One year ago, I had cataract surgery. I had gone from being diagnosed with cataracts to being unable to see a screen thirty percent of the time over the course of nine months.
At first, the new lenses were wonderful. Well, kind of. I still had issues with glare that just weren’t going away. Daytime glare—basically, any light source—not nighttime glare. Any light source had a halo around it, whether it was in the bright sunlight or at night. I could see for the most part.
I did have to start wearing glasses again, though, to deal with the glare.
But then I felt as though my vision was getting worse. That couldn’t be right, though. I’d just had my lenses replaced. How could my vision be getting worse?
At my six-month checkup, I learned that yes, indeed, my eyesight was measurably worse. They had the readings from one month after my lenses had been replaced. The two readings weren’t anywhere close.
I have monovision. I see distance with my right eye and close-up with my left eye. My right eye, while it had gotten worse, wasn’t anywhere near as bad as my left. Which was why it was so obvious to me that my vision was getting worse—it was getting harder and harder to see the screen again.
A membrane had started to form underneath the new lenses. It happens to about twenty percent of all cataract patients. Fortunately, it’s a pretty easy procedure to break up the membrane.
However, the place where my eye doctor practices needs to hire more people. When I’d first started going there, there were four doctors. They now only have two.
So I had to wait six months. My vision continued to deteriorate every month. My failing vision was more noticeable in the near eye than in the far vision one, as I had to increase the zoom level on my computer every month. However, when we went to Mexico, I learned just how bad my far vision had gotten. We’d be standing across the street, looking at a street sign, and I’d be unable to read it while Blaze could see it clearly.
This last week, I had the first of the membranes removed, on my far vision eye, using what’s known as a YAG laser procedure.
The nurse numbed up my eye and dilated it.
When I was finally ready (the eye didn’t want to dilate and they had to put four sets of drops in) the doctor put a lens on my eye and held it in place with his thumb. He then looked through a device and used the lens as a targeting ring for the laser. He warned me a couple of times of all the pops and beeps I was going to hear.
Honestly? It reminded me of some sort of weird first-person shooter game.
Pew! Pew-pew! Pew-pew-pew-pew!
He took extra time and “shot” all of the floaters that had been visible as well.
Afterward, I haven’t had any pain, not really. My eye felt gritty and tired. Looking at a screen made it feel more gritty and tired.
The internets said that your eyes would be blurry for two to three days after the surgery. (The doctor said my vision would clear after two to three hours. He was wrong.)
The first twenty-four hours were weird. I wouldn’t say blurry vision, which implies a lack of sharp edges. I would say it was more like clouds floating in front of whatever I was looking at. Or wispy fog. Not blurry. Just not as sharp as usual.
I’m on day three now, after the procedure. Eye is still a little tired and gritty, but not as bad. Most of the membrane has been reabsorbed back into my eye. There’s like one piece still hanging out.
The good news? I can see clearly again. REALLY clearly. It’s fantastic. In addition, I got a color upgrade—the membrane had started to yellow my vision, which I can tell when I look at things first with one eye, then the other.
I have three weeks before I get the second eye done. I cannot tell you how excited I am to possibly have clear vision in both eyes again.
Hopefully, everything will go perfectly and I’ll never have to worry about my eyes again. Never say never, though.
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