What do you do..............

.........when you can't see? I've been trying to think of things I can do with very blurry vision and have discovered the list is limited. I planned to listen to some old tapes I had - but I couldn't see well enough to get them in the machine! On Thursday I had a lens replacement - would you believe the new lens he put in my eye is guaranteed for 500 years. I think it may outlast me a bit. Friday I expected to be able to sort of resume my routine after the surgeon checked my eye and removed the patch I'd worn all day Thursday. But the vision in my right eye was very blurry - which left me sort of nauseous and not wanting to do too much more than lay around. Saturday surely I could get back to my normal life. Or at least find something to do that didn't require a lot of energy or movement, (can't bend, can't lift, can't have any kind of pressure on the eye.) How do you live normally without doing those things?? I have to bend over to sort the laundry. Did manage to get that accomplished by squatting which my knees DO NOT like. I'm not planning a knee replacement like Jennie, but am babying them so they last a little longer! Couldn't read papers that were stacking up. Managed to get through the mail but the fuzzy vision brings a bit of a headache so I quit reading. Thought I should do my blog but couldn't type well enough - too many errors! Watching TV didn't work - left eye has to work too hard and right eye is too fuzzy. I can talk on the phone, walk around the house - don't dare try anything outside - my depth perception is non-existent at this point. I can SO empathize with those who have vision problems. My legally blind friend Margaret is so upbeat and happy and she can't even see people's faces. She recognizes them by their voice. She has a walker and gets around that way - if she bumps into something, she just steps back a bit and starts again. I put her food in front of her, her fork in her hand, and tell her where her glass is. Then watch very carefully that she doesn't knock it over as she reaches for it. I applaud those who make the best of their circumstances without complaining and with a smile on their face. They are my super heroes, as is my wonderful hubby who has been pampering me this week and waiting on me hand and foot. It's revealing to walk in another's shoes for awhile, but I can't wait to get to normal!

The Knees Have It

 

Since I often post my blog Wednesday night instead of Thursday, readers may think I'm late today.  Actaully for once I'm on time. 

 

I have a new hero.  She smiles, she's cheerful, she gets the job done,  and it's a job I couldn't be paid enough to do.  I have no idea what her job title is, but what she does is make all the arrangements between hospitals, insurance companies, patients, medical suppliers, rehab facilities, etc. for a very busy surgeon.   I've gotten to know her because I'm having knee replacement surgery on Monday.  I've about gone crazy making the arrangements I've needed to make, but she has smoothed the impossible, gotten through a maze of telephone push button answering systems, tracked down records, and steered me through the process.  She's superwoman in my book. Thanks Lisa!

I seriously dislike phone systems where an automated voice tells me to push buttons and gives me nine options, none of which quite fit what I'm calling about.  After I've been transferred a minimum of four times, I get another machine that tells me to leave my name and number and someone will call me back--but they never do.  Argh! 

It's probably best if I don't even get started on all the new regulations that have just gone into affect for medical providers and insurance companies!  And there's more to come.

Outside of the medical end of my upcoming surgery, it's been comically sad trying to get ready the things I'll need to take with me to the hospital.  My hospital stay will be followed by a week or two at a rehab center. I think I've spent the most time trying to decide what to load on my Kindle, copying material I might need from my desk top to my laptop or onto a USB drive, and trying to get a couple of reviews written ahead for incase I feel too rotten to read or write reviews for awhile.  Funny what us writer-types consider important at such times!  My laptop is old and slow; I'm not looking forward to using it for a few weeks.

If I don't blog or answer emails for awhile, be patient.  I'll be back as soon as possible, hopefully with a new bounce in my step, or at least a step that doesn't hurt.

Editing

You work so very hard writing a book - finding just the right words, making sure that sentence makes sense. You want it to flow. You want the reader to get so caught up in this world you've created that they don't want to leave it. How many hours, days, months do you devote to this baby you're creating? You live and breathe and dream it! Then you submit it and hold your breath hoping an editor will also fall in love with your story. What if they don't like it? What if they aren't willing to take a chance that readers will like it enough to make it worth their while publishing it? So many questions rattle around in your head, over and over in the weeks - or months - it takes to hear from the publisher. Maybe it wasn't as good as I thought? Maybe I've lost my touch and I can't write anymore? Maybe I just haven't got what it takes to be an author. Finally get you get that phone call - or e-mail. They do want it!! But - and here's the caveat: It is way too long. Things are tough in the publishing world right now and they need you to cut 100 pages from this work you've put your heart and soul into for the past year. 100 pages! That's a 4th of the book! Pare it down from 124,500 words to 90,000 words. You pour over the reader's evaluation sheets. One hated it - nothing redeeming in the whole work. One really liked it - one was totally neutral. What didn't they like? Guess that should be the first thing to go. Scenes, pages, whole sections deleted! Have you ever had to thin peaches? You must take those tiny babies from the tree that are clustered too close to one another to leave room for the remaining ones to grow big. I hate pulling those baby peaches off the tree. It makes me feel like I'm committing homicide! And that's exactly how I feel taking out all those thousands of words that I worked so hard to get just right. All the research, all the hours at the computer, gone with a single swipe of the delete key. Granted, it should make the story better, sharper, more concise, just like thinning all those baby peaches will leave the tree with fewer peaches that will grow big and juicy and be more wonderful than they could be otherwise. But I still feel like I'm committing homicide when I delete all those parts of the story I worked so hard to create. Back to the edits and killing my babies.