MyGrandmaSue

I haven’t spent much time on the computer this month so I’m sorry if you missed my somewhat constant updates. I went without my contact lenses in my eyes for the month of January in preparation for cataract surgery on my left eye. I am so near-sighted and I just can’t see as well with my glasses – even though they are bifocals! Close up work was nearly impossible because I couldn’t fit my reading glasses on my nose on top of the regular ones! No, it is not a pretty picture! 🙂

The surgery went well on the 19th. I was amazed to be able to read the clock on the other side of the recovery room as they wheeled me in from the very short (10-15 minute) surgery! Lots of eye drops of three different medicines has been the focus of this last week – along with experimenting with my new sight ability. On the road trip to Reno the next day, I found that during the day with sunglasses, I did just fine without correction for my right eye. Of course, I didn’t even try to read in the car or to catch up with any computer work. I just watched the scenery go by with new eyes – okay – really, eye! As dusk came, I removed my sunglasses. The hard part came with total night darkness. My ‘new’ eye was seeing absolutely fantastically but my ‘bad’ eye was throwing shadows and secondary fuzzy light spots to the left of all the good lights I was seeing. Putting on my dark glasses helped a little bit.

Some people say the colors are more intense after the cataracts are removed. For me it seemed different. I experimented before the surgery with comparing colors while covering one of my eyes and the colors seemed the same for both eyes. The magic for me has been the sharpness that has returned. I can actually see the texture of the clay roofing tiles on the house across the way when before the surgery I just saw the different shades of color. That probably has more to do with the ReStor® multifocal lens that Dr. Martinez inserted in place of my removed one. I can see! I can see!

My dilemma has been what to do with my uncorrected right eye – I wanted to get it used to the contact again ASAP so I could see sharper and so I wouldn’t have glare – but then I still couldn’t see up close. If I leave the contact out I can read up close with my right eye and use the left one for distance. However, I think my brain is confused because I did have correction to see closer with my left eye, not my right! I can go without the lens during the day but it helps tremendously for night-time vision and dealing with lights. In the office I have to put in the lens because of the glow of the florescent lighting. Without it my eyes tire quickly and I can’t read. So far I like the results of putting in the right contact lens better than being uncorrected. Then I use my reading glasses for both eyes. Dr. Martinez will be able to tweak the left eye with LASIK later after the eye heals from the cataract surgery to get the close vision better. The right eye has a cataract right smack dab in the middle of its lens so eventually it will have cataract surgery, too, and then I will have super eyesight!

It has been pretty awesome to wake up in the middle of the night and be able to read the digital clock across the room and to actually see small items in the low light shining in from the window. I’ve worn glasses or contacts for my bad eyesight since I was seven so this is a big deal for me!

I will get back to normal writing here soon. Please be patient with me right now. Thanks!!

Check out ideas and activities to do with kids on https://mygrandmasue.wordpress.com by the author of the award-winning children’s book Grandpa, Do It! I Do It, Too!
🙂