The jalapeno peppers are starting to come in from the garden, this is the first sizable harvest.
Attila has a ferment experiment going on, using Kombucha as starter, sugar, and jalapeno peppers. It is fermenting. The goal is to make a salt free hot sauce for me. I have my reservations, but you never know until you try.
A few days ago we purchased a bushel of Roma tomatoes, a 1/4 bushel of green peppers, pounds of onions, and organic lime juice, from the grocery store. The prices for the tomatoes and peppers are a bit higher than last year, but may go down as the season progresses, as they usually do.
The purchased produce has kept us busy. Yesterday we canned 26 500-ml jars of Tomato Salsa. Today we canned 13 more jars of Tomato Salsa. This has taken just over half of the bushel of tomatoes. Tomorrow we will be canning Salsa again.
This year I stepped into the canning season with more energy and endurance than I have in the past. I believe this is one of the peripheral benefits of all the healthy eating, and exercise regimes over the past few years. Yesterday I was working and on my feet almost constantly from 5:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. when I took the last jar out of the canner. I didn’t feel tired, I was not cranky from fatigue, just felt a sense of accomplishment and carried on with the evening.
< the cataract saga continues >
The morning was spent in a consultation with the Anesthesiologist at the hospital. I went in hoping to review the medications, and affirm that care would be taken in the operating room. It was a civil and respectful consult, we both liked the Anesthesiologist. They told me that my case is unusual, or the word unique may have been used.
Medications were not reviewed during the meeting, with only myself referring to the printed sheet of medications and concerns that I brought with me.
I was asked if I was under the care of an allergist. Is that even a thing? When I was first diagnosed by an allergist, many years ago, I was sent home with epinephrine vials and syringes, and told to practice on an orange, then on myself, with water. I was told the next exposure would probably kill me.
After further discussion in the consult, It seems to me that the surgeon is not interested in taking extra time concerning themselves with medications during surgery, they “just use them”.
The result of the consult came as a complete surprise.
My surgery has been postponed with no future date set. A referral to an allergist in a nearby city is being requested. There could be a very long wait time for the allergy appointment, perhaps years. I am still processing this information, and the outcome of that meeting. Only time will tell if it was in my best interest or not, it is far too early to tell.
I have mixed and intense emotions about it, sadness, relief, disappointment, and I just want to cry, which will pass.
One certainty from the meeting is that the hospital is taking my anaphylaxis very seriously.
I am thinking that the signs in the surgeon’s office, stating they take allergies seriously, is a one size fits all claim. It reminds me of the term “green washing”. You have to have the correct common allergy. They certainly do use products that are latex free, or have labels on provided eye drops that say preservative free, the easy stuff.
Attila comforts me and observes, “It isn’t easy being green.”
Yep
</ the cataract saga continues >
Worldly
Weather
21°C
Date: 7:00 PM EDT Monday 17 August 2026
Condition: Mostly Cloudy
Pressure: 101.1 kPa
Tendency: Rising
Temperature: 20.8°C
Dew point: 20.1°C
Humidity: 96%
Wind: E 5 km/h
Humidex: 28
Visibility: 24 km
Quote
“Do not believe that he who seeks to comfort you lives untroubled among the simple and quiet words that sometimes do you good. His life has much difficulty… Were it otherwise he would never have been able to find those words.”
Rainer Maria Rilke
1875 – 1926
Maggie, I understand your desire to cry. Heck of a choice – continued limited vision or death by malpractice. By the same token, everything you’ve told us about this surgeon’s practices make me think that delay, as disappointing and frustrating as it is, is better than error.
I remember that your second cataract surgery is scheduled with a different surgeon. If that surgeon is more careful with your condition, perhaps he or she could do your other eye as well on the basis that they already know your particular needs.
I think that the next time I hear someone here in the USA claim that the Canadian system is vastly superior, I’ll refer them to your journal.
Wendy, yes, I agree that postponement is better than error!
The surgeon for the second eye is standing in for the original surgeon while they are on maternity leave, so I am not sure how that will play out. It will take me some time to work my way through my emotions, and then after that through the winding road to achieve cataract surgery.
Health care here in Canada has deteriorated for anything but the quick and easy cases for the poor, and the “kind” attentions that the privileged few enjoy, such a publicly funded ambulance taken off public duty to stand idle outside a political leaders meeting just in case it might be needed there. Nothing for it of course, but to soldier on hoping to bump into the one humane individual surgeon (if they exist) who might be willing to waste precious money-making time on me!