Sometimes Old Is Better
By Randy Rawls
I'm writing this with one eye covered by a
patch and a shield. And I'm happy about it. Nuts? Probably, but not because of
this.
It goes back about eight weeks. That was the
day I took the plunge and had cataract surgery on my right eye—my reading eye.
It wasn't an easy decision to make since my vision is my most priceless
commodity. Just the thought of losing it terrifies me.
My vision began to tank in my early forties.
I went from no glasses to reading glasses to bifocals in four years. Yeah, I
was scared and provided my optometrist with a good laugh when I asked if I was
going blind. He was patient and explained my problem. Vision would continue to
collapse until it leveled off. I wasn't happy about it, but not much to do but
accept it. As he predicted, it did level out after several years and several
sets of progressive lenses. That didn't mean I liked wearing glasses, though. I
felt like I was watching the world through a window, a border around everything
I saw. Then I met contact lenses and spent many years happy to insert them in the
morning and take them out at night.
Alas, that comfort zone began to collapse when
my ophthalmologist started talking cataracts. They weren't bad yet, but . . . At
first, the fear of blindness returned, then stubbornness. My contacts are fine,
I told myself. I can handle it. But, as I talked to many who had undergone cataract
surgery, I discovered that a return to 20-20 vision was not only possible, but
probable. So, I swallowed hard and raised the issue of surgery with my doctor. He
assured me I was an excellent candidate for resounding success.
In early October, he did the right eye—my
reading eye. BANG! It went from a plus 6.50 contact to 20-20, no correction
needed, overnight.
Today, I had surgery on my left eye. Tomorrow,
they take off the patch and shield, and I find out the results. I'm expecting
perfect far vision.
Damn, I'm happy.
6 comments:
Happy for you.
That's great. My dad had the same thing done with good results, too.
Hi Randy,
Sounds just like my story. Went from squinting at about 40 to drugstore glasses to the real thing and finally to cataract surgery. I still wear glasses because I never quite got 20-20 back and I'm an immaculate degenerate...or something like that. But if I get a few more years of good eyesight I won't care anymore. I'm going on 86 and although my doctor says with my cholesterol I'll live to be a 186, I'm not sure I really want that.
Anyway, good luck with your new eyesight. You look cool in your white hat. I have a similar black hat I wear when I don my safari jacket and try to look adventurous. Carl
Good deal, Randy. I did the same thing last winter and went from grossly nearsighted to great far vision. I need drug store glasses to read print smaller than 10 pt., but that's no problem. Like Carl Albrecht, I have macular degeneration in one eye, but I've taken high-powered vitamins for several years and it hasn't progressed. ASt 87 I see better than I did 60 years ago.
My husband is getting a cataract removed very soon also. It seems to be the going thing these days in our circles!
Morgan Mandel
http://www.morganmandel.com
For any contemplating cataract surgery (or can worm themselves into having it), I say go for it. I'm on day 5 now and my left eye is seeing like I can't remember. I would have never thought it possible. When I return to the doctor on Thursday, I expect to hear 20-20 distance vision. :-)
Post a Comment