I am now almost three weeks post-surgery to remove my second cataract. Now I understand what everybody talks about after this surgery. I can see much better. On a trip to Daytona Beach last week, I was extremely gratified to realize I could actually read the directional signs for the freeway offramps. Last Sunday at church, I could read the words on the screen- as long as there were six lines of text or fewer. A friend of mne mentioned that her experience with cataract surgery was that she realized she had been seeing the world through a layer of waxed paper before the surgeon scraped that layer of opaqueness of her corneas. That seems like a really good description to me.
My eyes are still not perfect. I am using readers for close-up vision. This continues to be an adjustment. I’ve gotten a little more astute at figuring when to put them on and when not to bother. I am more accepting of the reality that I cannot read and watch television at the same time. Computer screens are still the bane of my existence because they are a little too far away from my face for the readers to help and my distance vision is still not quite good enough to read a monitor easily. It is way better and I knew that I would still need bifocals when all is complete. The surprise is how well I am doing without glasses for everything except reading and computer screens.
The biggest improvement has been that the horrible feeling of discombobulation and disorientation I’ve been experiencing since surgery one is gone. Now that both my eyes are on the same teeter-totter, I am no longer constantly feeling dizzy, nauseous, and headachey. Each eye seems to have gone back to pulling its own weight. My right eye is relieved to go back to moving at an easy trot. My left eye, having taken a knee for most of the last month, is sheepishly back in the game.
In another month or so, I will have new glasses and this summer campaign in the Cataract War will be concluded. I am still impatient for that day, but I must say that this second surgery has given me the stick-to-itiveness and hope to wait it out with some level of good grace. I can now SEE… and see a day when all will be well!
How do you stay patient while waiting for a drsired outcome? Please share your perspective by leaving a comment. In the alternative, you can email me at terriretirement@gmail.com.
Keep your peepers open for more blog posts soon!
Terri/Dorry 🙂