I know I'm going to lose a little muscle during this forced rest, but it doesn't mean I have to put on weight from overeating. One night last week I considered putting cheese on my salad, because OH was having it on his. I stopped and thought "will it REALLY make it taste THAT much better???" and the answer was no, so I didn't have it, and I enjoyed my salad thoroughly. So I'm feeling strong and I like it!!!

Had a little retail therapy this weekend, I bought some knee high black boots, which I love!  I bought them with a view to buying a pair of skinny leg jeans to wear with them. Hmmmm... might have to hold that thought for a few months. I tried on multiple pairs of skinny leg jeans in my normal size, and somehow they always made me feel like my arse is huge. Also, when jeans make you feel like your ankles are fat, its time to put them back. I know my ankles arent fat, but those jeans make you feel that way!  LOL!  These might have to wait a few months until I lose some of my wobbly bits!

Anyhoo - better get back to work - have an awesome day everyone!

Good Luck girls!!!!

Good luck to Deb, Tracey and Alicia for today!!!! Kick butt up on that stage - you girls will be fantastic!

I am so sorry I cant be there today, but unfortunately my vision for driving is not yet 100%, especially at night which is when I would probably be driving home. Dont want to risk that just yet.

But I will be cheering you all on from home and cant wait to hear how you all went and see some pics!!

Surgery Story

Warning: this is a long and probably boring post! Just had to share my lovely experience with you all!

I'm ba-ack! Well after a disasterous recovery in the hospital, I'm very happy to say that my right eye is now doing very well, and my vision is getting better every day. We have now popped the lens out of my glasses (because I still need the glasses to see out of my left eye) so I'm looking a bit funny at the moment, but hey- at least I can see! I've got a delightful blood pool in my eye now, which I'm told will last about 10 days... niiiiiiice!

The surgery itself went very well - the surgery was about 2pm. The funniest thing was the anaesthetic. I've never had ANY surgery before, so it was all a bit new to me. The anaesthetist put the needle in my arm for the sedation (note: NOT a general anaesthetic) and I got wheeled into the theatre. I remember saying to her "Are you sure these drugs are working? Cos I dont feel any different..." and I dont remember if she replied!! LOL! The actual surgery, which I was awake for, is a blur. I remember the fabric coming down over my face, and then I remember all these pwetty lights... it was like a kaleidoscope! It was like "oooooh loook at all the prreeeeety colours!" - I was mesermised! The only time I realised what was happening was when the fabric came off my face, and the lights went away - I was like "oh dont take the pretty lights away.... oh... OH!... the surgery must be finished!"

In recovery, the problems started. The eye pressure is supposed to be between 15-25 - they measure it with a little device that puffs air at your eyeball. Mine was too high. So I had drops to constrict the pupil, which should allow the fluid to move freely about your eye. Every 30 minutes or so they tested it, it was still too high, so I'd have more drops. My OH came in to say hi for a few minutes, then he left and I had more drops.

The pressure kept rising... now about 36... and I had a corker of a headache starting so they called the surgeon who said to give me a tablet which should bring the pressure down. And of course more drops. 30 minutes later and the pressure is still rising and the pain in my head is increasing, so the surgeon came down to recovery. One doctor puts me in a headlock while my doc inserts a needle into my eye (Yes I could feel this happen... not nice!!!!) - so instantly I feel all this liquid run down my cheek and the headache instantly disappears! Pressure is down to 10!! Yay! Also, amazingly, I can see clearly out of my right eye for the first time!! Then, more drops, more drops, the nurses ring OH and tell him we'll be outta there in half an hour.

Within 5 minutes the headache was back... also I'm starting to feel nauseaus (this was a side effect of the tablet). Over the next half hour the pain in my forehead rises to a searing pain, the pressure is back up, and they give me 2 nurofen and more drops, more drops. By now I'm starting to really worry, and feeling sick, and with the headache... I start to cry and cry, which I was sooooo embarrassed about. The nurses ring OH who comes and sits with me for the rest of the time.

The surgeon came back, tests my pressure which is rising again, and decides that the only other thing he can try is to do more laser iridotomy holes to see if he can clear the possible blockage. By now I'm dizzy and dry-reaching, and also being told NOT to vomit because it can disrupt the new lens in my eye... also, the entire hospital is closed - it IS after 6pm, the place is dark and everyone else has gone home!!

Over the next two hours I have more laser holes in my eye, and also more drops... endless eye drops!!!! The pressure in my eye was up to 43, and the pain in my right forehead was excruciating.

The scariest point was when the surgeon was poking my eye and I felt this searing pain shoot through my head and it seemed to last for ages. I jumped back with a cry and put my head forward... and when I raised my head I was blind in that eye. I mean there was absolutely NO vision in my right eye - it was black. He shone a bright light in my eye - I couldn't see it. I F-R-E-A-K-E-D!!!! I mean - I FREAKED!!! I broke out in a cold sweat, panicked, couldn't believe it that "I'd gone blind"! LOL In reality I'd over-reacted a bit. What had happened was that the blood vessels that connect to my eye had gotten a bit stressed; therefore blood flow had momentarily cut out, causing temporary loss of vision. Within about a minute I was started to see outlines, and in a few minutes I could see again... phew!!!

Eventually he said that if the pressure didn't come down he'd have to take me up to the PA hospital, as they had some other drugs we could try to use to bring the pressure down. We had ONE LAST GO at the laser iridotomies, as by now my pupil had constricted enough to allow enough fluid to flow. The laser was done, the headache started to ease, and my pressure went down to 15. Everyone in the room (4 nurses, the surgeon, and my OH) did a little happy dance!!! We had to wait another 20 minutes to make sure that the pressure really was staying down, and it did... so we got discharged, and finally made it home by 8.30pm.

So!!! I felt like I'd been through the wringer after all of that! I went back to the surgeon yesterday for a check up, and the pressure was 9. So everything is looking good. I've got a few more days off work, but I cant do much. I cant drive or anything.

I asked the doc yesterday when I can exercise again, and I'm not allowed to do any weight training or intense cardio for 3 weeks. As of now all I'm allowed to do is gentle walking - absoluely no jogging or cycling. I asked if I could put the treadmill on an incline and I was told a very very small incline. So I'm going to go mad over the next few weeks! Anyway, I can always regain my fitness, but I've only got two eyes so I'd better look after them!

Anyway, thats all folks! Hope everyone is having a great week and I'm off to read a few blogs (with one eye open of course!)

Here we go....

Cross your fingers for me... its nearly time!

If anyone is interested, here is a little bit of info about the procedure I'm having tomorrow - Implantable Contact Lenses... tomorrow is the right eye - the left will hopefully be done a few weeks later.

What are implantable contact lenses?
Implantable contact lenses are similar to the lens implants used for cataract surgery patients, and they can correct very high degrees of myopia. These lenses are still considered investigational, and long term studies are not complete.

Who is a candidate for implantable contact lenses?
At the moment people who currently have prescriptions that fall between -23.00 and +12.00 can have their vision corrected by this treatment. Astigmatism can also be corrected, provided that the strength of the astigmatism falls between -7.00 and +7.00. It is strongly discouraged that anyone over 60 goes forth with the procedure, as the recovery process is not as quick and as straight forward.

The Procedure
Currently, doctors can only implant one lens at a time, and patients have to wait two weeks in between procedures. In a painless minor surgical procedure that extends roughly over a twenty minute period, a plastic corrective lens is carefully placed between the patient's iris and cornea. Once inserted, implantable contact lenses work like any regular lens - with the added benefit that they do not have to be continually removed, inserted and cleaned in the interim. Ideally the lens can remain inside the wearer's eye for life, but should a complication arise it can be easily removed with no adverse side effects to the patient. From here the patient can go back to wearing eyeglasses, regular spherical lenses or opt to have a new implant.

The reason this process is receiving such positive reviews is largely because of the advantages it has over LASIK. Firstly, an implantable contact lens can be used to correct the vision of any person who needs eyeglasses -whatever their level of short or near sightedness. LASIK, unfortunately, cannot be so bold in such claims. Secondly, the LASIK procedure can dry out the eye which can impose serious discomfort on those who already suffer from "dry eyes." Lastly the implantable contact lens procedure is also open to those who have thin corneas (LASIK is not suitable in such cases.)

Possible Side Effects
The procedure has been accredited with a 95% success rate. However there are a number of minor side effects linked to having the implantable contact lens. Some patients have been known to develop glaucoma, and in extreme cases there have been reports of cataract development. There is also the ever present risk of infection setting in - the risk of this is minimal, but it is none the less a possibility. Infection can cause eye inflammation that can prompt swelling of the retina, and finally lead to a loss of vision.

As soon as I can see again (LOL!) I will post to tell you all how gruesome it was!

Ups and Downs

Well my week started off great. I did a PB on leg press on Tuesday - 120kgs woohoo! Managed to push out 3 sets of 10, so could definetely have gone heavier too, although I'm still cautious of my knees. Wednesday morning I did a kick arse shoulder/bi/tri session too.

On Thursday I went for a day trip to our Maryborough office... thats a looooong way for a day trip! 4 hours there, 4 hours in the Maryborough branch, and 4 hours back - I was shattered by the time I got home - thats a lot of time in the car! On Thursday night I started cooking dinner and started to feel a bit ordinary. After dinner I started to feel indigestion coming on, and by the time I went to bed I was doubled over with stomach pains, cramps, nausea... those same symptoms that I was getting last year when I went and had all those tests.

My whole lower abdominal area was puffed up and tender to touch yesterday, and it hurt a bit to walk so I obviously didn't do any exercise. I also was hesitant to eat anything in case it set my stomach off again, so I didn't eat anything until about 11am. Today I'm much better, but still feeling a little unsettled in the stomach.

Not sure what set it off this time, everyone keeps telling me its just nervousness for the operation on Monday. I did not eat or drink anything out of the ordinary. I am so annoyed that its screwed up my whole exercise schedule, and particularly so because there wont be any exercise next week until the surgeon says its ok.

Anyway, enough whinging. There is positives in everything, and in this instance I lost 1.5kgs in a day and a half!

Little miss naughty

Here is Miss Elke... aka little miss naughty. On Thursday while we had our house-painter friends paint the outside of our house, Elke decided that she loves them soooooo much that she would "help" them paint.... with her body. Hence the paint streaks all over her right hip area!!

And here is the front entry now - instead of brown bricks and a khaki green roof, we now have an Ironstone roof, and stone coloured walls. The beginnings of our future front patio are in evidence at the front.

I have been inspired by Di this weekend, I keep thinking "if Di can do 8 cardio sessions this weekend, I can AT LEAST do 4". I've done 3 so far, going to attempt a HUGE hill walk this afternoon. I didn't do any exercise yesterday - I felt really dizzy and nauseous for some reason, and then I had a headache that just wouldn't go away. Feel better now, so dont know what that was about.

Unfortunately I did manage to eat some easter eggs this weekend, it had been sooo long since I last had chocolate that I decided to treat myself. But its left me feeling yuk, so actually not really a treat huh? Anyway for easter we bought ourselves a couple of CD's, and I got a new book too :)

One week til the eye operation, and I'm feeling incredibly excited this time - the nerves havent hit yet and I'm hoping they'll stay away. I'm just focusing on all the great things that will come out of this - bye bye glasses and contact lenses!!!

Back to work tomorrow, but at least its a short week! Have a great day everyone!

Tired & Busy

Long time no post!!!

I am so tired right now that I could fall off the chair zzzzzzzzz

My week has been very busy, starting with my training course in Melbourne. I should have checked out my hotel a bit better, because I ended up staying right on the train tracks, opposite Rod Laver Arena. I dont think the trains stop until after midnight, and they start again around 5am. So very little sleep for this little bunny for the two nights I was there. Then there was the full-on course, being tired didn't help there AT ALL!!! Of course there was role playing (why do they always have to do role playing???) and group presentations, as well as all the theory etc, so by the time I got home at 10 o'clock on Tuesday night I was shattered.

Tried to eat well whilst I was away, took some protein bars for meals 2 and 4, but some of my other choices could have been better. I managed to do a pathetic weights session on Tuesday morning, and then did a 30 min powerwalk on the treadmill at the hotel "gym" (I use the term loosely!)

Anyway, back home I skipped training on Wednesday morning in favour of an extra hour in bed. I'm still not sleeping well - finding that I'm nodding off on the lounge, then when I go to bed I'm wide awake, churning stuff over in my mind. grrrrrrrrrrr Sometimes I just cant switch it off!

This week we had the outside of our house painted, and the roof. Had a bit of a drama on Wednesday because when we got home the colour on the walls was totally horrible! So our painter friend had to come back on Thursday and re-paint in a new colour. Will post some pics on the weekend.

Today I'm going down to Broadbeach to have brunch with a friend I havent seen for ages. Then for the rest of the weekend I am going to start painting the spare bedrooms - cant wait to get stuck into it!

AND.... the good news is that my eye operation has finally been rescheduled for Monday the 16th of April! YAY!

Have a fabulous easter everyone!