It's a Miracle!

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This morning was one of the most amazing mornings in my memory.

A bit of history.

I first started wearing glasses in my early twenties. I had never needed glasses, and since the loss of sharpness had happened gradually, I wasn't really aware of it. Then Terry noticed that, at night, I was driving slower and slower. Once he mentioned it, I also became aware of it. We discussed it and decided it was time for me to have my eyes checked.

I went in for an exam, and sure enough, I needed glasses.

I will never forget the day I got my first glasses. Since the degradation of my vision had been so gradual, I really didn't realize what I was missing. All of a sudden, there were leaves on the trees, and buds on the tops of flower stems. That night there was a full moon and it dawned on me that I couldn't remember the last time I had seen the man in the moon.

It was a revelation, and the beginning of my wearing glasses.

Good vision is a real gift, and eyeglasses are pretty wonderful. But they're also something extra you have to put on your face in order to see. You lose the ability to wake up in the morning and see clearly. They're almost always dirty. They're a real pain in the rain.

A true mixed blessing, we're certainly thankful for them. But wouldn't it be nice to do without them? It never occurred to me that that could be the case for me. I've looked into LASIK, but my insurance doesn't cover it and I just couldn't justify the cost. Then about seven years ago, my opthamologist told me I had the beginnings of cataracts, and lately, as regular readers know, they've gotten pretty bad.

So yesterday I had the surgery, and when I woke up this morning, I looked out the window, and the leaves were back on the trees!

I can't begin to describe what this was like. It was like a real miracle, my vision was back, and I could once again see further than two feet in front of my face.

We had a follow up with my Doctor, and I'm sure I drove poor Terry crazy. reading road signs, babbling about all the photo opportunities that I saw.

I felt reborn.

I think I might have scared the Doctor, I was so excited.

They told me that my vision would improve when I had the surgery, but somehow, I missed the idea that I might be able to see without my glasses.

What a gift.

I'm typing this on the computer, using 150 readers, and have done without my prescription glasses all day. I can drive, watch television and just enjoy the horizon. How stupendous.

If you are even considering cataract surgery, I can tell you I'm very pleased with my results (and can hardly wait to get the other eye done next month). The Doctor says there's a possibility that using a closeup lens in my left eye (giving me mono vision) I may do without glasses entirely.

But if my results just stayed like they are, I'd still be pleased.



If you'd like to read an interesting article on the evolution of eyeglasses from "reading stones" circa 1000 up to current times, you can read it here.

Surgery!

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I know a lot of you might not be interested in this narrative, but I thought it might be helpful to someone who is facing cataract surgery, so here goes.

What a day!

First we got up at 5:30am, which isn't my favorite way to start the day.

No coffee, no tea, no breakfast, then it was into the hospital.

Technically called out-patient surgery, there was still a whole lot of preparation. Into the prep room, into the lovely designer hospital gown, tests run, then hooked up to several machines. At least four people (nurses, technicians, anesthesiologist and whatever) came in, most asking pretty much the same questions with minor variations. These folks wanted to make very sure that we were all on the same page, working on my right eye and implanting a lens for distance vision.

I laid there for about an hour, talking to all these people, then my Doctor came in and we had pretty much the same discussion. Then it was time to go in.

So they wheel me into an operating room, where they tell me that I'll be very relaxed, but definitely awake. They'll numb my right eye and use some device to keep it open, but they would like me to keep my left eye open during the procedure (I'm a little leery about this,but it isn't near as hard as you might think).

They squirt something dreamy into my IV and in no time, the procedure begins. At first all I can see is a bright light (kind of like they talk about when you die, shudder) but I know it's all right because I can hear all the OR chatter. Then suddenly, I see a yellow color, then shortly thereafter, I start seeing a couple of shapes, almost like looking through a microscope. Then, they taped an apparatus that resembled a small kitchen strainer to my eye, and quick as a flash, I'm wheeled out.

The whole thing took about twenty minutes.

Within another ten minutes, I'm leaving the hospital in a wheelchair.

I can already tell that my vision has improved, even though I'm looking through a small colander. We make it almost all the way home before I have to look, and you know what? For the first time in probably twenty years, the distance is clear without my glasses.

Wowie Zowie, this is cool. I put my hand over my left eye and the sky is quite blue and the trees are green, no haze. Then I cover my right eye and the old haze returns and I realize something. Not only is there a haze, but it has a slight yellowish brown cast to it. I never even thought that my cataracts might affect my sense of color, but it certainly seems like this is the case. My vision through my right eye is considerably brighter and richer than the vision in my left.

I'm happy as a clam. We get home and I set up the alarms on my iPhone to remind me to put in all my eye drops (3 different meds, each four times a day, at least ten minutes apart). In addition to this, I'm to continue my regular glaucoma meds, which add another three applications a day, also at least ten minutes apart..

I'm going to be squirting my eyes a lot for the next month.

Now it's time to put in my first set of drops. All of a sudden, the vision in my right eye clouds over. The distance is still sharp, but there is a definite fog.

I'm completely freaked out. It's like that old Night Gallery (the pilot was a trilogy starring Joan Crawford and directed by a young whippersnapper named Steven Spielberg. The title is Eyes, and it's worth checking out).

Anyway, I look through the ton of paperwork they've sent home with me, and one thing stands out. They say if you have an immediate degradation of vision, call immediately. So I do.

I get one of the ladies who had helped with my surgery and she says she thinks it's somewhat normal, but she'll talk to the Doctor and get back to me.

Of course, I'm worried. My precious vision, restored so sharp and clean, snatched away after such a short time.

Fortunately, they called back within a very short time and said that this is quite normal as my eyeball has been traumatized, and it will take it a while to settle down. That said, I have a follow up appointment tomorrow and they will check it out then. But they assure my I shouldn't worry.

A bit later, my vision clears and I am one happy camper. But again, it clouds over, but this time I don't worry.

So all in all, I'm quite pleased. I'll let you know the final results in a few weeks when everything has cleared up and healed.