|
 |
 |
 | Cataracts
By Michael Spilane, MD
"Cataracts? You've got to be kidding! I'm barely weaned from pablum." But cataracts they were. Personal experience is a great teacher. Allow me to share the saga of my own cataracts.
I knew that cataracts could develop at any age, but also knew they were mostly a problem in those older than I. So it took me awhile to figure out why my vision was blurring. I changed prescriptions for my eyeglasses a couple of times, but the visual improvements were less than satisfactory and the blurring soon returned. Finally, the eye doctor told me that new glasses would not help and the problem was clouding of the lenses in the eye.
I wasn't ready for any surgery. My vision wasn't that bad and I knew that progression of the cataracts would not do any damage to other parts of my eyes. So I waited.
I struggled while I waited. Night vision was the biggest problem. I started curtailing my nighttime driving because my car was not equipped with six high-beam headlights. That's what I felt I needed to display the passing scenery. And, I was distressed by the glare from headlights of on-coming cars. These defuse watts of light seemed like they were coming from trains and made it even harder for me to see other objects.
Inside my home, I found myself replacing 50-watt light bulbs with 100-watt bulbs. And, only after I had wiped the 50-watt ones, figuring they must be covered with dust and grime. I eventually decided that blurring and dimming of vision was a problem I did not need and could not cope with. Surgery was scheduled. The right eye was done first and the left eye followed 3 weeks later. For each surgical procedure, I was on my way home about 2 hours after arrival at the surgery center. Intravenous medications allowed me to sleep through most of the amazingly brief time that the surgeon was at work. I experienced no pain. I left with a patch on the eye and an appointment to see the surgeon the next morning.
Having seen more than a few movies, I expected the patch-removal to be an emotionally charged event that would be witnessed by everyone in the doctor's office. Wrong! It was performed, in ho-hum fashion, by an assistant - without the ophthamologist anywhere in sight.
But it was emotionally charged for me. First of all, I was relieved that I could see. Then, I realized I could see everything. Colors. I was amazed at the brightness of colors. The blurring was gone, but the brightness and contrast knobs had been turned on.
 Back to top
| |
