Happens To Someone Else
Over the years, I have had people tell me about their cataract surgery. When you are young, I thought I will never need that. But as I got older I could feel that health starts to wane over time, and the body needs some help from time to time.
Connect The Dots
I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes about twenty five years ago. I was told about the various conditions that diabetes can bring on.
I never felt that diabetes was affecting my life in a noticeable way, until a few years ago. At my annual ophthalmologist checkup, he said I needed to go for laser eye surgery because of some weakness on the outer edges of my eyes.
Laser Surgery
This meant I had to go to an eye surgery specialist. First the checkup appointment, then the surgery appointment, and then a followup appointment.
The surgery is not comfortable on the eyes. After your eyes are dilated, the doctor puts a glass ring inside your eyelids, so you can’t close your eye.
Then he shines a bright light into the eye to he can see what he is doing. You can’t close your eye to avoid the bright light. But he got the job done.
Diabetes Caused ?
After the surgery, I think that this is caused by my diabetes. None of my doctors said this was the case, but the research shows that diabetes weakens and damages most every organ of the body, and it must have been my turn.
Fast Forward Five Years
Life is good, everything was going along fine having lost 23 pounds. My eyes have been good, although I wear glasses.
One day while driving, I closed my left eye, seeing only through my right eye. It was blurry. I thought I need new lenses in my glasses.
You Have a Cataract
I make an appointment with an optometrist. As she goes through the various lenses, the vision is not getting any better. She says you have a cataract. She refers me to an ophthalmologist who does the cataract surgery.
Again there is the checkup appointment, a 2nd checkup appointment to select your lense, the surgery
appointment, and a day after follow up appointment.
Cataract Surgery
This is day surgery at an outpatient type surgery centre. I was there for about an hour and a half.
You can’t drive the day of the surgery, so arrangements for taxis were made. I spent the day resting and had my follow up appointment early the next day.
More Bright Light
My fear going into the operation was that I would have a bright light in my eye again. And I did. But it was not as bright as the one for the laser surgery. And the whole surgery was about ten minutes. The whole experience was very smooth, with a very competent doctor and support nurses.
Everything went well, and now I have eye drops to put in four times per day for a week or so.
Bad Eye to Good Eye
The blurry eye has a new lens, and it is now my clearest vision eye. While I did not book an appointment to have the second eye done yet, I think that will be something to be done in the future.
New Glasses
I will need to get the lens in my glasses checked, but I have to wait six weeks before that it done.
Our Senses
Seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, smelling. These are our senses that we rely on everyday. In my mind, sight is the most important considering what we do in daily life.
There may be a day when I would have my drivers license taken away because of poor vision. And maybe self driving cars will be common by then.
I’m happy that the damage to my eye has been repaired.
Looking After Our Body
Our whole body is important. When I was young, I had a feeling of being invincible. But as I grow older, I know that I am not.
I am becoming weaker as the years go by, so maintaining your health becomes more important. We need to keep our bodies in the best shape we can.
Health is only ours on a day by day basis. And the health we have today, if based on how well we took care of our body yesterday.
