As promised, an update on Appointment #1 of 3 this week, though actually, because I just told my local GI that "I'm starting a clinical with Dr. Stone and they are following me pretty darn close, so I don't really feel the need to come in tomorrow, can you just have a nurse call me and I'll update them on what we are doing as I do not need Remicade anymore?"  "Sure, we'll cancel your appointment."  Thanks!  And, trust me it is NOT, and I mean NOT that easy to cancel your GI appointment whenever you have a chronic disease.  They will fight you and basically say "Well, you REALLY need to be seen."  And, since I'm pretty darn gullible and a people pleaser, I end up going in.  So, no GI appointment tomorrow, but I do need to make a mental note to call the GI in St. Louis and see about upping my steroids to 40mg.  I think as the Remicade diminishes from my system, I'm going to have harder time maintaining as normal as possible feeling.  But, we'll see.

Anyway, the eye doc appointment was today.  Boy, it was fun!  I actually don't mind going, with the exception that the waiting room is always filled with woman at least 65 or older, and then their daughters come with them.  No offense to anyone older reading this, but I just feel REALLY out of place in there sometimes.  Luckily, the check-in gals are young, probably around my age or close and we always have good casual conversation.  But, the girl remembered talking to me on Friday, however, they didn't have me down for an appointment for some reason.  They were slow today, so it was no big deal.  So, I saw Dr. Egenmaier.  Great guy, knows his stuff and definitely knows a thing or two about Crohn's and how it affects the eyes.  I think he might one-up Dr. Stone in this area (my new GI), but quite honestly and with all due respect to Dr. Stone, the gut is just a LITTLE BIT more of an issue then your eyeballs in their opinion, and I certainly understand why!

Anyway, you guessed it, my eye pressures are on the rise.  I was under the impression that the lower dose (as last time we did this 2 1/2 years ago I was at 60mg and now I'm at 30mg) might actually have not caused higher pressures, but he said if you are prone to high pressures while on cataracts that even just 5mg is enough to cause them to go up, so he said anytime I get back on Prednisone, just call and make an appointment and we'll work from there.  He said steroid-induced cataracts (which I already have slight ones) are nothing to mess with because they go through your central vision.  Lovely eh?  Why is it I always get the GOOD news!   I think I'm a walking statistic sometimes.  What's up with that?  You know that saying.. "God never gives you more then you can handle?"  Maybe I should act weak!  I think that'll be my 2009 resolution, since my previous resolutions have always been "For a better year then the previous."  I think I'm just going to start acting ignorant and weak.... if only I didn't have a conscious!

So, my pressures were 20 in the right and 18 in the left (my left is the eye with the detachment - they always look at my detachment and go "Wow, that's close." as in that's REALLY close and God you are luck you didn't go blind in that eye 5 years ago!  Yes, I KNOW how lucky I am!).  They like them under 20.  My last pressures were 15, and 13 respectively, so they HAVE gone up.  And, since I"ll be on steroids for AT LEAST 2 more months, they said we'd better get on the eye drops to reduce the pressures.  My eyes are just far too young according to them (and I agree).

So, now, for 3 minutes every night, I have to put a drop in each eye and deal with that.  Was hoping to sneak out of this one, but oh well!  It's a minor inconvenience, really.  He did give me some saline drops too because the eye drops for the pressures make my eyes REALLY dry, so we'll do drops at bedtime and then saline drops in the morning.  Means no more sleeping in my contacts, a really bad habit that I've had for years, but all the docs say the only risk is infection and I'm pretty sanitary about a lot of things, so I've done this for probably 7 or more years and never had any infections.  I do take them out and let them breathe from time to time!  Don't worry!   Oh, and they think my blurry vision is just from being tired.  Crohn's does that to you, so that's likely.  Guess I need to work on trying to get more sleep, though I'm doing better in that category!

Will update some more later this week.  And, if I can get our video camera up and running, I HAVE to show you all video of Miss Addy girl... she is FUNNY.... She practically laughs at herself.  She's got some certain rottenness in her that is SO cute!  

Off for now, it's about bathtime and bedtime around here (as we took 2 RATHER short naps today), and Charley & I are HOPING to have a garage sale this weekend...so I gotta get on the ball if that's going to happen!

Oh, and FYI, Charley's birthday is tomorrow!