How is everyone in the current situation? General Chat

It’s a catch 22 with the acupuncture and physical therapy, because although I very much need to do these things to help my recovery, I’m going places that other people are going, and unlike a grocery store, I’m staying there for quite awhile. Usually 50 minutes at the acupuncturist and I’ve no idea how long at PT. One of the things I’ve read or heard is to get in out as quickly as possible when shopping, so that if you are breathing in viruses your exposure time is limited, you can’t do that in the healthcare settings I’m going to. I have been going to acupuncture for about 8 weeks now, at least twice a week, and nobody from that office has gotten sick, so it seems the safety protocols that are being done are working

Phew. Finally we have a new president, who actually talks like a compassionate human being!!!!!

This morning was the first time I woke up without a headache in 3 weeks. I do have a little one now, and I’m still sensitive to light but I take this as I sign I’m moving in the right direction.

Hopefully the headache has gone with your ex president so you can stop getting all worked up now Marc!

Well they put we on a treadmill at physical therapy today. Let’s just say i have a lot of room for improvement.... I really wish a Doctor had suggested this a lot sooner. It only happened because I asked for a referral for more acupuncture to help recover from my concussion and the doctor said he’d send me to PT too. They just have me doing basic stuff like eye exercises and balancing exercises, and the balance ones are hard, especially on a piece of foam. At home I have to hold onto something and she told me to only do these with my eyes open by myself. Just these simple things have me feeling a little better, or maybe it’s just time.. either way I’m starting to be more optimistic. If I’ve already said some of this I’ll blame my lack of short term memory on hitting my head

You'll get there Marc - just make sure you always have something to hold onto - and tell Bandit and Katie Mae not to leave anything on the floor for you to trip over!

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I’m making good progress in my concussion recovery. I am able to do more and have a better idea when I need to back off. As long as symptoms go back to where they were before I started an activity within about 30 minutes then I’m doing well. It’s good to push myself, but to know when to back off. My biggest issue still is light sensitivity when driving at night. I do not like that. I’m generally a very confident driver but felt more timid/apprehensive after the concussion, things like crossing traffic or judging if I can make a turn before oncoming traffic arrives. It’s going to take a little longer but I’m getting there. Pressure behind my right eye hasn’t been there the past two days!! I listened to some music at a pretty good volume last night and it wasn’t too loud, I enjoyed it. Sometimes at PT I prefer to be in a room in the back because it’s a little too chaotic with the different conversations and noises in the large room. I haven’t tried watching tv in 5 weeks, and although I should do it to see how my eyes and head deal with it, I don’t miss it and will be watching less of it moving forward hopefully. I do need to build my stamina back up

Have you tried night driving glasses. They may help a little

I haven’t tried that, I’ve never heard of them. I’m hoping this sensitivity goes away, I didn’t have this issue previous to the concussion. I wear prescription multifocal glasses that will darken even inside a car with a tinted windshield. I literally got ever upgrade possible. The glasses did however get more scratched up when I hit the wall when I got knocked out. They had a few scratches before that. I’d love to get another 4-5 months out of them, that would be 2 years. But I did have to fix the frames a bit as they were flattened out and the nose pieces where out of alignment from the fall. I should at least wait until I feel my eyes are fully back to normal before a new eye exam, and new glasses.

Hmm, that got long. I will look up night driving glasses. Thanks

Marc, if you wear multifocals it only needs the frames to be a minute fraction out of alignment to give you problems with vision, headaches etc. It is bad enough with single or bifocal lens spectacles if the frames are not 100% straight but must be far more so with multifocals.

I am lucky in that I have spectacles galore, [my one luxury] so if one frame is not quite straight [usually due to being put on and taken off so frequently] I have another pair to wear, and Amit always straightens the frames for me when necessary. I have always had at least two pairs of each type [bifocals and computer/mid-distance single lenses] so have spares just in case.

As for night driving glasses, it might be possible to get clip on lenses to put on your own spectacles.

They are cheap glasses that go over your glasses, Marc.

I don't know if you'll be able to see this, but if you can it's something like these:

HD Anti Glare Night Vision Driving Sunglasses Unisex Over Glasses /Lens Clip UK | eBay

I guess I should stop by where I got my glasses and see if they can adjust them for me. I’ve tried a few times. Maybe I should just get myself new ones, but with exam and all the upgrades I like, it’s not cheap, at all. I’m not getting two pairs, plus it’s been 20 months so I’m sure they cost more now.

I know that my bifocal lenses cost a fortune [they are more half and half, not the sort with just a little reading bit at the bottom]. I am not sure if sight tests are normally charged though as people normally have new spectacles made after a sight test if they need a new prescription. My sight used to change nearly every year but it has stayed stable for a couple of years now for my bifocals, although Amit did have to change the prescription for my computer specs. Frames are very expensive here as well but I bought some from AliExpress for between $5 and $8. Normally opticians would not glaze frames that were not bought from them but what we call Vitamin P [short for "protectzia"] always helps, especially when your [my] optician is called Amit!

You say your lenses are scratched and that can make a difference, so if the frames are not straight so the centre of the lens does not match up with your line of sight when looking straight ahead, that can cause even more problems. My sight is extremely sensitive to even the slightest misalignment of my spectacles.

Incidentally, do your lenses have an anti-glare coating? I do not mean a tint, it stops glare from a television or a monitor. If you do not know, take them off and shine a torch onto the inner side of the lens. A white light will reflect as green in the lens if they have an anti-glare coating.

Yes they have anti-glare coating. I got every possible upgrade from the basic, no visible lines etc etc etc... I’m about to drive to the eye glass shop and have them adjust them, as well as see what new ones with all the bells and whistles again would cost. Look at new frames too. Of course I’d get a new eye exam as well, that’s a minimal expense compared to the rest

On the Covid situation, both my hubby and I had the Oxford/Astra Zenica vaccination this afternoon. Apart from me having a heavy arm for a couple of hours, no side effects.

That's good Chris. How long do you have to wait for the second vaccination? They have now started vaccinating everyone over 16 here, apart from those people who refuse to have it - and people like me who want the vaccination but cannot for medical reasons.

12 weeks or sooner.

Israel has done a fantastic job with the vaccine rollout, Juli. The information coming over is all looking really good

Got my frames adjusted. I did damage the lenses, particularly one side. I don’t need new frames though

Sure - we have done a great job with vaccinations, giving them 24/7 [after a lot of arguments from some sections of the Rabbinate about the vaccines being given on Shabbat], but people are idiots. The following are a couple of paragraphs from today's Jerusalem Post.

The number of new confirmed cases had been slowly decreasing - still very high for such a small country but the number had been decreasing. Watch them shoot up again now.

Schools are still closed.

*** my italics

Hefty fine for businesses not complying here Juli. One or two have chanced their arms, but not many.

I wish this thing was well and truly over.