This morning I read in the AARP Magazine that glaring lights and difficulty driving at night are signs of developing cataracts. Ha! Night driving started becoming a frightful thing for me over five years ago.
Earlier this year I asked my primary doctor why he thought a sparkle-sparkle sometimes appeared inside my eye and only disappeared once it grew to the size of my eyeball. "Don't know," the old doc said, and sent me to an ophthalmologist whose appointment book was full for nearly two months. The young doc had no clue either, but she did discover cataracts in both my eyes, bad enough that my insurance would cover surgery. Yay! Also, Boooo!
I chose to get new prescription glasses, stubbornly thinking that all the deep scratches in my eight-year-old glasses were the problem. Ha, ha, I don't know better than the experts.
Some where down the line I'll need to decide what to do first: Knee or lens? I can alternate, knee, lens, knee, lens or lens, knee, lens, knee. There's also knee, knee, lens, lens, as well as lens, lens, knee, knee. Thank goodness, I'll soon be on Medicare. Thank you, again, President LBJ!
Anyway, Husband will probably need cataract surgery first. Much sooner, than later. He saw the optometrist a couple weeks ago who told Husband that he can't see the back of his eye. Whoa! We'll know more next week about Husband's fate when he meets with the ophthalmologist.
I guess it depends on if you prefer walking or seeing. Knee surgery will have you flat out for several weeks. (Family members have had this done.) You probably want to do an eye first so you can see while you're recuperating from knee surgery. And I think eye surgery is a bit easier as well. (Well, except for being blind in the eye for the time it takes to heal.)
ReplyDeleteAn eye before a knee makes sense. It would be nice to read comfortably. I'm glad that cataract surgery is an outpatient thing. Supposedly knee operation requires a 2 or 3 day stay in the hospital. Shudder.
DeleteI hope I never get cataracts when the time comes.
ReplyDeleteHope that turns out for you, Adam. These days, my hope is that Husband and I got our parents' genes of growing old without dementia.
DeleteAre you supposed to see the back of an eye? Eek. I keep asking when I can get cataract surgery while I still have INsurance and she keeps saying it's not bad enough so boo, yea.
ReplyDeleteSparkle, sparkle seems concerning. I've done the same thing with glasses because then I can say, "If only I got new glasses it would all be fine."
The wall behind the eye, me-thinks. I wonder if I won't need glasses once I have the surgery. I've needed corrective lenses since 5th grade. I probably needed them in 3rd grade. I thought a blurry chalkboard was normal. haha
DeleteI understand that most people once they hit 50 one will start developing catracts.
ReplyDeleteCoffee is on
Yup, both Husband and I were in our 50s when the doctors started telling us they saw cataracts developing back there. We paid them no mind, figuring they wanted to buy a new sailboat or something.
DeleteMrs Widds went to the ophthalmologist yesterday (Friday) and we discovered she has the let's-see-how-they-are-in-six-months type of cataracts and I've been 'pre-glaucoma-ish' for years.
ReplyDeleteThis getting older lark gets tiresome sometimes, doesn't it?
Last night we talked with a guy who told us that he was happy with his surgery. He said that he can now see the stars clearly in the sky. That got both The Husband and I excited.
DeleteOne good thing about being older today is that many of the kinks have been worked out in cataract, joint replacement, pacemaker, and other surgeries .
The eye surgery is day surgery and recuperation time quicker. After that, you get your knee done, you will have time to read
ReplyDeleteI'm imagining myself lounging, reading and eating bonbons. :-)
DeleteIt shouldn't be funny, but I thought your recitation of knee and lens combos to be pretty amusing. As my 90-year-old mother likes to say - getting old(er) is not for the faint of heart. I think I would choose eyes first - there's a lot you can do without operating legs, but not without sight!
ReplyDeleteSure it's funny, Angie. I gotta find the laugh in all this seriousness. The Mama wanted to trade her body in for a new one.
DeleteGlad they found the reason. I would do eyes first. That way while you are convalescing from the knee surgery, you can draw those lovely pictures in your sketchbook..
ReplyDelete-Soma
I'm starting to look forward to healing from knee surgery, thinking all the reading and drawing and such I could do.
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