I find it peculiar that Dean and I seem to mirror each other with our life altering challenges. For example, when I met Dean, he told me of his experiences with Cornea Transplants because of an eye disease that I had never heard of, called Keratoconus. This is the coning of the corneas to a pointed configuration. I was amazed by his experiences. Twenty-one years later, I would experience a Cornea Transplant due to the exact opposite eye disease, called Fuchs Dystrophy. This disease was the thickening of the cornea. The only cure was to have a transplant. He has had 9 eye surgeries, and I have had 5!
Dean's transplants all went well. Mine, wasn't to be so fortunate for me. I suffered an intraocular stroke in my right eye that wiped out the inner 1/3 of my Optic Nerve, leaving me virtually blind in that eye. Four years later, Dean had an accident that dislodged one of his Corneas and had to have emergency surgery on that eye which resulted in damage to his retina. Another surgery saved it! But his eyesight suffered. He has been dealing with the battle of bad eyesight ever since. In 2016, my left eye developed the wet stage of Macular degeneration and I experienced a blind spot which cannot be reversed. This is in my left eye. So, I, too battle with bad eyesight!
In 1985 I had to have a total Hysterectomy due to the fact that my Uterus was just too worn out from having 6 children. This year (2021, Dean had a () due to the development of Cancer. I guess that is how life goes for us old folks.
In 2012, I suffered a subdural hematoma and had to undergo surgery to drain a massive bleed which left me with some bruising of my brain that I had to deal with for a time until healing could take place. Last Thursday evening, Dean suffered a small Stroke that injured 2 sites on the left side of his Cerebellum, which has effected his speech. He was a very lucky man, because it could have been much worse. He now has to have serious heart medications to keep his Atrial Fibrillation from causing more blood clots to be released to the brain.
Dean has Atrial Fib, I have High Cholesterol; Dean has serious eye problems, I have serious eye problems; Dean had a stroke, I had a Subdural bleed; Dean has serious skin allergies, I have skin Cancer; Dean gets very cold in a warm room and I roast to death; Dean over-reacts to things, and I guess I under-react; Dean is a male, and I am a female! Makes me wonder what else is life going to throw at us before all is said and done for the two of us.
I don't believe one can get through life with out challenges! It is the stuff life is made of that helps us to grow. If we don't, we just curl up in a ball and never get anywhere. We either grow or we stagnate. We either move on or we stay in one place. We either live our lives in the sunshine or go around eternally with that proverbial little black cloud following us wherever we go. Me? I like sunshine! Oh, I guess I like a little rain once in a while, but, boy! When that sun comes out after a storm...that is my happy place!
