New Vision

It's been health care week for Sam. I had cataract surgery on Monday, followed by a dual epidural for my back on Friday.

As a reminder, this is very close to what I saw through my right eye just a week ago...



We'll call that the "before" picture.

The epidurals were the second series I've had in the past three weeks. After two back surgeries, I didn't think I'd have any more problems, but I was wrong. These were sacroiliac, meaning that they were injected into the area where the sacrum meets the ilium. A rather painful experience, but I hope it will be worth it.

But back to the cataract surgery.

It is a very strange feeling to be lying on an operating table, awake, while the ophthalmologist is cutting into your eye. The preparation for the surgery involved a physical exam (after coughing up some cash for the medical co-pay), then going to a different floor of the building to check in (and cough up even more cash), then finally getting onto the operating table. The nurse explained that I'd be knocked out for a few minutes so they could numb my eye, after which I would be rolled into the operating room. She told me that I would be awake for the surgery, but I wouldn't feel anything or see anything. So they knocked me out, and when I woke up, my eye was numbed.

I don't really know how long the surgery lasted, but I could see some light through my right eye throughout. Once it was over, they flushed the eye and taped a plastic cup over it. The cup would be removed the next day.

The most painful thing about it was when they inserted the intravenous line prior to the surgery. The only after-effect I noted was some soreness in the eye, something like you would feel if your eye were scratched. I just took some Alleve for that, and it seemed to take care of it.

When the cup came off on Tuesday, I had some serious double vision. I was somewhat alarmed by that, but the nurse told me it was common. And it improved a lot during the rest of the day, and by Thursday, it was just about gone. But the other thing I noticed was how bright and colorful things looked. I didn't realize how flat colors had become, and I'm happy to say that I can see them much more vividly.

They gave me a cup and some tape to take home so I could wear it at night. One thing you don't want to do after this surgery is rub your eye. So that's what I did, except Thursday night I dozed off without wearing it, and I woke up in the middle of the night rubbing my eye. And my vision was noticeably worse on Friday, although I think it has straightened out since. I'll see the ophthalmologist tomorrow and tell him what I did, and with any luck he'll tell me I didn't do any permanent damage to it.

But now the moment you've been waiting for: the "after" picture: