January 30th, 2018

I have an appointment this afternoon with an eye surgeon.  Turns out, I have mature cataracts. Dang!  That sounds so old.   really despise everything involved with getting older. Cannot begin to tell you how much. Oh well, facts are facts and cataracts are cataracts and I got 'em and something must be done about them.

​I was told at my appointment with the regular eye doctor that there are three possibilities.  First, I can just have the cataracts removed. Ok.  I will see a little better but my astigmatism will not have changed which means other than probably being able to tell the difference between black and navy blue and being aware that trees have individual leaves on them, nothing much will be any different for me.  Second, they can remove the cataracts AND whatever magic it is that they do so that I will no longer require glasses for seeing distance. What?  That's just amazing to me.   How is that even possible? Third, they can remove the cataracts, fix my distance vision AND do additional prestidigitation that fixes my close up vision too. No Glasses At All Ever Again (other than sunglasses of course).  Okay now that's just crazy talk.

​I've worn glasses since I was three years old.  They are part of my face.  I cannot even begin to imagine what it would be like to be able to just open my eyes and see.  It's incomprehensible to me.  But it sounds wonderful doesn't it?  I was not a candidate of Lasix due to my severe astigmatism.  We found that out after Tim's very successful Lasix was done.  He was (and remains) very pleased. So I was stunned to hear that this was a possibility for me.

​Actually there is a fourth option. I could choose to do nothing at all but that means that eventually the cataracts would render me blind and I consider that no option at all. Something will have to be done.  So after my lengthy (3 hour!) appointment today where my eyes are severely dilated and various things are measured and considered and scrutinized repeatedly, I will find out if it is really true that all those option are available to me and then I have to choose which one I want and then when do I want it done.

​I will ask loads of questions (I have a list) a lot of them about money of course. But also risk assessment, recovery time, and what actually is involved with this surgery.  It's a little scary but mostly this like an amazing adventure to me!

​There is a down side of course.  Once my eyes  are fixed, I will find out how dirty my house really is!  Hey, I'm not joking.  I dropped a cheerio the other day.  It rolled under the kitchen counter. I kneeled down to pick it up and noticed a dirty spot on the lower cabinet where obviously something had dribbled while I was cooking.  I got up and retrieved cleaning stuff to fix it and when I returned, from a standing position, I couldn't see the spot.  I kneeled again and there it was.  Hmmmm.  I stood again. Gone.  I kneeled again. It reappeared.  Interesting.

​I wonder what other things will be different for me afterwards?  It's exciting to contemplate!

​Wish me luck!