Happy Hurloween!
Women
17 hours ago
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
A Man Of Vision
I mean 'vision' in the optical sense, and that man would be someone besides me.
A little more than 20 years ago, I had become so nearsighted that I could no longer drive a car safely, particularly at night. So I started wearing glasses.
I had LASIK surgery about 7 years ago, and I thought it was the greatest thing since Play-Doh. I no longer needed glasses to drive, or to golf, or to do anything that required distance vision. But the laser played a trick on me, and I found myself needing glasses to read -- at least when the lighting was not ideal. I was able to use the magnifiers that you can pick up in any grocery store, and they worked just fine.
About 4 years ago, I noticed new problems. I was experiencing blind spots, and I knew that I had a floater in my left eye (probably a remnant of LASIK). I saw an optometrist, and she fitted me with new glasses, but they didn't seem to help much, and the problem persisted. I just assumed that my eyes were getting old, and when Paul Harvey came on the radio to talk about macular degeneration, I listened. I kept telling myself that I needed to order some of that ocular nutrition stuff he was selling. But I never got around to it.
About a year and a half ago, I stopped reading for pleasure. I was having too much difficulty with it, and trying to read only frustrated me. And things continued to degenerate, and now I know what the problem is: I have a cataract in my right eye. (If you're wondering why it took so long to get to the doctor, remember, I'm a guy, and that's just the way it is.)
The picture above is a very good rendition of what I see if I look out of my right eye. I can distinguish light from dark, and if there is enough contrast, I can make out some colors, but other than that, there is nothing but a white blur. When looking out of both eyes, I see something like the picture below. Except when the floater drifts into my field of vision in the left eye, and then I can't see anything but a blur. That makes driving a real challenge. And at night, the blur of headlights is too much for me to handle. I'm handicapped by the lack of vision -- the blur and a complete absence of peripheral vision to the right -- and by seeing things that aren't there, as when I see a blur from a headlight that is not actually where I see it. I'm seeing double because my eyes aren't looking in the same direction.
What causes cataracts? No one seems to have a definitive answer, but a Wikipedia article mentions UV exposure, diabetes, and radiation exposure as possibilities. There seems to be a strong hereditary link, and that makes sense to me --- my maternal grandmother, my mother and one of my sisters has had them. Whatever causes them, I doubt that there will ever be a way to prevent them.
The good news is that they are treatable. I commented to Dorothy a few weeks ago that we are lucky to be living in this day and age. Imagine if you had been born 100 years before you were. In my case, I would be a virtual cripple - no back surgeries and no cataract treatment. Not to mention the knee surgeries and my daily dose of the greatest drug ever invented -- Prevacid!
Next Monday morning I will have the offending lens removed and a new one put in its place. Of course I hope for 20/20 vision when it's over, but I'll settle for whatever they can give me. The cloud will disappear and I'm eager to tackle that stack of books on the kitchen counter.
A little more than 20 years ago, I had become so nearsighted that I could no longer drive a car safely, particularly at night. So I started wearing glasses.
I had LASIK surgery about 7 years ago, and I thought it was the greatest thing since Play-Doh. I no longer needed glasses to drive, or to golf, or to do anything that required distance vision. But the laser played a trick on me, and I found myself needing glasses to read -- at least when the lighting was not ideal. I was able to use the magnifiers that you can pick up in any grocery store, and they worked just fine.
About 4 years ago, I noticed new problems. I was experiencing blind spots, and I knew that I had a floater in my left eye (probably a remnant of LASIK). I saw an optometrist, and she fitted me with new glasses, but they didn't seem to help much, and the problem persisted. I just assumed that my eyes were getting old, and when Paul Harvey came on the radio to talk about macular degeneration, I listened. I kept telling myself that I needed to order some of that ocular nutrition stuff he was selling. But I never got around to it.
About a year and a half ago, I stopped reading for pleasure. I was having too much difficulty with it, and trying to read only frustrated me. And things continued to degenerate, and now I know what the problem is: I have a cataract in my right eye. (If you're wondering why it took so long to get to the doctor, remember, I'm a guy, and that's just the way it is.)
The picture above is a very good rendition of what I see if I look out of my right eye. I can distinguish light from dark, and if there is enough contrast, I can make out some colors, but other than that, there is nothing but a white blur. When looking out of both eyes, I see something like the picture below. Except when the floater drifts into my field of vision in the left eye, and then I can't see anything but a blur. That makes driving a real challenge. And at night, the blur of headlights is too much for me to handle. I'm handicapped by the lack of vision -- the blur and a complete absence of peripheral vision to the right -- and by seeing things that aren't there, as when I see a blur from a headlight that is not actually where I see it. I'm seeing double because my eyes aren't looking in the same direction.
What causes cataracts? No one seems to have a definitive answer, but a Wikipedia article mentions UV exposure, diabetes, and radiation exposure as possibilities. There seems to be a strong hereditary link, and that makes sense to me --- my maternal grandmother, my mother and one of my sisters has had them. Whatever causes them, I doubt that there will ever be a way to prevent them.
The good news is that they are treatable. I commented to Dorothy a few weeks ago that we are lucky to be living in this day and age. Imagine if you had been born 100 years before you were. In my case, I would be a virtual cripple - no back surgeries and no cataract treatment. Not to mention the knee surgeries and my daily dose of the greatest drug ever invented -- Prevacid!
Next Monday morning I will have the offending lens removed and a new one put in its place. Of course I hope for 20/20 vision when it's over, but I'll settle for whatever they can give me. The cloud will disappear and I'm eager to tackle that stack of books on the kitchen counter.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Digital Conversion
On February 17, 2009, all television signals in the US will be digital. This may create some confusion for those who do not have cable or satellite service. A converter box will be required to convert the digital signal to analog for older TVs.
As a public service, learn here how to install the new converter box.
As a public service, learn here how to install the new converter box.
Smoking Again (the last time)
It's been more than 2 weeks since the last post, so I thought I'd better
get something up here before I completely lose your attention. More posts
to follow, but here is a quick one...
Two posts from last spring dealt with smoking. I know it's bad for you. I
also believe a business owner has the right to allow smoking or not. If you
can't take the smoke, stay out of the establishment. I won't rehash my
arguments here, but they can be found within these posts:
Up In
Smoke
Rights
and Wrongs
So, I stated my case, and some agreed with me and others disagreed. But I
now have the end-all be-all of the smoking debate...call it the smoking
gun, if you like. But here is the irrefutable evidence that smoking not
only should be allowed, but in certain cases it should be encouraged!
get something up here before I completely lose your attention. More posts
to follow, but here is a quick one...
Two posts from last spring dealt with smoking. I know it's bad for you. I
also believe a business owner has the right to allow smoking or not. If you
can't take the smoke, stay out of the establishment. I won't rehash my
arguments here, but they can be found within these posts:
Up In
Smoke
Rights
and Wrongs
So, I stated my case, and some agreed with me and others disagreed. But I
now have the end-all be-all of the smoking debate...call it the smoking
gun, if you like. But here is the irrefutable evidence that smoking not
only should be allowed, but in certain cases it should be encouraged!
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