Mature Life Features

. . .cannibals don’t eat pessimists

is because they taste bitter.

Through the Looking Glass

via Laser Surgery

It all began several years ago when the traces of cataracts were noticed during my annual
eye test and the doctor said, “Just think, when we take those out, you’ll be able to see without
glasses.”
As we moved into the 21st century, the optometrist made a remark about the rapid advances
made in eye procedures, multi-focal lenses, and precision laser surgery, among other things, and
that I might consider ridding myself of the cloudy mass accumulating in both eyes before they
greatly affected my ability to see.
Three choices were open to me. Option One involved removing the deteriorating lenses I
was born with and replacing them with clear plastic man-made lenses called intra-ocular lenses
(IOL) and continuing to wear glasses, which were part of my life for more than six decades.
Most of this cost was covered by medical insurance but still involved acquiring new
prescription glasses every year.
Option Number Two called for implanting a “far-sighted” lens in one eye and a “short-sighted”
lens in the other. I was told my eyes and brain would work work to make the adjustment that allowed me to see comfortably with these lenses.
The third option involved replacing the clouded natural lenses with “multi-focal,” or prescription,
lenses.
Prices ranged for Options Two and Three and the doctors in the office I’d been visiting for years were the most reasonable. I chose Number Three when they told me, “You’re a good candidate for multi-focals.”
The full process included implanting the plastic prescription lenses, laser surgery to correct the
astigmatisms (irregularly shaped corneas) in both eyes, and all follow-up treatment and
monitoring after the surgery.
The day after New Years Day, my wife drove me to the hospital at 9 a.m. and we were home in time for lunch. My right eye was protected by a see-through patch. There was more trepidation than trauma. I was sedated but never unconscious and the preparation took much more time than the actual surgery. By the time the anesthetist got me to tell him what
I did for a living, I was being settled into a comfortable chair and given coffee and a cookie.
We repeated the process two weeks later on my left eye. I was told to wear the patch every night for at least a week and no heavy lifting for a couple of months.
My next step was delayed about six weeks when I was sedated but never unconscious while the doctor and technicians talked me through the entire process of correcting my astigmatisms with a laser beam.
Everything’s improved since. My eyes are much more sensitive to light than before. I’ve toned down the glare from my computer monitor and television set. I wear sunglasses, even around the house. That makes life easier because I feel naked without
glasses perched on my nose.
An interesting side light is that family and friends tell me I don’t look any different without my
glasses.
I’m still learning to read the small print in my morning newspaper. When I have to get some
work done, I don a pair of drugstore reading glasses I bought for a pittance.