"Madame, bear in mind That princes govern all things--save the wind." -Victor Hugo, The Infanta's Rose

Friday, October 17, 2008

I can see clearly now

We've been back from our Colorado vacation for a week now, and what's the first thing that any average, normal, red-blooded American typically says when returning from a 2,500 mile road trip? They say "I think I'll ask someone to cut a slit in my eyeball, insert a probe to liquefy a portion of it with sonic waves, and then suck it out with a straw," of course.

What?

You mean everyone doesn't say this? It's just me? Hmmmmm, OK. I always knew I was a bit, er, different. In any case, I had cataract surgery on Monday and all has gone well so far. I confess that I was a bit nervous when the procedure (called "phacoemulsification") was first explained to me, but it's been performed on millions of people and was quick and totally painless. In fact, it took them longer to set up for it than the actual operation itself. This perception was no doubt also due in part to the wonderful drugs I was given; I recall looking up from the table as a guy appeared over me saying "Hi there! I'm your anesthesiologist!" in what seemed like a curiously way too chipper tone of voice, and the next thing I knew, it was all over and I was being handed a cookie and a carton of orange juice.

The difference in my eyesight has been dramatic. I've gone without glasses all week for the first time in perhaps 40 years, and although there's still another cataract in my left eye that will need to be removed eventually (one of the many negative side effects of the prednisone I take for my IPF), it's not nearly as bad as the one I had done this week, and my doc thinks I should wait perhaps another year or so. It will take some getting used to, as my vision is now asymmetrical: the "new" eye sees 20-20 at distance but not as sharp close-up, while the "old" eye does just the opposite. However, the doc tells me my brain will learn to compensate for this by shifting most of the work of seeing to whichever eye is better focused on the particular task at hand as required.

No glasses ... what a concept!

3 Comments:

  • At 10/20/2008 06:29:00 AM, Blogger SupaCoo said…

    So, you can no longer be called "ol' four eyes" but, with one new eye and one bad eye, can you be called "ol' one-and-a-half eyes?"

    Glad it went well. It always creeps me out when eyeballs get involved. I'm glad I don't have that surgeon's job.

     
  • At 10/21/2008 08:25:00 PM, Blogger Mr. Toast said…

    I've certainly been called worse. :0

     
  • At 10/28/2008 06:47:00 PM, Blogger Chandira said…

    Oooh, wonderful! I'm glad you're seeing better!

    hey, I just emailed you a pdf of something I promised you a long time ago, that essay on Divine Ignorance. I finally found the book it was in! All the info's in the email.

    love

     

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