Lion’s Journal

It has been a while since I have posted to our blog. As Mrs. Lion wrote, I had some serious trouble with my one good eye. I suffer from glaucoma and the pressure in my right eye was getting to the point that it would be dangerous. The ophthalmologist wanted to install a tube in the eye that would relieve the pressure. The tube is supposed to have a valve in it that only lets the pressure go down to a point. The surgery to insert the valve was perfect. Later that day I could see normally from that eye. The trouble started the next morning.

When I woke up, I was completely blind. My right eye didn’t work at all, and of course, my left eye was already not functioning. Needless to say, I panicked. We had appointment with the ophthalmologist for the one-day follow-up from the surgery and reported the problem to him. He tested the pressure in the eye. The eye is supposed to have a pressure between 5 and 15. Below that number the eye can’t retain its shape and above that number glaucoma can take vision away by killing the optic nerve. My pressure was two. The ophthalmologist sent me to another doctor who specialized in retina and back of the eye problems. This doctor had a hard time seeing anything because of debris to the lens of my eye. She guessed that that was part of the problem.The original surgeon brought me back into the OR and reinflated my eye using a gel. The pressure was 10. Good! Unfortunately, the next day the pressure was back down to two. He repeated the procedure but also put sutures across the tube shutting off its ability to drain eye. The device that he inserted is defective. The valve that is supposed to control pressure doesn’t work. I’m reporting this prompt to the FDA and I plan to sue the manufacturer. Anyway, the retina doctor performed a surgery on Thursday and cleaned the gunk off lens. The pressure was holding since the tube had been sealed off.

When the bandage was removed the next morning, I could see! Unfortunately, everything is very blurry. I’m told that will take about a month from my eye to recover. It turns out that the eye is like a balloon. The fluid pressure inside keeps it inflated. When the pressure dropped because the defective device let the fluid out the back of my eye deflated like a balloon. And that’s what caused the trouble.Anyway, it was a very scary time for me. Being blind is amazingly difficult. Mrs. Lion was great and helped me deal with tasks of daily living. I have a good memory of the layout of our bedroom, bathroom, and some of the other rooms in the house. That helped me navigate by touch. Right now, I can see enough to find my way from room to room. I can’t read the screen and I’m using a voice device that’s built into Windows to take dictation so I can write this post. Mrs. Lion will edit it and get rid of the junk and the grammar that comes from this sort of writing.We are going to try some sex this weekend. I’m excited about that. It’s been several weeks. Sex was not high on my priorities when I was blind.One thing bothered me: Capitalize nobody commented when Mrs. Lion talked about my problem. I had hoped that some of my fellow bloggers would offer well wishes, but no one did. I know a lot of people read this blog. I also can tell from our statistics that many people read here. I’ll never understand what that means. Anyway, I’m sort of back and life for us is slowly returning to normal. Mrs. Lion won’t be able to spank me until my eye heals up to allow me to lie down on my stomach and accept the paddle. That’s probably a month away. I am very grateful that I can see.

 

Tomorrow, I’m going for my second eye surgery this year. My right eye is the victim this time—that happens to be my “good” eye. The left has almost no vision. After the surgery, I will be blind for a while. About six hours after the surgery, we take off the eye patch. I will still have very little vision because I need to wear a contact lens. It will be two weeks before I can wear it. I’m worried about how I will manage.

Mrs. Lion has made some preparations for my surgery. We have an inexpensive wheelchair that she bought a few years ago. We plan to use it to get me from the car to our bedroom. After my last surgery, the lingering effects from the anesthesia made me too weak to get up the three steps from the garage to the house. I collapsed. Mrs. Lion bought a portable ramp (12 feet long) that she installed in the garage. Now, she can wheel me into the house. Yuck! I hate being an invalid.

The surgery will interfere with any plans to restore our disciplinary relationship. Until my eye has a chance to heal, I guess we’ll be mostly vanilla. That’s not much of a change since we have gotten out of our usual routine.  We’ve discussed our options several times but don’t seem able to get going. The surgery will add another delay.

Mrs. Lion’s shoulder has been giving her trouble. That’s another reason why my bottom is rarely spanked. It’s also why we can’t snuggle the way we like. It hurts her to lie in that position. Even without the snuggles, having her with me makes life exciting and fun. After being together for over 22 years, it’s better than ever. I’m very lucky.

I’ll post again when I can read my screen.

Toddler. That’s what she says I can be. I’ve never thought of myself that way. What makes me a toddler? I asked Mrs. Lion and she said, “You want things when you want them.” Does that mean I pout or throw a tantrum if I don’t get what I want immediately? I don’t remember doing either. Clearly, therre is a problem with communication.

To be fair, she gave another example of “toddler” behavior. She says that I, and all other men, are big babies when we are sick. Women, on the other hand, stoically accept illness and soldier on. When I’m sick, I go to bed and try to stay comfortable.I tend to get hit hard when I’m sick and recover fully. Mrs. Lion says that illness comes on slowly and hangs around for a long time. OK, I get zapped, she rarely does.

She says that based on her private poll of other women, all men are like this. We want what we want and are big babies when we are ill. I think that everyone wants what they want. If I ask Mrs. Lion for something and she doesn’t acknowledge the request, I ask again. If she can’t do what I ask soon after I ask her, I expect some idea of when she can do it. If it is something she can’t or doesn’t want to do, I expect she will tell me.

“No” is a valid response to a request.

The other day I wrote about maternal punishment (“Maternal is Not A Dirty Word“). I pointed out that maternal behavior toward an adult partner is not the same as it is with a child. Maybe having a Y chromosome does make me want mothering as an adult. It’s certainly true when I am sick. Doesn’t a mother say no when a child makes an unreasonable request?

I’m not suggesting that Mrs. Lion should treat me like her child, but it seems to me that if she and other wives see their husbands as a sort of “special case” child, then maybe they should be treated appropriately. Maybe Mrs. Lion has to learn to say “not now,” “later,” or even “no.” She certainly should spank her naughty toddler. We agreed that she should do that.

It seems unfair to me that she labels me a toddler but does not respond as she would to a real one. Right, Mrs. Lion?

Last Friday night, Donald Trump told a gathering of religious conservatives that if they elect him, they’ll never have to vote again.  This wasn’t hyperbole. It was a stark repeat of Trump’s intention to stay in office for the rest of his life.

I listened to his remarks preceding and following this statement. It wasn’t a joke. He didn’t say that he really meant that he would be elected again. Of course, that’s illegal; a president can only serve two terms. Reporters asked Stephen Cheung, Trump spokesman, to clarify:  “President Trump was talking about uniting this country and bringing prosperity to every American, as opposed to the divisive political environment that has sowed so much division and even resulted in an assassination attempt.”

This statement doesn’t walk back Trump’s promise that if he’s elected, there will be no more elections for president. He still insists that he won the 2020 election. Every time he speaks, he tells easy-to-discover lies. If he were some kind of diabolical would-be dictator, I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t be so obvious in stating his desire to derail democracy.

I’m convinced that he is unhinged. If the stakes weren’t so high, I would say he’s a sitcom star. No sane person would say the sort of things Trump delivers. During the debate with President Biden, he lied 34 times. No, he wasn’t exaggerating. He lied 34 times during the debate. His fans insist that he didn’t lie; he only exaggerated to make a point. That’s stupid.

Every time he’s given a chance to explain, he goes off on another long tirade filled with more lies and exaggerations. I can understand that his supporters like the intelligible things he says he stands for. The biggest is immigration. Trump and the Republican party want to deport illegal aliens and seal our southern border. The bipartisan immigration bill called for that. Trump asked his supporters in Congress to vote against it. His reason was to keep immigration on his agenda. The fact is that both parties want the same thing. Trump, not his party, wants to deport illegals no matter how long they have been in the US. That would be over ten million people. Sane Republicans understand that such a broad sweep would drive illegals further underground and create new problems. Both parties favor a more gradual approach that includes both deportation and naturalization.

I can’t believe any American would vote for a candidate that wants to abolish our democracy. i don’t care how distasteful the Democratic platform may be. First and foremost must preserve our democracy. I don’t particularly like Kamala Harris. But I will vote for her. I will also hope that Congress will pass laws to limit presidential power and immunity. The choice isn’t whether you like what Harris stands for. It isn’t how you feel about either candidate’s platform. We need to keep Trump out of office. If you want the Republican platform, just vote Republican in the down-ticket elections for House and Senate seats. But please don’t help put that lunatic back in office.