Modern Medicine

When my father had cataract surgery, he had to stay in bed in a dark room for days.  He wasn't allowed to bend his head down or lift heavy things.  When it was all over, he could see better -- but he still wore tri-focals.

Unhappily, I inherited my father's bad eyes.

I've had to use both distance and reading glasses for years (never together because I couldn't handle bifocals), and I even required middle distance glasses for a period of time.  My vision deteriorated so badly when I was in my twenties that my ophthalmaologist had me tested for diabetes.  When I came to his office after he received the report, he said, "I have good news and bad news.  The good news is that you don't have diabetes.  The bad news is that your eyes are fifty years older than your body."

Happily, unlike my father, cataract surgery is no longer a big deal.  Yesterday morning, I had a second cataract surgery (my right eye was corrected a year and a half ago), came home with a patch, removed it 4, started eye drops, and resumed normal activites today. 

"Normal," though, already has a whole new meaning.  Because I opted to have both new lenses focused at the same point, I can see the computer screen clearly for the first time in my life.  And I am not even wearing glasses!

In a month, when I can get new prescription distance glasses, I expect to see a whole new world of wonders. 

Unlucky in eyes, lucky in modern medicine: that's me.