Some people have been aware of my eyesight issues in recent years, most not. It is what it is, I have tried not to let it get in the way of my work, but over the past several months it has been increasingly frustrating to do many of the things I enjoy doing. Why? Because the vision in my right eye was gradually diminishing, and since it didn’t see clearly to begin with, the eye was pretty much useless and quite a hindrance. An early onset cataract accelerated by the medications I needed following an extensive retinal repair eye surgery I had five years ago was the diagnosis.

I have been relying mostly on my left eye for seeing most of the time, with a little bit of ‘help’ from the right. I wear contact lenses, a minus 8.5 in the left eye, and prior to the detached retina, I had a minus 8.25 in the right. After the surgery, the best they could do was a minus 12.5. Contact lenses aren’t made any stronger than that. That power lens allowed me to recognize people and objects but they were far from in focus. Still, I coped fairly well up until the past year, when the cataract slowly took much of the remaining vision in the eye and with it the enjoyment of many things. It still wanted to see and wanted to be the dominant eye, so seeing anything was frustrating, the only clear vision I had in that eye was without the contact lens, about a half inch from my eyelashes-  a great superpower to have if you want to examine diamonds for flaws, but beyond that all was a blur.

Five days before Al and I were wed, things started to go wrong in my left eye- flashes of light, blurry spots moving around and a big change in the number and type of floaters in it. I was really afraid of another detached retina, possibly more surgery and further loss of vision, but it hasn’t detached yet and may not for a while yet. The retina specialist I see yearly recommended seeing about some eye surgery to help me regain some vision in the right eye. Exciting news for me!

So, after a series of doctors’ appointments to get the ball rolling, this past Wednesday I was wheeled into an operating theater for more eye surgery and had my old, worn out and foggy lens removed from my eye and a brand new crystal clear lens implant put in. Nervous? Not a bit, I knew it would be a piece of cake compared to the previous surgery and that it was my only hope of being able to see well again.

Immediately, even though I had a clear eye protector over my eye, I could see better! And without any corrective lens of any kind. At my follow-up appointment yesterday, the cover was removed, and this morning, for the first time in my memory, I didn’t need my glasses to see my nightstand clock. Five years of frustration are over, and I look forward to discovering new scenery every day and seeing what I have missed! I have the feeling the fireworks are going to be spectacular this year!