Tuesday, June 05, 2012
THE EYES HAVE IT
As predicted at last year's exam, my cataracts are now ripe for removal.
They take the hardening lens out and replace it with an artificial one.
Both eyes. One at a time. A week apart.
My prognosis is pretty good. I trust Doctor Ho and her advice to get it done sooner rather than later. I need a new prescription now and will have to redo it much more frequently if no work is done.
I will probably need no glasses at all if I have one eye done for close and the other for distance. The lens that replaces is tailor made for me, more or less.
I could get both eyes for distance and use over the counter glasses for closeup.
Actually, she would wait until I have the first eye done to make that decision. After I have had a chance to "see" the effect of the new lens.
They do the ops about one day a month and June is filled, so probably July. They will call me.
I have been apprehensive about this on both sides. One side, I am just surgery averse and it is my eye(s) but one at a time eases my fear of any "accident". On the other side, I am apprehensive about letting it go too long and not being in good shape to have it done. Unlikely. More likely is that I will need this to pass my next driver's renewal test. This time was a bit touch and go.
They give the same anaesthesia that is used for a colonoscopy. I go out, the procedure takes ten minutes, and I am out from under and go home.
Convalescence is easier than in the past. This is not my father's cataract operation.
I will get a patch for three hours and be able to see by the end of the first day. It will take five days to be perfect. There is "no pain". Yeh. OK.
I won't be able to lift more than 30 pounds or bend at the waist. Detached retina worries for a week.
That is it. I am ready to go. A little squeamish but not much. My doctor says it is OK to do. He trusts the office that I go to.
I said that I wouldn't do it until I began to notice the problem. I am noticing it. My left eye has less vision than the right and there is a loss of clarity. Whatever that means, I can feel and see that.
No money involved. It is all covered by Medicare. If I had astigmatism I would have to get another lens to go without glasses at my own cost. But I have only a little of it.
We went over this at length. It feels right.
Dr. Ho calls me "my dear". That counts for something.
