Lopsovision

I had my first cataract surgery last Tuesday, and the simplest most basic lens implanted in my right eye. I did not have a fancy lens implanted to allow this or that, such as shifting my vision near to far, but simple and close-focused to about 20 inches. In about 10 days I have the other one done with the distance-focused lens implanted.

Meanwhile, I wear an eye-guard at night. During the day, a pair of old glasses with a weaker prescription does the job. Add a layer of large sunglasses with shading on all sides for outdoors. Indoors, no sunglasses needed. The movie star look, I guess.

My vision is off, but livable. I can drive and read, watch television, and navigate the world as before . . . except no aerobics, bending at the waist, jumping up and down, lifting more than 5 lbs. This means no picking things up off the floor, carrying items, putting items onto the lower dishwasher tier, and any interesting number of things. I need an attendant or a mechanical arm, or “grabber” if you will. I have two of the latter, one long, one short, and they are definitely worthwhile.

I cannot pick up dog fur with them. Sigh.

The first day I had the eye guard on until my first post-op visit the next day. The eye guard is worn for the first 24 hours to prevent my rubbing the eye and to allow it to heal. There was a sense of scratchiness and itchiness, reminiscent of hay fever, but blinking to lubricate the eye, as well as closing it to rest, helped. The eye guard is taped in place at night to keep unconscious scratching and rubbing at bay, but during the day, conscious thought has to prevail. I’ve slipped up a few times, but am pretty good. I try to think “eye drops!” whenever the urge to scratch hits.

The eye guard is weird. It protects the eye, is firm, and has oodles of little holes throughout. As soon as I was conscious from the surgery, I could see. Peripheral vision was there because of the eye guard, and the ability to move around was good. Navigating space and such was rather dicey, but that is partly because of the remnants of anaesthesia.

I didn’t put on my glasses until the day after surgery, but wore them the next day as I was going to have the eye guard removed. I could have worn them the same day!

After about 48 hours, the itchiness of my eye stopped. It feels normal. To promote healing, I take antibiotic drops 3x a day, and 2 different steroids 3 x a day as well – 2 drops of one, and one drop of another. I have a check-off sheet because they go on and on for three weeks, doses decreasing over time.

I live in earthquake country. Catastrophic thinking is my forte. Visions of a major earthquake during surgery and subsequent blindness have wandered through my head.

One done, one to go.

The benefits of the surgery were immediately obvious. Colors impeded by the cataract no longer exist in the right eye. The world is a brighter place! I can see things close up more clearly. Putting a hand over my left eye, without my specs, and 3D becomes more of a reality than it has been in years. Hiding the right eye, I see that my world is dull indeed. It’s like being a little kid again, waiting for that gift you know is hidden in your parents’ closet – the anticipation is great and certainly appreciated. Hopefully no earthquakes on August 4th . . .

One more benefit of the surgery is I don’t have to clean house since I am limited. I got a housecleaning service in, and I am horrified by how dirty my house really is, and delighted at how clean it is becoming.