I have a pretty good view and it's to the south so I get to see the sunset. This was one of the more beautiful ones, though there have been others as spectacular. I thought I'd tire of photographing sunsets, but that hasn't happened. I love them too much and want to share their beauty. The one below is from December 11, 2013.
The one below is from December 7.2013. It's different from the one above, but no less beautiful. It's not my photography. It's what was there. I just point the camera and press the shutter button. That's the Manhattan skyline. It forms a part of my view, but enough to make it interesting.
This one is from November 14th. I had to rotate the photo just a bit because I sometimes don't hold my camera straight. It happens more often than I'd like to admit and it shows when shooting these buildings. Still, it's another gorgeous sunset. You can see the Empire State Building on the left.
Now I'll tell you what's new with me. Earlier this year, in August or September, I was diagnosed with hydrocephalus, an unusual disorder. The first symptom was double vision. I foolishly didn't have that diagnosed for years. Instead, I had prisms put in the lenses of my eyeglasses. That corrected the symptom, but not the problem. I thought I had ambliopia, or double vision. I told my doctor and he sent me to a neurologist. I told her I had ambliopia, but in just a couple of minutes, she told me that wasn't my problem and referred me to a neurosurgeon. It seems the cephalic fluid in my brain was under too much pressure and that pressure on my brain was the problem.
I saw the neurosurgeon, had some scans made, and then was scheduled for surgery. The surgery would place a drainage tube from my brain to my abdomen. There would also be a valve on my head under the skin. It's hardly visible. I spent a week in the hospital. It wasn't so bad, really. Later on I'd have to go back to have the valve replaced by a larger one. That only took a day. No problem. I still have some of the symptoms and it may be that I'll need a larger valve and another brief surgery. The larger valve would be visible, though. It's up to my neurosurgeon. I'm OK with it's being visible. Meanwhile, we're trying alternatives. My next appointment is in a month. I'll know what we're doing then.
Double vision isn't the only symptom. There's also vertigo. Things appear as they would if I were very drunk. Everything is spinning around and my balance isn't good anymore. Those symptoms are still present, but much diminished. Still, I've fallen in my apartment three times. I do better outside when I'm walking briskly. The problem is that my legs have been weakened so I can't walk as far I could before all this. How far can I walk? I don't know. My walking has improved, but I haven't put distance to the test. I will when we get some warmer weather.
The surgery affected my short term memory. My neurosurgeon told me that. I misplace things very easily now. It's maddening. I can have something in my hands and the next thing I know, it's misplaced. My long term memory seems fine. I can recall quite a bit from my childhood and teens.
I'm thankful for what is still OK. I can still use my camera. I can read. I couldn't read for a while, but now I'm fine. The only problem is that I can't find my reading glasses. I'm beginning to think I lost them outside my apartment. I've been reading without them, though, and drugstore reading glasses seem to work. I'm thankful for my friends, too. I have wonderful friends. One of them owns the apartment where I'm now living. I used to have a spacious one bedroom apartment. I now have a small studio. However, it has a terrace and glass terrace doors with a great view. Before, my view was the building across the street. I had no privacy unless I kept the blinds drawn. Now I can (and do) keep my curtains open all the time.
My amplifier burned out a couple of weeks ago. I can't play my CDs now. No music! I have too many CDs to count, probably well over a thousand. Some are still in cartons from when I moved to Astoria back in December of 2006. It's hard to believe that I've been living here for 7 years. Time flies.
