Thursday, January 15, 2015

Back from Cataract Surgery: I Can SEE!

On Tuesday, January 13, I had cataract surgery on my right eye.  For the past couple of days following the surgery, I have been resting and recuperating.  I opted to have the right eye done first, as it was my worst eye, almost useless for years.  I could see out of the eye, but my vision was noticeably blurrier and darker than that of my left eye.  I relied on my left eye to get around.

I have been preparing for the surgery for several weeks, putting prescribed drops in my eye, planning which motel to stay in the night before my 6:45 AM appointment at the vision clinic.  When I found myself laying on a hospital bed that was being pushed through halls and rooms, the overhead lights whizzing by, I knew the time had finally arrived.  Then I was pushed under a white machine and suddenly felt some anxiety.  Preparation time is over, this is it!  My eye, my vision, my sight are in the hands of strangers.  Hope they know what the hell they're doing.

The doctor put drops in my eye, then put a gizmo into my eye that prevents me from blinking and closing the eye.  Intense light is then beamed into the eye; tears slide from my eye, but I can't blink or escape the light.  I see a ring of black dots as a laser is lowered onto my eye, and I hear the clack clack clack of it cutting through the cornea.  "Looks great," the doc says and my bed moves again, to a different room and machine.  Now I stare at a red dot with more clack clack clacking.  The doctor is destroying my natural lens, sucking it out somehow.  Next, he floats an artificial lens over my eyeball and somehow pokes it into place.  He closes the cornea flap and tapes gauze and an eye patch over my eye.  I'm done.  It took ten minutes, didn't hurt much at all, and doesn't hurt hardly at all, now that it's over.

The next morning I visit the doctor in his office for a followup.  The nurse takes the eye patch off.  I wait until it is all stripped away before opening my eye.  And there's the world!  I can see.  I check the difference between my right and left eyes by putting my palm over one, and then the other.  It is obvious that my right eye is now far better than my untreated left.  The right has sharper focus and white appears white, not white with a yellowish tinge, as with my left eye.

The doctor tells me the eye will get better over the next few days, as it heals.  I am thrilled!  I have no longer any need of glasses for the right eye, and I opt not to wear my glasses at all.  I can see that well.

I am impatient to have the left eye repaired next.  Due to the tax season starting, it will probably have to wait until after April 15.

12 comments:

Adrienne said...

It's all computerized now, so it works pretty darn good. Can't wait for you to have the other one done. Congrats...

LD Jackson said...

Our eyesight is one of those things that we tend to take for granted, until it gets bad or goes away completely. I'm glad to hear your surgery went well and you are on your way to getting yours back to 100%.

Always On Watch said...

The miracle of modern surgery!

I had a cataract removal in 1984, and back them the procedure was more complicated, and my eye was quite painful for weeks. 7 stitches, too. Furthermore, the kind of lens implanted back then causes all kinds of weird reflections.

Now, cataract surgery is no stitch or one stitch. And the IOL doesn't cause reflections. I know these points for a fact because I again had cataract surgery in 2008. A walk in the park!

PoliticalClownParade said...

Wonderful, wonderful news Stogie. With God's blessings and mercy so many medical innovations make life worth living. You're almost a superman again. Congratulations!

Stogie Chomper said...

Thanks Curmudgeon! Having great eyesight is indeed wonderful. There is so much detail in the world that you miss if you don't have good eyesight. Sitting here in my kitchen, I can look out the patio doors and see individual blades of grass in my lawn. Before, all I could see was a green carpet. I love having great vision! In my right eye, anyway, Left eye is next.

Stogie Chomper said...

AOW, I didn't have any stitches at all. The surgery keeps getting easier and faster, with less complications. As you said, it is now "a walk in the park."

Stogie Chomper said...

Thanks LD! You are correct about taking eyesight for granted. I had Lasik about ten years ago, and for several years had great vision in both eyes. Then I noticed my vision was deteriorating, and I didn't know why. The deterioration was caused by the formation of cataracts, which blur the lens of the eye. Now that my right eye is great again, I am enjoying just looking at things, almost in childlike wonder.

Stogie Chomper said...

Me too Adrienne! I am anxious to get the left one done ASAP.

LD Jackson said...

I bet you are looking at things anew. Just keep lookin', Stogie. Keep lookin'.

Adrienne said...

I can relate because I still remember as clearly as if it was yesterday my first pair of glasses when I was 15 years old. I remember going outside after getting them and stopping dead in my tracks and saying, "Wooooaaaaaa - those trees have individual leaves. And the chrome on car bumpers? I never knew it was shiny.

Proof said...

Great news, Stogie! (It does explain a number of your Photoshops, though!) Seriously, the gift of sight is something many of us take for granted. I'm glad the results were so awesome for you!

Stogie Chomper said...

Thanks Proof.