"Eye" Don't Know.

Last year, I taught my oldest son what it means to play hooky from school or work.  I can't even begin to count how many times over the course of the last year that I have been getting ready for work in the morning only to be asked if today is the day I would play hooky and stay home with him to do something extraordinary.  Each request shaved a little chunk off my heart thinking to myself about this precious time we have while our children are young and how we spend so much of it trying to make a living.  Thursday of last week was the day I could finally tell him that both his dad and I were playing hooky, and, boy, was he ecstatic!

I was finally able to teach the kids the fine art of skipping out on work on a beautiful fall day.  One thing our family is really good at is taking snowy and cold days off of work, but we often do not take the time to enjoy days when the weather is nice.  Fortunately, school had fall break, so we made a break for the Henry Doorly Zoo in combination with my follow-up exam at Truhlsen Eye Clinic at Nebraska Medicine in Omaha.  (And, my eyes did not get dilated this time, so my husband couldn't trick me out of going to Spaghetti Works due to traffic concerns.)  I soccer-mommed super hard in our borrowed minivan all day--w
eaving in and out of traffic, circling the block several times for a perfect parking spot, telling the kids to quiet down so I could focus on driving downtown, and accelerating quickly at stop lights to give the impression that I was doing a burn-out to win back some cool points.  I hadn't been to the zoo in 20 years, and I am glad I got to experience it for a second time with my boys at a young age.  It was quite a day.  We started at the aquarium and the boys were literally running from exhibit to exhibit in awe of the entire experience.  No major meltdowns, but we did have a little soldier drop trou(sers) in the middle of a group of site-seers on the Pelican Lake Bridge for a potty break.  Attention spans were just long enough to get a general look at each animal throughout the entire excursion.  Exception was giving to the lone tiger that was out in the Asian Highlands as he was the primary animal that our youngest wanted to see.  Luke would not take his eyes off the tiger, even for a photo, because he thought the tiger would be able to get through the fence if he wasn't watching.  The overall expanse of the zoo and the amount of manpower it takes to maintain, winterize, and care for each animal is almost beyond comprehension.  It is pretty incredible to have such a fantastic resource right in our backyard, and it is worth at least one day of playing hooky to go see it in your lifetime!

Checking out the Tiger

You might be wondering about the results of my eye examination as well.  The good news is that my optical nerves have experienced a 15-20% reduction in swelling since June.  I am on the right track with medication.  I did make a point to ask the pros at Truhlsen what is causing the swelling behind my eyes and the eyes of at least four other people I know.  The simple answer was, "I don't know."  I had to chuckle because my three year old's favorite answer to any question right now is, "I don't know."  "What did you have for lunch today?" "I don't know." "Where did you put your water bottle?" "I don't know." "Who colored all over the wall in the garage with sidewalk chalk?" "Logan did it."  He has an answer for everything, even if the answer is, "I don't know."  A simple answer that is endearing in tone and annoying in reality!

As a follow up, I asked if the Med Center is doing research to see why such an insurgence of this particular problem is occurring in women my age, and the answer to that was, "People like you are all we see all day long.  We don't know if there is an increase in cases or not. We are just here to treat the problem."  Not the answer I wanted.  It is slightly unnerving to me that such an influx of women in my own circle are experiencing this problem.  The doctors attribute some of the cause to the increased use of Retin A, retinol, or retinoid in cosmetic products.  It is a common anti-aging treatment that is an ingredient in a number of products.  Unfortunately, putting it on your skin results in an absorption into your body that is far higher than if you simply ate the product and digested it normally.  Your skin is the largest organ and is not designed to filter out bad juju like your intestinal track.  That's your tiny tidbit of scientific advice for today.  Ditch the Retin gals, or suffer the consequences later.


So, that was our fun for the fall in addition to the ongoing harvest and real estate hi-jinks.  A little R&R is just what the doctor ordered when the stars aligned for this appointment and fall break.  Get out of the office, play hooky, and make the most of what you have.  Life isn't all real estate and roses, but we can sure make it fun while it lasts.  Welcome Home.