Bored Out of My Gourd (Mike Update)

Nothing much to report. My recovery is going well enough as far as I can tell, and I'm comfortable. Yesterday marked one full week to go till my next checkup. I'm already seeing interesting things out of my repaired eye, such as greatly improved color transmission and gorgeous large-structure contrast. Resolution is not yet adequate, but then I'm wearing a protective cover over the surface of the eyeball like a contact lens. My nine daily eyedrops include a beta-blocker, a quinolone antibiotic, and an anti-inflammatory synthetic corticosteriod. I haven't missed a one.

But I can't...do...anything. if you're ever tempted to think that "time flies," just put yourself in a position where you can't do most of the things you normally spend your time doing! On Tuesday I was cleared to make short drives in daylight, so I am able to get to the grocery store, but I'm not allowed to exert myself, exercise, or do much more than light housework, and I can spend only a cumulative total of one hour per day reading and looking at screens of all kinds. (I wrote this post in three ten-minute bursts across three days.) Next Thursday's checkup might—emphasis on might—clear me to return to my usual routines and get us back to normal. Keep your fingers crossed.

It's difficult to hold silverware with your fingers crossed.

I'm very mindful that this is not real suffering—it's certainly very far from the worst thing in the world. It barely rises to the level of an extended inconvenience. All the same, the passing of time has slowed to a crawl, and I am bored out of my gourd*.

It's probably one of those times that seem like a trial when we're in the middle of it but that we can compartmentalize and allow to fade from memory once it's been endured and is over with. But it's a trial even so. I can't wait for it to end.

More anon.

Mike

*Odd expression, isn't it? I don't know where it comes from...it just bubbled out of my brain. I suppose gourd = head.

Comments

[David Lee]

Good to hear, Mike. If your vision doesn’t go back to the way it was when you were 12, I hope that at least you get some good bokeh!

[JohnW]

I know of whence you speak Mike. Some years ago I came home from a photo tour abroad sick, sick, sick.... seven hours of flying with a plane change plus thankfully brief layovers. Spent the next month on the couch recuperating with tubes stuck in me. Nothing life threatening or painful, just uncomfortable and excruciatingly BORING since I couldn't spend much time working on the images I brought home. Thankfully I'd taken up meditation some years previous and that kept me from doing anything truly stupid. So hang in there buddy. This too shall pass and be forgotten.

Good LucK with the checkup.

[Mim]

Glad to hear that things are iomproving Mike, even if it's slower than you'd like.

When I first got Myalgic Encephalomyelitis I was in bed almost 24/7 (needing help for everything including bathroom visits) for about two years before things started to slowly improve. Like you, the more I rested the better my chances of my health improving - but it was SO HARD to do.

ME isn't something you recover from, but 12 years later I've improved sufficiently to be able to enjoy most things in life, even if it's often only in small doses.

It's worth the restraint, but geez, it's hard at the time! I hope you get the green light to be back to full activity soon.

[Joseph C Iannazzone]

Mike,

As much as I have enjoyed your thoughtfully curated best of the past series, I have been mostly looking forward to direct word of your progress. Thank you for the update.

A few years ago I had a mini-stroke (a Central Retinal Vein Occlusion) in one eye which rendered that eye essentially blind for several months. My visions in that eye slowly came back to about 80% of where it was before the incident. I can appreciate the anxiety you must be going through and wish you the best outcome possible.

[Robin Moyer]

Hi Mike,
Sorry the comments on Ten Iconic Photos: #7 are closed.
I headed the Time Magazine team during Tiananmen Incident, April-May-June 1989. I just curated an exhibition of 60 pix of the timeline of the walls of the Foreign Correspondents' Club in Hong Kong (with contributions from Turnley Twins, Charlie Cole, Arthur Tsang, Forrest Anderson (Our Time contract photog in Beijing), Catherine Henriette, Jacques Langevin, Stuart Franklin, Peter Charlesworth, Ken Jarecke, Alon Reininger and Chris Neidenthat (last five also on my Time team) Just wanted to congratulate you on your essay, Having photographed horrible things from Vietnam to Kwangju, Lebanon and Beijing, I concur. FYI, Bill Pierce and Carl Weese are friends. I'd like to send you a fun foto of the Turnley Brothers disguised as tourists in Tiananmen June 6, 1989. FYI, I am in based in Hong Kong. Let me know how.

[Michael O'Donoghue]

These little ops to keep us fit and funtional are the real blessings of modern medicine. A few choice procedures and life is better than without.

I like Mr Lee's bokeh comment!

[Tom Bell]

Good to hear it is going well Mike.
I remember being told by my father “ comparison is the killer of joy”. So it is , as in when someone says ... “ this is beautiful, but not as beautiful as .....”

Its the same, in reverse, with suffering. Just because someone else somewhere is suffering more does not diminish yours!

Go well.

[Chester Williams]

Speedy recovery! And a big public "thank you" for the print sale. Hope the buyers are satisfied with the prints!!

[Roger Bradbury]

Still with you and glad to hear from you, Mike! As your photo was in focus, I presume you used the camera's autofocus, at this stage of your recovery.

It makes me think of a photo on the cover of the Pink Floyd album, Nice Pair. It's of a pair of spectacles, but they belonged to the photographer and he couldn't focus the camera without them; the picture is blurred. But they used it anyway.

Here's the link; it's a bit NSFW:
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/692639617660575034/

[James Bullard]

I'm glad you are healing. Hang in there. BTW I've heard and used that gourd expression.

[Thomas Walsh]

My wife had a cornea transplant several years ago, and she also was incredibly bored. She is an active person and a keen gardener, so being confined was indeed a prison sentence. Interestingly, she had some unusual "visions" after the transplant. She said that she saw soccer players. I know that she has never been to a soccer match, nor does she watch it on TV and she is not one to exaggerate. Her opthamologist listened but had no explanation. Any way, here's hoping that you are up and about very soon, and if you also see soccer players, well, I hope your team wins. Cheers,

[Mike Potter]

Hope your recovery continues apace, Mike. As regards your comment about “time flies”, or the lack thereof, my wife can certainly relate. She has not been able to do hardly anything since mid-February, when her heart condition manifested itself. She went from walking with the dog six miles a day, to barely able to walk 20 yards. Her mitral valve repair surgery is scheduled for Monday. We are hoping that within a month, she will be well on the road to recovery. Continuing to wish you all the best.

[Piers Smith]

Could just be me, but in the photograph your dog (Butters?) looks quite concerned. I own a Bulldog and they certainly know when we are not 100% - they follow you around the house with that ears-back slightly anxious look. That's what I am seeing in the photo anyway. Hope you are back to 100% soon.