Another Vandy roster change

Columnist is now on “injured reserve” for the “RicheBurger Bowl” football game between his and his wife’s alma maters. They’ll both watch from home.

DES MOINES, Iowa —Like Vanderbilt’s consensus first-team All-American receiver Eli Stowers, I have now opted out of the ReliaQuest Bowl.

That’s the Wednesday, Dec. 31, midday football game in Tampa, Florida, matching my Vanderbilt Commodores against my wife Mary Riche’s Iowa Hawkeyes. We’re considering it to be the “RicheBurger Bowl.”

As you’ve read and heard in several other media, Vandy’s elite receiver Stowers opted-out of the bowl to protect his physical & financial assets as he prepares for the professional NFL draft.

We RicheBurgers, home in Des Moines, with our new bowl game T-shirts.

Our plans had been that I would fly to Tampa, meet ol’ Vandy friends, hang out several days, and attend the game with them at Raymond James Stadium. Mary, with an Iowa women’s basketball game in Iowa City and other activities in Des Moines, planned to watch the football game at home.

I have now opted-out of the bowl trip because the last 72 hours, I’ve developed a case of double vision. Put me on the “injured reserve” list.

By Sunday morning when I was driving us to church, I shouldn’t have.

Dr. Mohamed Hassan, the on-call doc for the ophthalmology practice where Mary and I are both patients, examined me early Sunday afternoon and suspected, at best, a right eye nerve/muscle problem that is keeping the eyeball from moving horizontally like it should. There were other worse possibilities, too, needing deeper checking

So, as assigned, I took my place in a holiday-weekend capacity crowd at the emergency room downtown at Iowa Methodist Medical Center. In 11 hours stretching past midnight, the good folks there did labs and two CT scans. I did not ever actually get to see the ER physicians, and without an ER doc’s request, they could not do the MRI that the ophthalmologist wanted. I signed myself out about 1 a.m., explaining that I was not ignoring anybody’s medical advice, which I was not receiving, but that I was simply exhausted.

The good news is that the two CT scans found nothing seriously troubling in my neck and head. No major stroke, no bleeding, plus my lab work was good.

But by Monday morning at home, I was seeing even doubler (the only good part of which is that Mary looks twice as good!). I chased my regular ophthalmologist Dr. Matthew Raecker for a couple hours, learning he is on vacation until next Tuesday, Jan. 6, and then he will see me. A medical associate at his office checked my CTs and advised that I do not need the MRI before Jan. 6, unless things should unexpectedly get worse.

I was also encouraged to alert my normal medical provider Dr. Austin Baeth here in Des Moines, and if he’s at all concerned, he can order up more bloodwork to check on things. Did that.

Meantime, I’ll be doing no driving.

So, I canceled my bowl trip to Tampa. Other Vandy fans will use my two tickets.

And on Wednesday, Hawkeye Mary and Commodore Chuck will indeed be turning the ReliaQuest Bowl into the RicheBurger Bowl, cheering for our teams from home in Des Moines, grateful to be alive and together.

Go, Hawks!

Anchor down, Commodores!

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Chuck Offenburger writes as a member of the Iowa Writers Collaborative. Learn more about the group and consider becoming subscribers — for free or for modest fees, your choice — by using the link below here. Your support keeps them all writing for you!

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