“When you can no longer read street signs,” said my primary care doctor, “It’s time to have cataract surgery.” He gave me the names of three ophthalmologists who could do the job.
I went back to my retirement community and told everybody what was happening. “Oh, it’s easy-peasy,” said one. “I had mine done a couple of years ago, and I could see clearly right away. It was wonderful!”
“Not a problem,” said another.”
“You’ll be so glad you did,” said a close friend whom I trusted implicitly.
So I went back to my apartment and called one of the names on the list that my doctor had given me. I did my due diligence and Googled each of them. I chose the one who was head of ophthalmology at a local hospital. “Surely, he must be the best,” I thought confidently.
When the day of surgery arrived, a friend drove me to the hospital and waited to drive me home. Mine was the last of the three surgeries to be performed by this ophthalmologist on this morning. When it was over, as far as I knew, everything had gone well. After it was over, with my eyes covered with patches, I went home.This happened several years ago, and I don’t remember all the details, but the next day, I remember removing the eye patches and finding that my eyesight was still very cloudy. Only towards evening did it begin to clear up. Hopeful that all was going to be alright, I went to bed.
The next morning I woke up and could barely see to make my breakfast. “What?” I thought. Knowing that I had an appointment with the ophthalmologist the next day, I decided to wait. Towards late afternoon, the cloudiness began to clear up, and by evening, it was almost gone.
When I arrived at the doctor’s office, two patients were already there and had begun to talk with each other. They were the two who’d had surgery before me, and as they talked, they became progressively more angry. I learned that their experience was similar to mine, but they weren’t having any of it. Just then, the nurse called the first patient in to see the doctor.
When she came out a few minutes later, she stormed through the waiting room and out the door without speaking to us. The second patient was called. She was in the examining room for about a half hour, and when she came out, she just rolled her eyes at me and left
.
Finally, it was my turn. Before I had even sat down, the doctor said, “Are you going to sue me?”
“Well, I wasn’t planning to,” I answered, “but I am having some problems.” The doctor was still somewhat shaken from his encounter with the last two patients, and now I knew why. He examined my eyes, and we talked quietly about options, all the while my “second mind” was planning what to do next. He told me to make an appointment for the following week, and I left the office, bypassed the secretary, and drove home.
I called my primary physician and told him what happened. He told me to make an appointment for a second opinion with a different ophthalmologist and I did just that. I called an ophthalmologist Dr. H. that I had used once before and liked very much. This doctor was no longer doing surgery because of an accident to one of her hands, but she still saw patients. She was young, very bright, and I use her to this day.
Dr. H. did a thorough follow up and sent me to a retinologist among others. It was found that I had weak Zonules, and this should have been taken into consideration before the surgery. Later, I developed what is sometimes referred to as “secondary cataract (a misnomer).” Dr. H. fixed all of these and today my sight is acceptable. I am left with the pesky floaters, but I would rather put up with these than risk surgical intervention.
When you develop cataracts in your eyes, the blurry change is so gradual that you hardly notice what is happening. After the cataracts are removed, suddenly you can see the world in its true colors. You will have forgotten what that looks like as your vision through cataracts has a thickening yellow haze that comes on as gradually as does the blurring. The colors you see after cataract removal are amazing. They are delightful. They are miraculous.
Seeing true color again is worth everything that I went through!