About a year ago I had my first cataract surgery. My “bad” eye had a fast-growing cataract that
needed to be removed soon, according to the doctor. I have lazy eye so the vision in this eye is
not correctable but the glare caused by the cataract was affecting my other
eye. The surgery went well and the glare
was gone.
By fall the cataract in my good eye began to seriously affect my
vision. It was the worst at night while
dealing with the glare of oncoming headlights while driving. However, I also noticed a difference while
reading. Words were often blurry. I’d clean my glasses and realize that they
were not the problem. This is the only
eye with which I can read. I struggled
for a while before returning to my eye doctor.
He confirmed that the cataract had grown and that my vision had
deteriorated.
The doctor offered a new eyeglass prescription if I wanted to hold off
a while or he could do cataract surgery.
He stated that the success rate is 98-99% and I replied that this was my
good eye—he nodded. I was rather nervous
since this is really the only eye I use.
What if there was a problem?
However, I was struggling enough with my vision that I didn't want to
wait. Surgery was scheduled.
Early on a December morning my husband drove me to the surgery
clinic. I was led back to a line of
beds with curtains in between. I
received a warm blanket and my friendly nurse began administering drops to
dilate and numb my eye. The people in
the beds on either side of me were experiencing the same thing. My doctor came in to check on me and then
later returned to get me, pushing the bed to the surgery room himself. A nurse anesthesiologist put the happy drug
into my IV and soon I was feeling no pain.
Within 10 minutes the surgery was over and I was sitting in a small room
with another patient. Our husbands were ushered
in. The nurse gave us juice and a snack
while we listened to our post-op instructions.
Before long I was walking out the door hanging on to my husband
because I was a bit wobbly and couldn't see well. A clear piece of plastic was taped over my
eye. I was instructed to wear it for
several hours and also every night at bedtime for one week. Once home I headed for the recliner and spent
most of the day there. For me, relaxing
involves reading so this was a bit of a challenge. My eye stayed dilated for a couple days so
reading was impossible. The TV was
blurry. The only discomfort I
experienced was from one of eye drops which I needed to apply four times a day.
By the next day I was able to do a little housecleaning, some baking,
and host an evening Christmas party for my women’s group. I had one day and one week post-op
appointments. Everything looks
good. I graduated to drops twice a day.
The fog and glare are gone. The amazing
thing is that they can put your prescription into your new lens. (Cataract surgery involves removing your lens
with the cataract and implanting an artificial one.) I no longer need prescription glasses. Once my eye is totally healed and the
inflammation is gone—which takes about a month—the vision in my eye will be
about 20/20. I can use the computer
without glasses. All I need are drug
store reading glasses. I’m learning to
deal with that now. I began with dollar
store reading glasses since my vision is still adjusting—they broke within a couple
of weeks. I’m on pair #2 which has a
rather fun design on the frames. Where
do I keep them? On my head? In my purse?
Multiples everywhere? I’m working
on this.
I marvel at what I can see again even though my eyes are still
healing. I had a couple days of very
poor vision and an inability to read. I
depend on my sight for nearly everything I do.
I am grateful for the gift of sight I received when I was born and now
my renewed vision from my very skilled doctor.
What a gift!
