Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Daffodils and the Outward Eye





I was in college when Gaylord Nelson began the first Earth Day. I remember clearly sitting in the sun near the student union and thinking that life was good indeed after a long Wisconsin winter. My daffodils this year inspire the same thought; life is good indeed when spring returns after months of snow and cold.

Knowing full well that few people are interested in health issues, I'll just say that I think my retinal tear is on the mend. I have two doctors at UW Madison working with me, one an associate professor, the other a resident. The surgeon did his thing on Monday afternoon, then took off for a conference, leaving the follow up care to a resident who is anxious to do everything right. I have to stifle the urge to think of this nice looking and ernest young doctor (who graduated from Harvard and Columbia) as a cast member of Greys Anatomy. I keep telling myself, he is only fascinated by my retina, and that I should keep my eye on the bouncing gas bubble. I'm supposed to keep my head at a 45 degree angle, to keep the bubble pressing on the repaired area of my retina, and I mostly do, but my neck is getting really tired. I am cultivating a thoughtful pose with my head resting on my left hand. Reading is slow, since the book or newspaper needs to be held up in the air in front of my good right eye, so I am burning my way through the New Yorker podcasts that have been gathering dust on my hard drive. I haven't tried painting or drawing yet. I'm trying to just relax and let the eye heal, but I'm not the most patient of women.

Daffodils
William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed - and gazed - but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.





6 comments:

Sharon said...

So glad to hear the recovery is going well, Sherry.

Teri said...

So happy to hear you are on the mend!

Jane said...

Sherry,
Haven't stopped by in a while but wanted to say how sorry I am to hear about your eye and hopeful with you that it will repair quickly. My daughter works at UW-hospitals and she says it is nothing like Grey's Anatomy, but then I ask her how to explain those good looking docs!
Have fun with that part of it!
~jane

Rayne said...

I am so happy to hear the surgery went well and that you are on the mend. It must be very frustrating for you. How long must you keep the head tilt thing going?

jlshall said...

Glad to hear you're on the mend. But that 45 degree angle sounds pretty painful! Stay well.

Sherry Pierce Thurner said...

Thanks to all of you who stopped to comment. I had my last meeting with the handsome resident today, who seems really flattered that I had Googled him. He said I am doing well and can put my head back upright (hooray!), and that I should come see the surgeon next week. While my vision in the left eye is still fuzzy, I see daily improvement. And I still have a valid excuse to not work out.