Definitely doing better now

I'm continuing with the pre-emptive painkillers and it continues to make me feel better. I have a habit of trying to fight through things without too many meds (just having to take eye drops 4 times a day is kind of killing me) but I AM capable of learning new tricks! (maybe....)
The new strategy helped so much yesterday that for the first time in 2.5 weeks I didn't need to cover my eye at all during the day - even after my walk into town. Every other day this week I started off 'strong' and ended up putting a patch on it by around 2pm at the latest as it just got very tired and aching from the light (and possibly from looking at a computer monitor all day.) By the time I went to bed it did feel tired, and was a little blurry as a result, but so much better than had been the case.
Last night was also the first night I didn't wear a shield over it to sleep in. The guidelines I was given said I had to wear the shield for 2 weeks to protect it against me rubbing it in my sleep in the early stages. Obviously after 2 weeks I was very used to it being there but it still felt pretty amazing to turn over onto that side and not feel the edge of the plastic against my face. As far as I am aware I didn't rub it in the night either, which is probably a good thing!
All these improvements mean I'm actually pleased to see that it's another sunny day today instead of depressed about it - and pleased that its due to last a little longer. It just doesn't feel natural for me to be doing a mental rain dance every day so that I won't have to face the sun!
Another 'first time since'... now that I am cleared for light exercise I went on the Climber this morning for 10 minutes to see how it would go. I didn't select a program or try to race the machine or anything like that, just ten minutes basically walking up stairs. It didn't feel bad at all although it was slightly disconcerting that I could feel my eye... as in feel that I have one (ok two but there was only one eye I could actually feel). Normally I don't feel that I have an eye or eyes unless there's something in there like an eyelash, dust or contact lens. It wasn't painful or anything, just... I could feel it being there. I would guess with exertion (not very much) the pressure goes up slightly or something.
At lunchtime I walked to the supermarket in the sun again. OK I wore sunglasses, prescription reactolite glasses and a baseball cap to shield my eyes - but I still enjoyed feeling the sun on my bare arms. I walked between 1.5 and 2 miles, not sure exactly, but it was nice. It really was nice...