Sunday, 28th December, 2019
I finally hope to settle back to normal now. On the 23rd December, I was called by the eye department at the hospital to say that if I could get in by 1430 hrs Christmas Eve, they would be able to fit me in for a bit of minor laser treatment on the left eye, as the pressure is a bit high. I was not expecting this to be done until January or February, so I was pleased to say that I would come in. After some final Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve, arrived home at 1200 hrs for lunch, only to be phoned by the hospital again, who said that if I could go immediately, there would be no waiting. I rushed off, and got there at 1250 hrs. A pre-surgery drop was put in, and I had to wait half an hour for it to take effect. The laser took about ten minutes, and was slightly uncomfortable rather than painful. I was then told to go for a walk for half an hour, and come back. When I returned, the pressure had gone down to normal in the lasered eye, and the right one, that had major surgery on the 3rd of September, was checked and also found to be at normal pressure, despite no longer having to put eye-drops in it twice a day. The eye was not covered, and I was back to normal by the time I got home again for a late lunch. This relieved me of a lot of anticipatory stress. I have now made a wooden box for my Christmas present of a set of ship curves to assist with my plan drawing. Then back to the schooner Miss Morris, where I put a few more deck details on this morning. I was almost guilty of ignoring my own advice in view of the eye surgery, and taking the ever-popular excuse "I could not do that now!" when it came to the turning of the tiny winch and windlass parts. Having taken out the lathe for the first time in months, I was pleased to find that I had no problem at all with it. So, I am hoping that from now on, it will be "full steam ahead" again! - Bob

