I had issues with dry eyes and wasn’t a good option for lasik, so I had EVO Visian Implantable Collamer Lens surgery 2 years ago. Was $3500 per eye so $7000 total.

It’s not very well known. I had to ask for it specifically and even the receptionist thought I meant lasik until I clarified where it was listed on their own website.

It’s similar to cataract surgery but instead of removing your lens and replacing it; they just add a second one with your prescription in front of it. Basically it’s a permanent contact.

They slice a very small incision, slide in the folded lens, and then smooth it out. Takes 20-30 minutes. Doesn’t remove any tissue from the eye like other procedures or leave a flap. It can be reversed by removing the lens in another procedure, and can be redone in the future if your prescription changes a lot. They can also correct an astigmatism using these lenses.

After surgery, I wore eye shields at night for a week, and had to do the same eye drop protocol that is done after cataract surgery. 3 bottle of drops, 3-4 times a day for around 21 days. They had a single bottle option that combined all the meds which would’ve been only 1 drop 3-4 times a day, but it was $200. So I filled the 3 bottles at the pharmacy for a total of $30 instead.

Vision was perfect right after surgery. Eyes felt mildly dry for maybe 2-3 days but that could’ve been some of the drops.

So happy to not spend $800+ per year on contacts and solution, or worrying about losing a contact while swimming. I would do it again if it’s ever needed.

Not sure what’s available where you’re at without a prescription, but I recommend Orajel or any equivalent ulcer/tooth ache gel.

In addition to the other things you’re already using, you can steep black tea bags in warm water and gently bite on that. The tannins help with bleeding and inflammation.

A mouthwash or spray with Cetylpyridinium Chloride in the ingredients list will help with healing, but don’t buy a mouthwash that has alcohol/isopropyl in the ingredients. Dentyl, Oral B Gum detoxify, Parodontax, Biotene Dry Mouth Spray are all good.

I had several teeth removed from my inside my jaw that never came out and had a bone graft placed in the area that had to heal for 6 months before dental implants were placed. The mouthwash definitely helped me heal faster from that surgery than when I had my wisdom teeth out the year before and didn’t use any. Just do a gentle rinse dont swish it around hard! You don’t want to disturb the blood clots and get dry socket.

I hope you start to feel better soon!

Wow! What an interesting read about someone I’ve never heard of, but whose work has impacted daily life in so many ways. Its amazing how many systems rely on accurately telling time and the intricate solution that NTP is.

Ah, sorry! I always worry about that when I write out responses. I hope you’re able to find similar items where you live. Anyway, with all of your responses so far, it seems like you’re going to be a great owner and your cat is going to enjoy living with you very much!

I’ve got a ton of stuff to share that I’m just throwing out unorganized. So sorry for the huge post.

Do your future self a favor and try to buy a cat tree that isn’t fully covered in carpet. They either quickly get shredded and look awful, or the cat hair becomes embedded in the carpet and is impossible to properly vacuum off.

!!A few quick examples of my preferred type are:

1.Frisco 47.5-in Modern Cat Tree

2.SmartCat Ultimate Scratching Post, 32"

3.cardboard scratchers

4.Expensive option. Refined feline Lotus Cat Tower. Has replaceable carpet and sisal pads. Mine is currently going on 5-6 years old and is in perfect condition.

You can also sometimes buy carpet squares at Menards, Lowe’s, etc for under 2$. I cut them with scissors to size and use rug tape to hold them on the cat trees.

Chewy has a sale right now buy 100$ get a 30$ gift card back.

!!Toys

My cat loves the Frisco Colorful Springs

A automatic toy like Potaroma 3in1 Hide and Seek.

Penn-plax or Hartz mini mice

Wand toys

Cat tunnels

One of my cats is obsessed with those pool/beach foam water balls. Like Water Bomb Splash Balls or also called Splash bombs

Silvervine sticks for chewing. It’s kind of like catnip.

A long sheet of brown packing paper crumpled up. Mine hide in it and jump around crunching the paper. Chewy frequently puts in a big sheet as padding when I order from them.

Boxes whole or with fun shapes cut in them.

Plastic bottle caps

Cat window perches with the suction cups are really nice. I’ve got double stacked ones in 3 of my windows and all of my cats love them.

!!Water fountain

Try to buy a metal or ceramic pet water fountain. Cats prefer running water, but I also provide a regular metal bowl of water too in case the power goes off or the fountain pump plugs up.

I’ve got Oiwliur Cat Water Fountain that I like right now

Petsafe and pioneer also make metal fountains

Plastic food/water dishes harbor bacteria more easily.

!!Litter

I recommend unscented cat litter. Fresh step unscented or PetSmart brand Great Choice unscented

A litter genie XL or similar type litter/diaper pail makes scooping the cat litter less of a chore.

!!Miscellaneous cat owner info

Watch your shoestrings around the cat. I had one cat that would chew them off the shoes. We ended up with a 500$ vet bill twice in his 12 years of life because he swallowed them and they got stuck. Also, if your cat ever has a string coming out of them, do not pull it out. We never did, but the vet stressed to us strongly that it was a bad idea to do it ourselves. Hair ties and rubber bands are just as dangerous as shoestrings.

If you have window blinds with pull strings, then make sure the strings are up on the curtain rod out of reach. We lost a cat that way when I was a little kid.

Feliway or Comfort Zone sprays can help with anxiety or destructive scratching. The diffusers are okay, but I had one overheat and won’t use them again.

Microchip your cat and follow through with registering it with the chip maker and the free pet registries. I found a cat last year that had been missing for months who I quickly returned, even though the owner had moved, only because of the microchip.

This link has a list of registries to add the microchip info to. www.aaha.org/your-pet/pet-microchip-lookup/participating-companies/ Some of them are free others are paid. I’d just worry about the free ones. I think I’ve only done mine with 24PetWatch, 911PetChip, FindPet, and HomeAgain (the maker of my pet microchips).

Also, HomeAgain tries to make you think you need to pay yearly, but you don’t. That’s just for the extra features that aren’t worth it. If you end up with one of their chips you can register with them and keep your info in there forever even if you don’t pay the fee.

Enjoy your new cat!!!

I gave it my best with the object eraser tool.

I was really sick and couldn’t eat much of anything for 2 months and lived mostly on the chocolate Soylent. I had issues staying hydrated so I also drank a lot of Liquid IV (Pina colada and watermelon were my favorites).

As I started to tolerate more solid food I ate: canned soup purees like butternut squash/tomato bisque/pea soup, powdered soup mixes from Bob’s Red Mill or Knorr, steel cut oatmeal with mushrooms and chicken broth cooked in a pressure cooker, rolled oatmeal with nuts and dried fruit, grits, plain rice crackers, nut thins, fage 5% yogurt, bananas plain or blended up with milk, applesauce, cottage cheese, carrots cooked to mush. Also ate a lot of sweet potatoes and russet potatoes, I cooked a bunch of them whole in the pressure cooker at once and then I’d eat them all week.

Some of my friends recommended Huel or Plenny shakes but I never got around to ordering any.

I’d also avoid anything with too much oil, fat, hot spices, or sugar which can irritate the stomach and limit cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, kale which can be hard to digest.

Hope you feel better soon.

My trusty 16 year old sonicare toothbrush, a tongue scraper, and a water pik make it so I barely get fuzzy teeth unless I eat a bunch of sweets or crackers. I also swish with OralB gum detoxify mouthwash every once in a while, but I didn’t have much plaque even without using it.

The other oralb washes aren’t as great imo, but the gum detoxify has zinc and cetylpyridinium chloride in it which both inhibit bacteria. No alcohol in it either which is what causes most mouthwashes to burn. It does cause you to spit out a white film immediately after which I assume is dead bacteria. Never had any irritation with it and a doctor actually recommended it to me when I had strep throat which it helped.

Also Walmart carries a sonicare 1100 that is only around $20. I use that when I travel instead, and it’s just as good as my older more expensive electric toothbrush.

I have polycystic ovary syndrome PCOS not Endo, but I share some of the pain. It caused me to miss so much school that I was at serious risk of being held back despite having high grades in high school. As an adult, I frequently use all my sick days just to cope. Last year my new gynocologist finally took me seriously and realized that I was not just over exaggerating. Since I had very high blood pressure on the combo pill, we decided to try the IUD instead … I had it placed 3 times! Each time, within a week or two, my body expelled the IUD on it’s own.

Anyway, we gave up on the IUD because it wasn’t working. Instead she put me on Slynd (drospirenone) a progestin only pill. For some people it stops menstruation completely, and I was lucky enough to be one. After 19 years of pain, I’ve finally had 9 months of feeling great! I don’t have those stabbing knife pains in the middle of the month when I would get cysts. I no longer get anemic from blood loss or have 7-13 day periods with cramps that feel like I’m in labor. I don’t have a period at all!

I know that I’ve read stories of women with Endo who say they’ve had success using birth control to stop their cycle which stops the Endo tissue from growing each month.

The slynd is prohibitively expensive if insurance doesn’t cover it. However, there’s another progestin only pill that is coming out next year in the US that will be over the counter and supposedly affordable. That med is called Opill (norgestrel).

Sorry for the wall of text. I just want you to know that I feel for you and you have my deepest sympathy. It sucks trying to get a diagnosis for reproductive pain, and please don’t ever let them wear you down. The pain is not normal and someone should be doing something for you about it! I hope your upcoming appointment goes well and you get some relief soon.

I feed Instinct Ultimate Protein Chicken dry and Weruva Meowionaire wet food. Feeding only wet food with 3 cats is too expensive for my budget currently, so we do a mix.

One of the 3 has vomiting issues that were daily with wet food, and it was trial and error until I found a dry food that didn’t make him puke every other day.

I have microchip food bowls so each cat gets the right amount. Vomit machine eats 1/4-1/2 cup of Instinct daily and a tablespoon of Weruva wet food. The other 2 each get 1/8 cup of Instinct per day and each get half a can of Weruva in the morning and evening. So I go through 2.5 cans of Weruva a day and 1/2-3/4 cup of Instinct.

Also, the Instinct Ultimate makes their fur really shiny. I noticed during a food shortage when I switched to Tikki Cat Herring/Chicken dry that their coats dulled, and 2 months later when I was able to get Instinct again they got shiny. The Tikki Cat did not cause vomit machine to puke, but I like the Instinct better.

They have 2 fountains that need refilled frequently, so I’m assuming their water intake is good.

Cats are quirky and can have many reasons to do that. If she is an older cat she may have arthritis and the walls of the box could be high for her to easily get over. Some cats hate covered litter boxes. If you changed litter brands recently she may not like the texture or smell. The box could be too small; I bought a large metal litterbox for mine before they quit peeing over the sides on the wall.

Emotional issues can cause outside box use too: new pet, roommate, someone moved out. All can have an effect.

Feliway has a pheromone spray or diffuser you can use that is supposed to help with issues like urinating outside the box which may help with the poop problem. Another brand called Comfort Zone has a “spray and scratch” that’s slightly cheaper.

If the vinegar or peroxide that others recommended to clean the potty spot don’t seem to do the trick, then you can buy an enzyme cleaner like Nonscents “stain and odor eliminator” to see if that will work.

To Your Eternity made me cry repeatedly.