My Summer Staycation

So, between gas prices, house projects, taxes, and having to find a new job, we haven't gotten out of town too much this summer...

We both stumbled (at different times) on poison ivy that was hiding in the hedge in the front yard. I now have a plan of attack, though, and was able to make a significant dent in it this week without ill effects despite the heat.

Michelle and I escaped to Ricketts Glen State Park early in the summer for a weekend and, more recently, we got to spend a long weekend on the Chesapeake Bay shore with family.

The picture is me all dressed up for a job interview. I had a few interviews and I've signed on with the privately-held company in Media, PA as a 'Senior PHP Developer and Architect', starting in two weeks. This is a huge change for me and I'm sad to be leaving my free-wheelin' free-lancin' work with Lexalytics but I think it will be an excellent opportunity for growth.

If you are paying attention, you'll see that my right eye looks kinda strange in this picture. I'm not winking. I actually can't open my right eye entirely. This has been slowly getting worse over the summer and we got a special appointment with Dr. Rosenfeld three weeks ago. Two weeks ago I got an MRI and a spinal tap and it turns out there's some sort of growth in my orbit - this is what the doctors call the eye socket. This is unexpected news and as far as I'm concerned, completely bad.

I've spoken with Dr. Glass at Jefferson University Hospital and Dr. Judy at HUP and they both agreed that a biopsy is the next step because no one can tell if its a recurrence or something new. So, I went to the Scheie (pronounced 'Shay') Eye Institute today and five hours later, I have a biopsy scheduled for Wednesday, July 23.

The reason I'm going to a new facility and new surgeon instead of Dr. Judy is that Judy, skilled as he is, would have to go through my cranium in order to get to my eye. Dr. Roberta Gausus, orbital specialist, will biopsy and 'de-bulk' the growth (which she did not call a tumor, by the way) as an outpatient procedure, so I'll be in my own bed on Wednesday night. We should have the pathology report sometime next week.