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New eyes with Dr. Verdier
New eyes with Dr. Verdier
Eyes set on Dr. Verdier
By EMMA PALOVA
EW Emmaās Writings
Lowell, MI- On May 16th, my world dipped into a blur. The white fuzzy ball in my right eye turned into fog that surrounded me.
As I turned on the computer in the morning I couldnāt see the Google logo on the screen. I panicked. I drove to the eye doctor in town, but I couldnāt see the signs on the road.
āWhat brings you here on a Friday morning?ā asked Dr. Holzer.
āI canāt see,ā I said with tears in my eyes.
After the exam, Dr. Holzer said, āI see why you canāt see. You have cataracts in both eyes.ā
I was diagnosed with a fast-moving cataract in my right eye two years ago. Unlike the cataracts that most elderly people eventually develop, this one strikes younger people at a fast pace.
āYou will need a surgery in two years,ā said the doctor exactly. āI cannot correct your vision to 20/20. This is worse than I expected.ā
I cried that fall as I walked to the newspaper office. I could barely see the sidewalk.
The new eyeglasses helped somewhat, but the right eye was useless. I started using the left eye straining it further. Now, the fuzzy ball was also in the left eye.
I couldnāt see from the treadmill my beautiful garden. Everything became a chore. I had to use the magnifying glass on top of the eyeglasses, and still the letters were dancing in front of me somewhere in deep 3D. I had to guess where everything was or used to be.
So, here I was two years later sitting across from Dr. Holzer by the optical equipment in the dark.
āYouāre going to need a surgery in both eyes,ā he said.
āI want Dr. Verdier to operate on my eyes,ā I said.
āYou know Dr. Verdier?ā
I did know Dr. David Verdier from a story for the Grand Rapids Magazine and Advance Newspapers about his surgeries aboard the Orbis airplane in China. Orbis is a well-known organization among eye specialists, and Dr. Verdier is a renowned eye specialist.
I was well aware of Verdierās specialization both in corneal disease and cataracts, and about his practice. Verdier Eye Center, located at 1000 E. Paris Avenue in Grand Rapids. Thatās where we did the interview for several stories.
āYouāre going to have to wait, but Dr. Verdier is worth waiting for,ā said Holzer. āHe can also correct your vision during the surgery so you wonāt need eye glasses.ā
The initial consultation was scheduled for Sept. 22 to evaluate how far along the cataracts were.
In the meantime, my eyesight was getting worse by the minute. On the night of the first Summer Sizzlinā concert, I was blinded by the setting sun as I walked out of the Sneakerās Restaurant. That was at the beginning of July.
When I was shooting the Riverwalk parade on July 12, I could not see the floats or candidate Lynn Mason marching in the parade. I was shooting into the fog. My son was standing by my side with baby Josephine and I could hardly make out their contours.
On Monday, when I walked to the Franciscan Sisters I couldnāt see my neighbors doing wood on the other side of the gravel road.
āHey Emma, weāre here,ā Karen shouted.
At the Sisters, I couldnāt see the nearby school from their Canticle House on the hill.
Finally, I couldnāt see myself in the mirror. I picked up the phone.
āI have to have the surgery as soon as possible,ā I cried. āI canāt write, I canāt drive. Tell Dr. Verdier that I know him.ā
To be continued
Copyright Ā© 2014 story and photos by Emma Palova
Mom Ella & aunt Anna
Mini Maker Faire
Final goodbye to Czech Republic
Dad heads home to bid farewell to family
United Airlines flight 974 with my dad Vaclav Konecny on board just landed in Geneva four and a half hours late due to maintenance on one of the Pratt & Whitney motors.
My dad is 80 and he flew home to Czech Republic to say final goodbye to the family. Dad has only one living sibling left, aunt Marta.
He is the founder of our immigration saga that started with the Soviet invasion in 1968. And it continues to evolve to this day with third generation.
That is basically what my memoir Greenwich Meridian is about.
To be continued
Note: This is my 150th post on EW Emma’s Writings on WordPress. The 15th new follower of EW will get a $25 gift certificate to Steak & Shake.
Copyright (c) 2014
Pout ke svatbe, journey to wedding
Sledujte nas na nasi pouti ke svatbe Maranda Ruegsegger a Jakub Pala v kostele Svateho Patricka v Parnellu, Michigan.
Follow us on our journey to the international wedding of Maranda Ruegsegger and Jakub Pala at Saint Patrick’s Church in Parnell, Michigan.
BridgeFest – Eventbrite
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bridgefest-tickets-12717122255?aff=es2
Posted from WordPress for Android
Lowell woman behind the Pink Arrow Pride
Lowell woman makes Pink Arrow Pride happen along with husband and other volunteers
By EMMA PALOVA
LOWELL, MI-When Teresa Beachum received a phone call from varsity football coach Noel Dean, she stepped up to take action.
Dean was telling her about a wife of a football player who was sporting a pink jersey at an NFL game.
The pink symbolized breast cancer. An idea was born seven years ago that has grown into a phenomenon.
The two wondered if the Lowell Football team would be strong enough to carry some else’s name on the shoulder of their pink jerseys.
“We wanted to honor those on a cancer journey or in memory of,”she said.
Beachum lost her brother Jeff Timpson to cancer.
The Pink Arrow Pride symbolizes the pride the players have to have to represent someone else, she said.
The Pink Arrow VII game against Chicago Hubbard is scheduled this year for Sept.5.
The Survivorās Lap precedes the game from the Lowell High School down to the stadium.
āEverybody comes together, the fire and the police department, the band and the churches,ā Beachum said.
This is followed by a victory lap around the stadium.
āThe view is a sea of pink, the field, the goal post and even the trash cans,ā she said.
And something new is added every year like fireworks last year.
But, there is more to this than just the game in pink.
āIt teaches students how to channel grief and their emotions,ā she said.
The Pink Arrow Pride has so far raised one million dollars. This money goes toward programming at Gildaās Club, medical student scholarships, assistance to cancer survivors and Lowell Community Wellness.
āIt has grown into a new dimension of playing for a cause,ā Beachum said.
The two scholarships are Dr. Donald Gerardās and Kathy Talus.
Beachum stays involved year round with the Pink Arrow Pride. Together with Ethel Stears, she delivers gifts to cancer survivors.
āI wanted to support the cause because everyone knows someone who has walked the cancer journey,ā Beachum said.
The t-shirt sales have brought in $8,000 alone during the last worst seven years in economy.
āCancer does not discriminate,ā she said. āIt strikes the young, the old, retirees and students.ā
In the weeks prior to the game, Perry and Teresa Beachum turn their house into a Pink Arrow Pride stronghold with brochures, logos and promotions everywhere.
āThe logo is customized and every year we add new things, āshe said.
For their efforts, the couple has been awarded as the Chamber People of the Year.
For more info go to:
Copyright (c)2014 story by Emma Palova, photos by Pink Arrow Pride
Supermom hosts exchange students
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Back to school
 By Sarah Harmon
EW writer
When I was in high school, I always loved befriending foreign exchange students. I never would have guessed that ten years after graduation, I would be the host mom of one of them.
Wandering around the Riverwalk Festival in July 2013, I stopped at a booth for an organization that sponsored exchange students coming to America. It turned out I was the minimum age for a host parent, and there was a girl that it looked like would be a good fit. I thought for a few days before deciding to go for it. In that time, the girl I had wanted found another family, but the program director had a profile of a Chinese girl she thought might work. I took a look at Xuan, not expecting to be impressed since I’m more interested in European culture than Asian.
 Decisions like this should never be made lightly. You are committing to putting a lot of energy and countless hours into helping this student to experience America for almost ten months.Ā After talking to friends and family at length about if Xuan was the right girl and if I was insane enough to do this, considering I was single with two jobs plus volunteer work, I went for it. There are a lot of things you take for granted that you never truly understand until you see your home through someone else’s eyes. For instance, living in a big city in China, Xuan had never been up close to horses, goats, or pigs. I thought she was crazy when she said you weren’t supposed to touch farm animals. We have petting zoos everywhere!
Holidays were another whole new experience. It’s hard for us to imagine meeting Santa for the first time as a 16 year old. Xuan didn’t know what to ask for, so she jokingly chose a unicorn. She left some excellent homemade cookies out for him, and Christmas morning, Santa brought her a toy unicorn. The look on her face was priceless. Old holiday traditions suddenly seem a lot less cheesy when you know this kid will only get one chance in her life to do them.
 It was a lot of work, mostly because I wanted to be Supermom and do a thousand things with her. (She has the 107 page scrapbook to prove it!) Yes, we had our struggles (she hated American food), but overall I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Xuan cried all the way to the airport in June, and I cried the whole drive home. Despite saying I would take a year off, right now I’m cleaning up Xuan’s old room to welcome Eva from Austria this Sunday. It’s going to be another crazy year of hosting, but I’m looking forward to every minute of it.
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Copyright (c) 2014 story by Sarah Harmon
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