Seeing with New Eyes

I am always amazed at how our bodies adjust to whatever is going on with them. I thought I was seeing fine, even though the optometrist kept telling me that cataracts were growing on both eyes and would eventually have to be removed.

Then I started having trouble driving at night and I couldn’t read street signs even in the daytime. I went to see the eye surgeon and she confirmed that the cataracts on both eyes had advanced beyond the “annoying level” into the “need to be removed level.”

She asked me what kind of vision I would like to have. What! I get to choose my own vision? She explained the options and recommended that I go with mid-vision for distance so that I can still read without glasses. If she had corrected fully for distance, I would have needed reading glasses.

I have had the surgeries on both eyes and it’s truly a miracle! I had forgotten how bright colors are. The numbers on my bedside clock stand out clear and precise. I can read the restaurant sign across the street. And I can now read printed materials at exactly the distance the surgeon had described.

I still can’t drive until I get new glasses, but I can walk around downtown. I can read the newspaper and my computer screen. I can enjoy the bright emerging colors of spring. I am truly enjoying “seeing with new eyes.”

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3 Responses to “Seeing with New Eyes”

  1. Wow. That must be amazing. I had my contacts adjusted with my last eye appointment in April and notice how crisp things are when I drive. --Shelley

  2. Great of you to share such an exciting experience. So glad you have such a marvelous outcome!

    Really makes you appreciate Claude Monet's paintings, and how cataracts broadened his style, doesn't it?

  3. Ginny Richter says:

    I love your account of the new vision. Especially about the bright colors. I had the same experience almost ten years ago and the colors are still vivid! My eye surgeon also custom designed my visual acuity. He put in (?) a little nearsightedness so I wouldn't need glasses to read music at the piano. I wish he could have added something so I could actually sight read music better, but that's my issue. So congratulations, Phyllis. It's like a whole new world. You'll never hear me knock the medical profession! Ginny

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