The Eyes Have It

I have worn eyeglasses since the age of six and have hated them from day one.  So after begging my parents to get me contact lenses, I embarked on this new venture at the age of 12 going on 13.  What a world of difference in both my sight and my confidence!   My vision was always poor and worsened as the years went on leaving me severely myopic.  More than six months ago, my Doctor confirmed I had a "significant” cataract in my right eye and a “baby one” in my left.  “You will know when you need the surgery” is how he ended the conversation.  I knew this had to be on my agenda for the summer and I had my plan of attack.  I will share my journey so that if you ever find yourself in the same place, you will know what to expect.

My exploratory visit with my surgeon was an hour of everyone touching, prodding, lifting, examining and dilating my eyeball(s).  Luckily, after wearing contacts for a very long time, I was comfortable with this but I can imagine how others must feel.  There is traditional cataract surgery (what insurance covers) and laser surgery (you pay for this) and my Surgeon suggested the latter for me.  The following week, the Surgical Coordinator informed me it was a one month wait for the laser surgery so we scheduled both eyes ten days apart to allow for healing.  Then the hard part – I was going to have to be contact lens free and wear my glasses for two weeks prior to my pre-op testing.  I would rather have been stabbed in the heart.  How would I get through this?  I hated my glasses; let alone I was really active and not used to pushing something up on my face.  Luckily, months back in anticipation, I bought a new pair of glasses with a more attractive/professional frame that I could wear to work.  I started the countdown and it was actually easier than you would think.  No one even noticed or made a comment that I was wearing glasses and that relaxed me and made me feel less self-conscious.  They were still annoying to me while I was working out and walking in the rain LOL.  The two weeks flew by and I arrived at my pre-op testing for more eyeball prodding and dilating.  The eye drops are another whole topic – I had 4 (actually just 3 on a daily basis) and I made my own flow chart to keep track of them.  My head was exploding with the one I received from the Doctor’s office because they kept substituting the medication due to cost ($285 vs. the $2/generic drops). 

Surgery day arrived and I could not eat or drink anything from 12 midnight the night before.  It was the drinking part that was driving me crazy.  I was actually taking sips of water in the bathroom and spitting them out just to wet my mouth.   I started dilating my eye that morning, as instructed, but that became useless when I was in the waiting room for two hours filled with about 30 people.  Once I got into the “interview room” as they call it, they started monitoring my vitals and getting an IV started.  I have rolling veins and made a point to announce that but the nurse pricked me four times before I said “can you get someone who knows what the f*** they are doing?”.  Then the Anesthesiologist arrived, stuck me once and we were on our way.  I was transported in my “rolling wheelchair” to the FEMTO room for my laser surgery.  They asked me to lay down on a gurney and an eye cup was placed over my eye to keep it open.  Without blinking or moving for 90 seconds, I watched in awe as the cataract exploded before my eyes.  It was extraordinary.  Then I was asked to get back in my rolling wheelchair so they could take me to the OR.  At that point, my IV was started and I really don’t remember much about what happened after that.  I heard “you are all done” and was wheeled into post-op where I was greeted by the best sight of the day:  food.  Yes, they gave me my choice of juice with two (only two) yummy, soft, oatmeal cookies.  They tasted like heaven.  My post op instructions were read to me, shoved in my hands and out I went.  Ready to face the day with a shield taped over my right eye with my large cataract sunglasses firmly on the bridge of my nose.  I felt great after that and just went home to rest for the remainder of the day.  The next morning I got out of bed and took my eye shield off.  It was an emotional moment as I realized I had near perfect vision in my right eye.  I do not remember that in my lifetime.  I slipped a contact lens into my left eye and was off for my post-op visit with my Surgeon.  She gave me a glowing report and said the surgery was a complete success. I went from minus double digits on my right eye to 20/60 vision.  My brain was not processing this and I needed to wait for the second surgery to do that.  

My second surgery was scheduled for 10 days later and I was actually looking forward to it.  Two days prior during my pre-op visit, I read the chart with my right eye and came away with 20/20 vision.  I was simply speechless.  So it is true when they say your vision keeps changing and improving post-surgery and my eye was doing just that.  Surgery day was uneventful since I knew what to expect and the Doctor actually commented that I was not as nervous as the first time.  I knew the routine and I was lucky enough to get a nurse who was a soon to be OB-GYN so she got the IV in one shot.  I felt like I was more awake this time in the OR and that I was given less anesthesia.  This was a big plus and helped me in my recovery.  Then those cookies arrived and I was a happy camper. 

The next day, when my alarm went off, I reached for my glasses.  They weren’t there anymore and I could see the numbers with perfect vision.  This was all so emotional for me since I don’t remember ever being in this position.  It is going to take my brain a bit longer to sync with my body but I can actually say that I am beginning to see a whole new world already.  Colors are so bright and everything is so crisp, crystal clear and shiny.  This morning the blanket on my bed that I thought was olive green is actually cornflower blue.  Looks like I have a whole new wardrobe waiting for me😊