Improvement to the golf cart

With our acquisition of the golf cart, Carl has additional things added to his to-do list.

One of the items was better mirrors:

Checking where the new side mirrors should be installed

He decided that they should be installed a little lower than originally planned.

Makes it easier to see when backing up

In many places around our community, the parking spaces for cars are also marked with half-size spaces for golf carts. But, you really need to get very exactly into the space or there isn't room for another cart to get parked next to you. The mirrors will help us do a good job backing into a parking space!

Colorful sunrise

It doesn't ever seem that sunrises are as pretty as sunsets, even here in Arizona, but on Friday, the sunrise outside Gracie's door was pretty outstanding:

Gorgeous!

Vision for Christmas - part 2

I wrote about a week ago about planning to have cataract surgery during the Christmas holidays...

Going in to Swagel Wooten Eye Institute at 6:30am on 12/23...

... no one at the check in desk, but Carl saw a small sign over on the left side of the room indicating to check in for surgery at a room over there.

I got checked in, and had my right eye operated on, and was done by 7:45am.

Since the office would be closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, the "next day" post op checkup was done on Monday afternoon...

... here I am waiting for the doctor to come in to check the results of the surgery.

After the first eye was done, I was shocked at the difference between the colors of things as seen with my right eye versus my (still-with-a-cataract) left eye -- bright and colorful versus dull and dingy and yellow. However, my left eye seemed to have better vision -- my right eye felt like there was a film over my eye, even when the protective lens was gone. When the doctor checked my eyesight, he said that I tested at 20/40 without my glasses which was acceptable to drive. I thought, "Yikes, that's scary, there are people driving with the vision I have right now?"

On Thursday, we returned to the Eye Institute for the second surgery -- my appointment was at 7am, but we went early as we figured they would send me back home -- Carl and I had given each other a cold/flu for Christmas and I was very stuffed up and coughing. But they checked my temperature and said that it was okay to proceed. They asked me to let them know before I needed to cough so the doctor could move his instruments away from my eye -- as far as I remember, I only asked once, and I tried to move my hands up to cover my cough and they said, "No, no -- sterile!" Anyway, I made it through the second eye surgery.

On Friday, we once again returned to the Eye Institute for the next-day post op checkup. I was really struggling with coughing so didn't ask many questions, and Carl stayed in the car for the same reason. The doctor said that everything was looking good and he let me know that my vision was now 20/25 without glasses. 

Now it is two days after surgery on the second eye, and I am seeing clearly with both eyes for distance vision (I will continue to need corrective lenses for reading and computer use). What is most amazing to me is still colors -- the amazingly clear, bright, vivid, vibrant shades of colors! Carl tells me that I will get used to it quickly and it won't seem so amazing anymore, but for right now, I am loving all the beautiful colors in the world!

Prescription savings

I had heard about (and used) GoodRx as a tool to help get lower prescription prices, but last year when we were in Mesa, I found that the local Walgreens had multiple prescription discount tools that they might use to try to get me the lowest price. When I went in this year, I noticed this sign:

There is a QR code, but you can also just type in the website: https://walgreens.rxsense.com/

For example, for some reason that I don't understand, the prep solution for a colonoscopy is not covered by our prescription plan. They looked up the best price using one of the discount tools (Hippo had the cheapest price for the prep solution) and that is what they charged me.

For another medication, even though my doctor has prescribed it (and I have taken it for years), sometimes my insurance won't cover it, or won't cover it at the dosage that my doctor, in conjunction with me, has determined is the best for me. Walgreens will let me know that insurance isn't going to cover it but let me know that they have found a discount price.

If you go to that website, and put in a prescription name (like the suprep for colonoscopy prep), you'll find that there are a number of different discounts -- GoodRx is one of them, but it isn't the absolute cheapest (there are two others about $1 cheaper). 

I don't understand how the prescription discount companies provide the prescription medications for so much cheaper. We had one experience (again with the colonoscopy prep) -- the nurse at the gastroenterologist's office had given us a couple of GoodRx coupons for a couple of different pharmacies -- the prices were slightly different at the different pharmacies, and the cheapest was Bashas' - a grocery store that has a pharmacy in it. We decided to try there -- when we got there, the pharmacy was not open, but it was due to open in about 3 minutes. We waited, and when it finally opened, the guy wasn't ready to help anyone. About 10 minutes later, he finally would allow us to speak to him -- we showed him the GoodRx coupon that indicated it was valid in Bashas'. He said that he could not honor the coupon, that the price they indicated we would be able to purchase it for was under what he had to pay for the medication. We left there and went to Walgreens - and, as I indicated, they got us even a cheaper price than GoodRx. Bashas' looked like a very small pharmacy; maybe Walgreens makes it up in volume? (I remember hearing someone saying when I was working, "We lose money on every sale but make it up in volume!" -- I don't think that's a staying-in-business plan!)

Anyway - I thought it might be helpful to others if you are finding some of your prescriptions are still very expensive even though your insurance covers it, or you have prescriptions that your insurance does not cover.

Random pictures

An update: I had my second eye's cataract surgery this morning (12/26). So far everything seems to be as expected. I was amazed after the first eye was done the difference in colors between the first and second eyes -- I think my brother said, "didn't know I was seeing everything with a Harvest Gold tint!" I'm in the in-between time when I don't have very clear vision -- I'm glad that I already had drafted a few blog posts before this started so the rest of this post was written a few days ago...

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Some random pictures that probably are not worthy of their own blog post...

Sunset with palm trees (Gracie and the Jee-rage are in the picture too, but kinda hard to see them in the dark)

We helped out with another (https://journeyinamazinggrace.blogspot.com/2024/11/5k-walkrun.html) 5K Fun Walk/Run in the park -- this was billed as the "ugly sweater" 5K -- we were at two different corners helping participants stay on course and encouraging as they came by us!

We met some of our fellow Alaska caravan travelers, sister and brother team Peggy and Don, for lunch one day and enjoyed catching up with them!

One of our neighbors had new carpet put on the patio outside their motorhome, so they had a "carpet warming" happy hour one afternoon.

The Uptown Angels (https://www.uptown-angels.com/) came to entertain for our Resident Christmas Party...

Carl loves fruitcake, and they are not always easy to find...

... but he found one this Christmas and is enjoying it.

Freshness date is 5/18/25 -- I think that means that even bacteria don't like fruitcake (says the woman who doesn't like fruitcake!).

Christmas lights

Blessed Christmas, Everyone!!!

We went out to visit a couple of places around Mesa to look at Christmas lights...

The pastor who preached on Sunday at our Venture Out Worship Service was from Sunshine Acres, a children's home located just about 4 miles from Venture Out. He let us know that Sunday evening was the last night for their drive-thru Christmas Lights display, so we checked with friends, Laureen and Randy, and made plans to go...

There happened to also be a "walk through" part of the display -- presented in God's Garden on the property.

So many beautiful lights

These hoops were made with PVC pipe curved over the walkway and LED lights stuck onto the pipes that changed different colors.

So much to see

After walking in the garden and doing the drive-through tour at Sunshine Acres, we headed to Red Mountain Community Church to enjoy their lights display...

Laureen and Patti in the tunnel of lights

This section was set to change in time with the music.

Back at our resort, the entry area is always so nicely decorated for Christmas:

We like looking at Christmas lights!

YC's Mongolian Grill

Added note: I had my first cataract surgery yesterday, 12/23 -- it went well, and I am doing okay, but my right eye is a bit blurry still. I had written a few posts ahead, which is helpful now! I'm hopeful that it will continue to clear over the next days!

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I had a doctor's appointment south of us a week or so ago, and we decided to celebrate the appointment being completed by going out to eat at YC's Mongolian Grill.

Store front location

You order the size bowl you want -- and then you fill it. Since the large is just $1 more, and it allows us to have leftovers for another meal, we choose the large.

The first selection is meat -- it is raw, frozen, shaved meat -- white and dark meat chicken, beef, and pork. The "secret" is to use the wax paper that they have and smash as much as you can into the bowl. If you just put it in with the tongs, you won't get much meat and your bowl will be full.

Then you add in the veggies that you want stir-fried with your meat - lots of vegetable options! Again, you can smash leafy items down to get more in the bowl.

Then noodles - lots of options. We try to go easy on the noodles to avoid extra carbs, but they are so good cooked with the meat and seasonings!

The last station before cooking is the sauce -- there are a LOT of choices to mix together for your sauce. There are example "recipes" of recommended sauce combinations. I always have one of the folks who work there create my sauce for me -- they ask, "spicy or sweet" (I like sweet), and then they drill down a little more and then gather scoops from several of the sauce options into a big bowl that I take with me to the cooking station.

The cook puts oil on the top of that big round grill, and then puts all the contents of the bowl you have packed onto the grill. While you wait, he then works it around with a big paddle, getting it all cooked. A little bit along in the cooking, he pours the sauce bowl contents over the top. When it is all done, he scraps it off the grill into a dish and serves it back to you. When they are busy, there are two cooks (and two grills) working at the same time.

After getting the cooked bowl of your selections, you can choose to get rice and soup to accompany your meal.

This was Carl's finished bowl...

... and this was mine.

As I indicated, getting the large bowl, and employing creative smashing techniques (and getting additional rice which adds carbs, but also adds additional content to the meal), we get enough to enjoy two meals. You never get exactly the same dish twice, but it always is tasty!

Hummingbirds?

I posted a couple of months ago that we were having interlopers using our hummingbird feeder (https://journeyinamazinggrace.blogspot.com/2024/10/its-supposed-to-be-hummingbird-feeder.html). Our neighbor, on the other side of our park model/casa told us that Linda (who used to own our park model) had problems with the woodpeckers using her hummingbird feeder too, but the neighbor never had that problem. I got to thinking that maybe the proximity of the palm tree trunk gave the woodpecker easy access and that we should move the hummingbird feeder (I had it up in the same place that Linda had placed it). 

So, we moved it...

We still get the small birds (I think they are a type of finch) in the new location.

But we do get some hummingbirds too -- they are SO quick it is hard to get a picture of them at the feeder!

On this day, the feeder was pretty much empty and the two finches were staring in the window at me as if to say, "Hey! You're not doing your job here!!!"

We have seen the woodpecker once, but we think he is coming less frequently. In the old location, we thought that, in addition to drinking from the feeder, he made it off-balance so it leaked onto the ground (or wall) underneath more. The new location is more directly in front of our desk area, so we can see the birds come while we're on our computers - which gives us more enjoyment.

Grinchmas?

I'm not a grinch fan (I like CindiLou Who and Max the dog), but... one of our neighbors in the park is...

... and they had an open house to raise funds for the Pet Association. Their home is all things Grinch!

Over the kitchen sink

Cabinets in the kitchen

On the kitchen table

Human sized Mr Grinch

Living room

Bedroom

Bathroom shower area

Toilet area

Outside was grinch-ie too!

We were amazed by all the decorative items she had, and also how big their home seemed with high ceilings and full Arizona room!

Vision for Christmas

I have been losing focusing ability in my eyes throughout the past year - my glasses are no longer working for me. I had visited an ophthalmologist in Illinois but she said that there wasn't any way to correct it (she didn't say "because of your cataracts", but I got that impression). Because we're trying to move to physicians located in the Mesa, I went to the eye institute here a couple of weeks ago. I saw an optometrist, and she confirmed that I have cataracts that need to be removed. I scheduled an appointment with the surgeon, but the surgeon's schedule was booked out and I could not get an appointment until second half of January. I was concerned that scheduling the surgery on each eye after that appointment, and then follow ups at 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months after could run past the end of our planned stay in Mesa. So, I was calling the eye institute every few days to see if they had a cancellation -- I would get the same nice scheduling lady each time, and she would say, "I'm so sorry, nothing before the day of your appointment," until a few days ago, when she said, "Oh! We have had a cancellation for December 19! Do you want to come in then?" I jumped at the chance and went in to see the surgeon on Thursday...

While we were in the waiting area, we could watch HGTV on the big screen, or information about the Swagel-Wooton Eye Institute on another screen -- at one point, information about the doctor whom I would be seeing displayed.

A technician took me to several machines to take pictures and test my eyes...

... then to an exam room where I tried (pretty unsuccessfully) to read the letters at a distance -- at this point, I was reading close up -- much easier close up!

The technician trying out different combinations to figure out which gave me the best distance vision.

Eventually, my eyes were dilated, and I went to another exam room to see the surgeon, Dr Brozek. There was a poster/picture on the wall with more information about Dr Brozek.

Dr Brozek came in and performed a number of measurements on my eyes.

The eye institute had given me information about a number of different intra-ocular lenses that might be available to me -- along with the price list of how much they would cost because anything but the basic is not covered by insurance -- the multi-focal lenses could cost up to $4100/eye, and the Light Adjustable Lens could be up to $4900/eye. I had read material and reviews on the different lenses, and was not at all sure what I should do -- I had prayed ahead of time that God would make it very clear what I should choose. When Dr Brozek completed his exam, he said that I was *not* a candidate for the pricier lenses because of my astigmatism -- so I could choose the standard lens (which insurance would cover), or a laser-assisted surgical technique that may help to reduce my astigmatism (at $2100/eye). He told me that the laser-assisted surgery would only provide about 10% improvement over the standard lens, and that glasses after surgery would correct if I didn't do the laser-assisted surgery. I am fine with continuing to wear glasses -- I like having glasses with transition lenses that darken automatically in the sun (and not having separate sunglasses), and I would need to continue to have glasses, at least for reading, anyway. Having one pair of glasses that work for distance and reading and sunglasses is ideal for me -- so God had made it very clear what I should choose! And it happens to be all covered by insurance too!!!

So, then we went to the scheduler... she said, "Would you like to get this taken care of this year?" 

I said, "This year? like, in 2024????"

"Yep - we have a few appointments available this year still!"

So... my right eye (which is the worse one) is scheduled for cataract surgery early on 12/23 (Monday), and my left eye is scheduled for surgery on 12/26 (Thursday)!!!

I have long worn glasses -- and my glasses have always given me good vision -- up until this past year. It seemed that all of a sudden I could not see road signs clearly, could not see the aisle markers in the grocery store, could not distinguish what things were that I might see just a short distance across a campground. Not being able to get a new prescription that would correct these deficiencies had me concerned - especially since it seemed to come on quickly. One of the technicians at the Eye Institute indicated that cataracts build slowly over time, but at some point, their presence makes a distinct issue with one's sight -- the final straw on the camel's back, so to say. I am hopeful that by soon after Christmas, I may be on my way to, once again, having vision that can be corrected through the use of glasses! I would appreciate prayers that the surgeries will go well and I will be able to adjust to my new vision.