Diabetic Retinopathy

Let's start with what the hell is wrong with me I wrote this and forgot to hit   publish on Tuesday and the Wednesday and now here we are at Thursday, talk about getting distracted and having a scatter brain. 

This week we are looking the eye condition called Diabetic retinopathy. This is a condition that some who has diabetes may develop it causes damage to the tiny blood vessels in the retina and can lead to vision loss or blindness if untreated.

It’s a complication of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes where high blood glucose gradually harms the retinal blood vessels. These vessels can:

Swell and leaks

Close off, stopping blood flow

Grow abnormal new vessels that bleed easily

Over time, this damages the retina and affects vision.

There are two stages the first is non‑proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR). In this stage the following may happen

The blood vessels weaken and leak

The retina swells

The macula may swell known as macular oedema, this causes blurred vision.

The next stage is proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) in this advanced stage, the following happens new fragile blood vessels grow, these can bleed into the vitreous (causing floaters or major vision loss) and scar tissue can form and pull the retina away as in retinal detachment.

Early on, there may be no symptoms at all.

However, as it progresses, people may notice:

Blurry or fluctuating vision

Floaters (dark spots or cobweb-like shapes)

Dark or empty patches in vision

Poor night vision

Sudden vision loss

How is this diagnosed?

To start with a dilated eye exam is essential during this the eye specialists may use the following.

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) to measure retinal swelling

Fluorescein angiography to detect leaking or blocked vessels (the dye test shown in the widget above)

Treatment depends on the stage, usually starting with

Control of diabetes, blood pressure, and cholesterol which is the foundation of preventing vision loss

Anti‑VEGF injections (e.g., Eylea, Lucentis) to reduce swelling and stop abnormal vessel growth

Laser therapy to seal leaking vessels or shrink abnormal ones

Vitrectomy surgery for severe bleeding or retinal detachment

Your risk increases when these things apply

Long duration of diabetes

Poor blood sugar control

High blood pressure

High cholesterol

Smoking

 

Update on my brother

 

Good evening, all! Yesterday I received these updates about Dave but decided to wait to post them here so I could share as much as possible. These were written by my sister in-law.

A bit of an update overnight, Daves ok but his back in ED but not by choice. We received a call from a JHH Dr at 9pm explaining one of his tests from Monday has come back positive for Ecoli in his blood. He asked Dave a series of questions and explained since he still isn’t well he needs to go back to ED for further treatment, we got up there about 9.30, he got a bed in ED maybe about 1am, bloods again, ECG, Xray and IV antibiotics, their waiting for the Respiratory team to start at 7am to see if his to stay in hospital for IV antibiotics or if he can go home on oral antibiotics. I’m heading back up there now after leaving at 3am to get a few hrs sleep so I can be there for when the Respiratory team is there. I’ll keep u all updated!

His had some sleep and pain relief, he asked for O2 just to make the alarm stop lol O2 is 93-96% ED Dr said from what he could see he thinks the Plural Effusion might be a bit bigger but wants to wait till he speaks to the team to see if he goes for further scans.

ED Dr has just come in, they’re going to do an ultrasound to see if there’s enough to drain so they can test it, then that may change the treatment and how long he stays in hospital.

Ok it is now 12.30pm and I just had a visit for my sister Sandy; she came to tell me the latest about Dave and it’s not good. He is going to have to have surgery to remove the fluid at the base of his lung which has increased from 1cm’s on Monday to 3cms now, the fluid is in bubbles at the base of his lung and Sandy said the area looks like a spider web.

This is not good in anyway at all and both me and Sandy had a cry, he will be in hospital for around 3 weeks, how soon the surgery will happen we don’t know yet.

After telling me Sandy went and told Sue and she also Jeannie, I am really concerned about him.

Monday update from Sandy

Respiratory team just reviewed him, Aiming for surgery tomorrow but could keep getting bumped due to other emergencies, they will try keyhole but may have to convert to open, will have chest drain post op for a few day, will be in hospital for a few days after the chest drains are removed then long term IV antibiotics but can be done as an outpatient everyday through the JHH. They are investigating his diabetes and waiting for a renal ultrasound to investigate his and manage his high blood pressure.

Me and Sue went and saw him today and we both felt better as he looked and sounded ok, he was in good spirits joking that he will be operated on tomorrow and home on Friday, but that's not going to happen he should be in between 2 & 3 weeks.

I will end this with a big thank you to all who have prayed for Dave, it is very much appreciated by me.

 

Week 22 of 2026

 

I slept well getting 9 &1/2 hours of sleep was up at 4.30am, washed and dressed, the ground is wet but it’s not raining. It is 14c or 57f with a top temp of 20c.

Tim is in a ok mood, he said Kathy came over last night to talk to him.

Around midday he sent Tasha a text apologising for his behaviour, which all she wanted and they are good now.

It has been a better day today and I am feeling less tense. It stopped raining for a couple of hours which was nice.

Steps: 5,606 = 2.8k’s or 1.7 miles

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Had a good night slept for nearly 9hrs woke up at 4.20am and decided to get up, it is raining again and the temp is 16c or 60.8f we are looking at a top temp of 21c with a mostly wet day.

I went for a walk at 8.30am was going to walk down and post letters but forgot about all the cars, it is a school day and that means cars parked on the side of the road and I don’t like walking on the wet grass so didn’t do that.

I didn’t have a nap, and I should have as by 5pm I was struggling to stay awake.

Jessica is at Tasha’s and asked if I could wash her work clothes and have then ready by tomorrow arvo, I said of course.

Steps: 6,299 = 3k’s or 1.7 miles

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Had a good night slept for nearly 8hrs woke up at 4.20am and decided to get I have swept the kitchen and loungeroom floor and tidy the kitchen and started a load of washing.

The temp is 18c or 64f it is currently 5am and wet outside but not raining. Even though it is cool I still have the front door opened as I was sweating while cleaning.

I was able to go for my walk and even walked down and posted the letters I had, about 10 minutes after I got home it started to piss down.

Had a message from Leigh letting me know that my brother Dave is in hospital, he is in pain and has trouble breathing it looks like it is pneumonia. He is on strong antibiotics after receiving some via a drip he was released and allowed to go home, only because his wife Leigh is a RN. He is very sick at this stage.

Steps: 9,644 = 5k’s or 3 miles

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I slept well getting over 8 hours of sleep, I woke to go to the toilet and when I checked the time it was 4.55am, that was a surprise.

Another wet morning but with a temp of 17c or 62f.

It has rained on and off all day and we have had a couple of colder moments.

I asked Tasha to ring about my CT scan appointment as I only just realised I hadn’t heard about it.

Leigh said Dave has improved this afternoon.

Tasha came down at 6pm to put me to bed I didn’t want to go to bed so she rubbed cream I into my feet and put bed socks on me and left.

I slept well managed around 9hrs of sleep, another wet day ahead it is currently 17c or 62f at 6am. I am slightly out of sorts but should improve after I finish breakie.

Yes, eating helped, Sue and I went shopping, thankfully it has been a dry but cool day.

I have had a good day felt great when I went out managed to sweep out the front this arvo, as well as vacuum the lounge-room.

Steps 6,894= 3.5k’s 2.1miles

I slept well got around 8hrs of sleep, another wet day ahead it is currently 17c or 62f at 5am and it is raining but it isn’t cold.

It rained all morning but this afternoon it has been dry.

After having no motivation this morning around 11am I suddenly had surge of motivation and vacuumed, swept out the front and sorted the freezer out.

Tasha rang at 6.30pm in a foul mood but not with us she asked if dad could help me get ready for bed as she had to go out and she didn’t want to anyway he will help and she will come down tomorrow.

Steps: 6,555 = 3.3k’s or 1.9miles

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I slept well got around 8hrs of sleep, up at 4.15am. The temp this morning is 12c or 53.6f it is supposed to be a dry cool day.

Around 10.30am I felt really cold had to turn the heater on and put on a long sleeve top, 5 minutes later I was hot again, how annoying.

Tim is working today he should be home around 8.30pm tonight.

I had a nap for 45 minutes from 1.15 to 2pm after that I felt like doing a few things like tidy the spare room and vacuum again.

The asshole boyfriend of unit 14 is parked in the spot Tim usually parks and yes, he i.s allowed it’s not our person parking space, but I feel he only did to piss Tim off.

I was discussing with Tasha this arvo about Tim’s difficult understanding and whether he would be able to understand the going on in a trail he has been called up again for jury duty. I think he should speak to someone about that, what’s the point in being on a jury if you don’t understand what is being told to you.

Steps:7,058 = 3.6k’s or 2.1miles

 

 

 

Caturday with Archie

 

Good afternoon everyone it is Caturday here and I am at last getting around to sharing some photos of the oh so cute Archie.

Links to other posts

 

My post with links to other posts and a few photos as well

https://jamfn.blogspot.com/2026/05/getting-to-know-you-or-me.html

https://jamfn.blogspot.com/2026/05/friday-fill-in-on-sunday.html

https://jamfn.blogspot.com/2026/05/sharing-my-world_01128110680.html

https://jamfn.blogspot.com/2026/05/fill-ins.html

https://jamfn.blogspot.com/2026/05/tuesdays-4.html

https://jamfn.blogspot.com/2026/05/sharing-my-world_01279760742.html

https://jamfn.blogspot.com/2026/05/a-may-hodgepodge.html

https://jamfn.blogspot.com/2026/05/more-getting-to-know-me.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Australian Birds

 

Hi everyone today I am looking at Australian native bird species, most Australian ornithologists and conservation groups generally say there is somewhere around 830 to 900 species.

Most of them are in the north and the east of the country mostly in tropical Queensland as well as the top end and in the eastern coastal forests and wetlands. This pattern is strongly supported by species‑richness data from major bird‑recording hotspots.

In the central and arid part of the country there are fewer species, but it does have the Princess Parrot, Budgerigar and Grass wrens all considered unique.

Around the area I live we have lots of Rainbow Lorikeets, Magpies, Galahs, Sulphur-crested Cockatoos, Corellas, Butcherbirds, as well as some ducks. Oh, and we sometimes have a Kookaburra.

As many of you will know I feed local birds and often have a large number of them out the front.

My brother Dave

 

My brother Dave is 16yrs younger than me and is the youngest of 5 children, he is also the only boy with 4 older sisters. He was mum’s favourite from the time he was born. He was in fact mum & dad’s miracle child, as after mum had my youngest sister Sandy, she had her tubes tied but a year later Dave arrived.

Turned out that as she had an ectopic pregnancy when Sue was very young the doctor only cut and tired the one tube she had, however, the other tube had knitted itself back together and that’s how they ended up with Dave.

As a child he got away with a lot of shit, but he grew from and annoying little bugga into an amazing man and all his sisters are so proud to have him as a brother.

Even though he is the youngest he is now the head of the family, I may be considered the matriarch of the family, but he is the head of the family.

At the moment he is very sick with pneumonia, he was taken to hospital on Monday night but was discharged with strong antibiotics only because his wife is an RN and is able to take care of him. However, most of us feel that he should still be in hospital.