Friday, November 21, 2008

La Clinica Revisited

So I thought I would give an update on how my work in the school's clinic was going. Besides prescribing glasses for my patients, I've been able to diagnose, and in some cases treat, several ocular diseases and disorders (unfortunately there are some diseases that aren't able to be treated). Below are a list of some of the diseases that I've seen. This is by no means a complete list of diseases:

Normal, Healthy Retina









Diabetic Retina










AIDS Retina










Lupus Retina










Macular Degeneration











Glaucoma









Herpes Simplex Virus









Herpes Zoster Virus



















Bacterial infection








And of course, glasses

Thursday, November 13, 2008

The Adventures of Smingers!

Quick update since our last post:
*Smingers woke us up in the middle of the night by playing with a GIANT moth.
*Smingers brought in a mouse and chased it around the kitchen.
*Smingers was named "The Mascot of Lakeview Courts" by his new friends, Larry and Lenora (our neighbors).
*Smingers got dizzy after spinning on the computer chair and fell down...on his neck! (No injuries, just laughs).
*Smingers jumped into the lap of a houseguest WHILE AT THE DINNER TABLE to beg for spaghetti. (I was so embarrassed! What, it's not like we don't feed him!)
*And finally, one of my personal favorites: Smingers got stuck on the roof of our townhomes and couldn't get down by himself. I went over to help, but he was just barely reachable on my tip-toes and hands over my head. So I went to get him around his middle, but he is so flabby that what we affectionately refer to as his "waddle" was shifting around and his lard fat was hard to hold on to! He did, however, make it safely to the ground after a shaky ride down.

That's the quick version of the adventures of Smingers. Meanwhile, Smokey Bones was cowering in the shadows growling about life and how hard it is to be a misunderstood cat. Well, maybe she wouldn't be misunderstood if she didn't change her mind every .7 seconds! Or if she could speak English! Gosh, is that so much to ask?

Larry and Lenora (mentioned above) were interesting to get to know. I met them the day after Smingers got stuck on the roof. I went over to see if he was stuck again because he didn't come to greet me when I drove up, like he usually does. Well, what to my wandering eye should appear, was little orange Smingers, and a guy drinking a beer! (Okay, so he wasn't drinking a beer, but it rhymed so well, and he looked like the type that might!) Umm, okay back to the story: This guy was out there in the parking lot, and there was Smingers, rubbing up against his legs and hamming it up. I told him that he was our cat and introduced myself, and he told me his name was Larry and his wife or girlfriend was Lenora. Now, mind you, Larry was this true Florida guy, the transplanted from New York type that enjoy the weather in their open shirt, hairy chest, gold chains-and-all type of guy....he's got this motorcycle that he tinkers around with all weekend (we know, he just starts it up, not to go anywhere, just to tinker with it all Saturday...and Sunday...all afternoon....yeah.) But he couldn't stop gushing about how nice this cat was..."what's his name?" "Smingers". "Oh, Smithers?" "No, Smingers." "Smengers?" "Yes, SMINGers." And Lenora even chimed in that he apparently comes in their house, and jumped up on her bed! Anyway, so they were quite a nice couple, despite Larry calling Smingers "Smithers" and "Smith" a few more times before we went on our way.

So, side note: My mom and dad are going to be visiting us in less than a month! They will arrive Dec. 3rd and stay thru the 9th. I am excited and hoping to show off good weather and a warm Atlantic Ocean...though it probably will be "cold" by then. I am also excited to decorate for Christmas in our new home, such great bannisters for Christmas garlands! We are leaving for California on the 24th of December this year (blah), but at least if it's going to be that late, I will be able to enjoy my festive decorations for longer to put us in the holiday spirit.