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Yesterday I had a cataract op to my right eye and here I am, wearing sunglasses, writing about it already. Miraculous really.
To backtrack, twelve months or so ago I went for a routine eye test and complained to my optician about my “rubbish glasses”. This has always been my stance since first having to wear glasses twenty years ago; I’ve never been satisfied. What we all want from glasses is perfect vision, which in my case is a return to resolution allowing me to read roadsigns from miles away or focus on detail an inch or two from my nose and everything in between. Sadly such optics don’t yet exist so we make do with whatever the optometrist and our budget can come up with. In my case I have varifocals that I’m supposed to wear all the time but don’t because I can’t get on with them, even after years of trying, reading glasses which are fine and a pair of intermediates for desktop work in front of my large screen.
To return to the test. My optometrist has all kinds of really fancy scanning and imaging tools that display the inside of the eye in glorious Technicolor, hi-res detail and as a result he points to an area of the lens where there’s the beginnings of a cataract. Bugger, thinks I.
Cataracts occur when cloudy patches develop in the clear lens inside the eye, stopping light from reaching the retina and causing blurred or misty vision. In most people cataracts simply develop as they age, with most cases developing after the age of 65. Yep, I’m right there in the target demographic. The good news is that it’s early stages and the cataract may develop slowly but eventually it will need dealing with but the rest of the eye is in rude health with no sign of macular degeneration. No biggie then.
Wind forward to July this year. Now even my reading glasses are rubbish! I mainly read with just my left eye, covering my right eye as it just gets so tired constantly trying to focus. As a result I read much less than before. Interestingly I am able to focus my recently acquired rangefinder Leica M10, most of the time. Sometimes there’s a bit bit of guesswork involved and it’s slow. No bad thing, slow.
So at the end of July I’m with the optometrist again. Ah, the cataract has advanced rather more quickly than anticipated and changing glasses is not going to help so it’s probably time to do something about it. Yes, I can get it done on the NHS but not any time soon. Another dip into the “rainy day pot” then.
And so to yesterday’s op, or to give its correct title – phacoemulsification.
Phacoemulsification is described thus: “During this type of cataract surgery, the surgeon inserts a tiny ultrasound probe into the eye through a small incision. The probe helps soften and break up the cloudy lens, which is then removed by suction. Once the surgeon has removed the cataract, an artificial lens is inserted which will allow light to pass through to the retina, restoring vision.”
I have to confess that I was anxious about this. Quietly terrified would be more accurate. He’s going to come at me with a scalpel, cut open my eye and use a hoover to suck the lens out! Any rational human being should be terrified of this and I’ve had to have several stern words with myself over the last few weeks.
Before setting off for the hospital I dose myself with Diazepam (as advised) but not enough as it turns out. On arrival I am whisked away to check that I am who I say I am and that we agree on which eye is to be worked on etc. Of course my blood pressure is taken; 212/119! Bloody hell! I’m going to die before I get to the theatre. Gill, the nurse looks kindly at me and asks, “Pure terror? Take some deep breaths in through your nose and out your mouth and we’ll take it again in a few minutes. Would you like the nurse to hold your hand during the procedure?” God, yes. The next reading is within permitted tolerances for the op to proceed.
I lie on the bed with a sheet of some sort over my face with a hole cut out for my right eye that is stuck down around the eye. Anaesthetic drops are put in, more drops. Are you sure that’s enough? Maybe a few more to be safe. Everything is blurry, all I can see is a light source which I am instructed to keep watching. The nurse squeezes my fingers reassuringly. Thank God for such folk. Don’t think about the knife or the hoover; watch the lights. And what lights. Spectra, patterns, whizzy things. Has he made the incision? Is he in there? Don’t think, watch the lights. That noise must be the ultrasound probe. Watch the bloody lights. The light source is moving to the right. That must be the lens being sucked out by the hoover. Watch the lights will you, breathe. Ah, here comes the new lens, slowly from the right. The lights change again, extraordinary snowflake-like patterns, amoebae swimming around, more colours. The light source has stopped moving but it’s not central. Oh no, he hasn’t pushed it in far enough, I’ll have a wonky eye. Should I say something? No, it’s on the move again, he knows what he’s doing. Now it’s central. Watch the lights.
Suddenly it’s all over. You can sit up now. It went very well. Just another day at the office for them. Into the recovery room and the best cup of tea and biscuits I’ve ever had.
24 hours later.
The new lens is interesting. It’s a prime lens with a fixed focal length (don’t know what) and I’m told once it’s settled down and the brain has recalibrated mid to far distance should all be in focus but I’ll still need reading glasses. At present right eye vision is still blurry and will take a few days to sharpen up but what is already obvious is the colour shift. The blurry world looks brighter and cooler. Skies are noticeably bluer as are the greens and the whole thing is brighter and it begs the question, which eye is “correct”, the warm left or the cool right? It clearly illustrates that we all see the world differently. I can’t be the first ’tog to experience this but I’ve never read anything about it. How do you do colour correction if there are two different versions. I am assuming the brain will produce a composite in time but is that then “correct”?
In the images below I have tried to approximately show how the two eyes see differently. This is the original image taken with my phone.
This is the adjusted attempt at how the right eye sees. The adjustments were made viewing the screen with just my left eye! It’s not accurate but you’ll get my drift…..
Now I just wait for things to settle down and visit the optometrist again in a month’s time to get new specs. If I ever need the left eye doing I won’t be quite so anxious; hopefully.
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