Tag: vision

YAG x 2

In April, I had cataract surgery on both eyes with fancy, extended depth of focus implanted lenses.

Things went well and I’m not wearing glasses full-time, which hadn’t happened since I was six. However, I have run into a couple of common aftereffects that I’ve been dealing with over these past months.

One is an aggravation of my existing problems with dry eye, which I whined about a bit here. We are treating it in several ways and it is improving.

The other was that I developed some filminess or cloudiness in my vision due to posterior capsule opacification, also known as secondary cataracts. The treatment is to use a YAG laser to make an opening in the capsule to allow light through and rectify the cloudiness. (YAG stands for yttrium aluminum garnet.)

I had YAG treatment in both eyes earlier this month and I’m happy to report that it worked well for me. The filminess is gone, which is great because we weren’t sure if part of that was due to the dry eye. I do have increased floaters in my eyes which will probably calm down over the next few months.

I’m able to read my computer without enlarging the text for the most part now and, for the first time ever, made it through a choral rehearsal on Sunday without glasses. I do have a pair of glasses that I can use for fine print and low light situations, as those will continue to be challenging even when all the healing is complete.

It’s been a joy to be able to see without devoting extra brain power to assist. Over these past months, I’ve been having to concentrate consciously on visual processing. It’s been tiring. I’m grateful to be able to look around and just be able to see what’s in front of me without extra effort.

One of these days, I might even get a new headshot taken without glasses, even if it takes a bit for me to recognize myself after 57 years of wearing glasses all the time…

dry eyes

I try not to whine here at Top of JC’s Mind, at least not about personal things.

But, today, I’m so frustrated that, in the name of honesty, I’m going to.

In April, I had cataract surgery with fancy implanted lenses, which was really amazing and means that I no longer need to wear glasses all the time as I had for decades.

The problem is that my previous issues with dry eye are back with a vengeance, clouding my vision.

This was not unexpected, as the surgery and all the drops you have to use after it do disrupt the status quo and increase the risk of dry eye, but my symptoms now are worse than they have ever been.

I’ve been back to my optometrist and am doing all the things I am supposed to be doing – preservative-free artificial tears, special hotpacks, taking flaxseed oil – but improvement has been slow. This is also not unexpected, but it is frustrating.

I can still see well enough to drive but close tasks are a chore. I have some over-the-counter reading glasses that help with some close tasks but, because my current state of cloudiness is caused by the dry eye rather than my focusing ability, the glasses magnify but don’t clarify.

This is making it hard to read things that are not printed in a large font. I can usually adjust when I read on screens but it’s hard to read things on paper. Kitchen work is annoying, too. It’s not that I can’t do these things but it is so taxing that I don’t especially want to.

I have another visit with the optometrist scheduled for next week to make sure there isn’t something else going on, like development of a secondary cataract or some kind of inflammation or infection.

Meanwhile, I’ll try to have this be my only whining post…

SoCS: new eyes

“Yes, it is strange not to wear glasses.”

Since I had my cataract surgeries earlier this month, I’ve been asked many times if it is weird/strange not to be wearing glasses every waking moment – and it is.

I’ve worn glasses since I was six because I was near-sighted. As I got older, I also developed presbyopia, which meant I was also having trouble seeing close up. For the last couple of decades, my glasses have had progressive lenses, which means they have a zone for far, mid-range, and close vision. I also have astigmatism in one eye which was built into my prescription. As I developed cataracts in both eyes, I was also having a lot of difficulty with glare.

And, I also sometimes had trouble with dry eyes, so a lot going on.

I decided to have cataract surgery last year. It took several months to get an appointment with the doctor who had done spouse B’s cataract surgeries, and my parents and mother-in-law’s. He uses advanced laser techniques and gives options to use advanced lens that deal with multiple issues.

B had had good luck with his multifocal lens and only uses glasses for very fine print and low-lighting conditions. In the five years since his surgery, they have added astigmatism correction to multifocal lenses, so I chose those.

The timing of the surgeries was awkward, as they happened while the UK branch of our family was visiting for Easter, but I’m happy with the still-developing results. My distance visit was clear within a day of each surgery. (They were a week apart.) My mid- and near-vision are improving day by day. I’ve used supermarket/drugstore cheaters for a few tasks, although now even the weakest ones are too strong for my “new eyes.” I also have been adjusting the size of my text on screens, although I’m typing this at my prior screen settings, so improvement is definitely happening. It will probably continue for a few more weeks as my eyes heal and my brain adjusts to the new, clearer input.

As I am adjusting to life without glasses, people I know are adjusting, too. I’ve had people comment on it. A few have said I look younger without my glasses. I had thought I might look older – or, at least, more tired – because you can now see all the wrinkles around my eyes and I don’t use make-up so, if I have dark circles under my eyes, they are now easier to see. Of course, I don’t think anyone would tell me I look older without my glasses, even if that is what they thought.

At some point, I suppose I will have to replace the much-beloved headshot I use for Top of JC’s Mind, which B originally took to go with this poem for Silver Birch Press.

Someday, when I’m more used to my new look.

Yes, someday.
*****
Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday this week is yes-. Join us! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2023/04/28/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-april-29-2023/

One-Liner Wednesday: cataract surgery

I had my first cataract surgery yesterday and it’s very weird to adjust to that while not being able to wear glasses to help the other eye see clearly.

This informative post/excuse is brought to you by Linda’s One-Liner Wednesday. Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2023/04/05/one-liner-wednesday-time-flies/

Eye One

This will really be “just a jot” today. B had cataract surgery this morning, which went well, but today has been super busy.

There will be an early morning recheck tomorrow and his vision should improve as the eye heals.

There are lots of eyedrops to use over the next few weeks.

And two weeks from today, it will be time for the same drill with the other eye…
*****
Join us for Linda’s Just Jot It January! Find out more here:
https://lindaghill.com/2018/01/16/jusjojan-daily-prompt-january-16th-2018/

 

The eyes have it.

Yes, it is a bad pun. It also illustrates why I almost never engage in wordplay; I am not good at it.

For the past several years, I have been having increasing difficulties with my vision. Last summer, my optometrist told me he could no longer fully correct my vision in my left eye. When I did get new glasses made, I had so much trouble seeing that I reverted back to an earlier prescription. Still, I was having periods where my vision was very blurry and my eyes were often very tired.

I blamed allergies or lack of sleep or some undiagnosed something. After months of frustration, an optician friend suggested that it could be low blood pressure. When I called my optometrist’s office, they consulted my records and said they didn’t think that was it because my blood pressure wasn’t low enough and that it was probably my dry eye and to use these drops four times a day for two months and call them back after that if I wasn’t better.

At which point, I was thinking “what dry eye?” as they hadn’t told me that that was the problem. Or considered that that was why they couldn’t correct my left eye fully. Or thought that that was why I couldn’t see well even with the new prescription.

I was not amused.

While the drops helped, it wasn’t enough.  My parents had seen an article for a new treatment offered by the ophthalmologist who had done their cataracts surgeries. I made an appointment for a consultation. He is busy so it was weeks away – and then he cancelled it right before the day arrived.

To expedite things, I made an appointment with one of his younger colleagues.

She confirmed the dry eye diagnosis and I started on some prescription drops in addition to the over-the-counter ones that I was using. My eye improved quite a bit, but I still couldn’t reliably get through a movie or a chorus rehearsal without my eyes bothering me.

I decided to try the new treatment, which would directly help the root problem, which is that the glands and channels which deliver the lipid components of tears were compromised.

Although the treatment was more arduous than I expected, it appears to have worked. I go for a six-week follow-up appointment later this week and am happy to report that I only have to use the over-the-counter drops a couple of times daily most days. I have even have some days where I did not need them at all.

I’m hoping that I will soon be able to have a standard eye exam and get a prescription for new glasses that I can trust to be accurate.

One less thing to worry about will be good.

One-Liner(ish) Wednesday: outsider

“The ability to respect the outsider is probably the litmus test of true seeing.”
~ Richard Rohr

During this time of tensions, if not outright hostility, between some individuals and groups that they deem as “outsiders” due to differences of race, ethnicity, religion, ideology, gender expression, etc., this quote is especially meaningful. It reminds me to show respect for everyone, even when disagreeing on fact or principle with their viewpoint.
~ JC

Join us for Linda’s One-Liner Wednesday! Find out how here:  http://lindaghill.com/2016/01/27/one-liner-wednesday-it-really-sucks/

This is also part of Linda’s Just Jot It January. Visit here:  http://lindaghill.com/2016/01/27/just-jot-it-january-27th-mendaciloquent/

JJJ 2016

To find the rules for Just Jot It January, click here.

SoCS: vision

Last week, I had my annual vision exam. I have worn glasses since I was seven. I was near-sighted as a child, but now I have far-sightedness, too, related to age.

And my in-between vision is not great either, so I have been wearing progressives, which try to help you see well across all distances.

Last year, I finally gave up and got a special pair of glasses called an office lens. This pair of glasses is not good for long distances, like driving, but they are really good for short and intermediate distance, so I can read with them and, most importantly, use them when I am at my desktop computer without having to tilt my head at a weird angle and make my neck get a crick. However, they still let me see clearly about ten feet away, so I can use them for walking around the house without having to switch glasses every time I get up from the computer. I really love these glasses and I find my eyes are much less tired at the end of the day because of them.

I am thinking of replacing my progressives that I wear most of the time with bifocals so that I will still be able to drive and read and do kitchen work and such. Using my desktop is my main intermediate vision task, so I will switch to my office lens for that, but have the bifocal for general wear and being out and about.

And, someday in the future, I will need to have cataract surgery and will probably see better with the new implantable lenses than I have seen when I was six.
*****
Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday this week is: “vis.”  the post should “use a word, or tie your post’s theme around a word, that contains the letters VIS, in that order.” Join us!  Details here:  http://lindaghill.com/2015/07/24/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-july-2515/

socs-badge

To be visionary – Global Sisters Report

To be visionary – Global Sisters Report.

I love this piece on what it means to be visionary – even, and especially, in places that are struggling.  Although this is rooted in my Catholic faith tradition, the message would translate to other faith/spiritual traditions or humanism, as well.