Yesterday I had a relapse after nearly a week of feeling very energetic compared to lately. Last night I went to bed early. I had started an email to MDavis who sent me a beautiful, encouraging email and it has been three weeks but I was just feeling up to replying to them. But today I had my yearly eye appointment with the same eye doctor who referred me to the eye surgery center for needed cataract surgery. If anyone needs reminding that was a year ago when I was on the gurney with IVs in and eyes medicated but as they were about to take me into surgery the anesthesiologist stopped everyone to ask me questions. She went over my medical list with me and then sadly said I take more heavy pain medications daily than she could give me during the operation. That would mean that I would have to have eye surgery without any sedation. When I told her I was sensitive to anything near my eyes she told everyone to pause and she went to talk to the surgeon. They agreed that I would need to go to a much larger surgery center that could put me under enough anesthesia that would knock me totally out.
So today I saw the same eye doctor at a much bigger facility they had joined. Long story short after the exam the doctor told me the bad news. My current vision is far beyond what glasses could help with. She was emphatic in saying I must get my cataract surgery done as soon as possible. She went over everything with me and detailed why she couldn’t give me a prescription for glasses that would make it so I could see the computer, the phones, the Ipad, and see well enough to drive better. At this point my vision is so bad they couldn’t even make the letters smaller than the largest ones they wanted me to read clear.
She wanted to know why I had not followed up with their surgery center’s referral to the larger university run on in Naples as I was referred to. I explained to her the horrifically emotional and financially draining year we had had. She listened and when I explained Ron and I had decided his eyes needed to be done before mine as he has a torn lens and eye inflammation issues, she understood and agreed to take him on as a patient. But she kept pushing for me to get my eyes done in the next 6 months. She said she would send the referral, which was good for 6 months and it normally took that long to get set up with the facility and have the necessary visits. She added that if in the 6th months I was not financially ready to do it the surgery center in Naples would extend my time to have it done. But she again pushed that I did not have a lot of time to wait with my diminished vision. She asked how I did my daily stuff and I explained to her I have my large desktop monitors set to 250 and that my browser is set to 110% which I take up to 130 some days. I also showed her my two over the counter readers I have which one is 150 and the other is 175, which I use for my phone, tablet, and the computer monitors.
I explained all this to Ron as we drove home. He agreed to get an appointment with her to start his eye surgery but the closest appointment he could get was in August. At which point he got upset with me and said we would have to move forward with my eye surgery even before his. He went on at length about how he had noticed how I was struggling on the computers and with things I was trying to do. He mentioned the lighted magnifying glasses I keep around to help me read stuff. He mentioned how now I was having to have him read everything that came in mail and instructions to me. He reminded me that when he asked me to help him set up his sister’s new electronic entry system on the house she just bought I had to have him do the actions as I explained it to him as I couldn’t see the key pad clearly enough even with a bright light on them. Then he dropped the mother of all bomb shells on me which made me give in. He wondered with my vision so bad how I well I was seeing to drive. He was getting more and more upset. As I don’t think he is a good driver and I think I am a far better driver I gave in. So …
I said I would make supper. I got my very tall adjustable stool out and offered to make fried eggs, fried potatoes, fried bacon, and fresh ham steak I cooked in a large frying pan of water. All with a side of two slices of toast. Ron loved the idea which stopped him from harassing me about my eyes. I do love to cook and it was emotionally satisfying for me. I was unable to eat much of mine but I did eat the potatoes along with all the ham I took, a strip of bacon and half a piece of toast. But Ron ate most of what I couldn’t which is why he blames me for his current weight. Picture below. Hugs
Scottie's Playtime 
That looks really good, Scottie, and I’ve had supper already.
You guys take good care of each other. I’m glad for an update, because I’d noticed you were posting more and responding to comments, and was worried that you’d relapsed. This is not great news, but it’s not horrible. It’s a lot of work being over 60! I remember back on my 50th birthday, the director’s husband said, “Welcome to your last good decade. After 60, everything has to be replaced, one at a time.” I mentioned that to my cousin, who was 10 years older than I, and she agreed, then mentioned she was getting knee surgery that weekend! So far, so good here. Anyway, you guys take good care of each other.
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Hi Ali. You are correct. Ron and I call it “welcome to modern maturity”. I was doing very well. I was eating twice a day and not vomiting. I had to go back to bed in the morning only rarely. Then recently I did have a relapse. I stopped wanting to eat, got really tired again. I am improving. My primary care visit for June 2nd has been moved two weeks later so my blood work draw I moved back two weeks. Hugs
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What a coinkidink!
TL;DR – I just had my first eye done yesterday. I focused as hard as I could on keeping still when required so the surgery would go well. It went pretty well. However, I don’t have to deal with overcoming pain med dosages or more-than-normal-human fear of eye touching.
However you decide to handle this, the best of luck to both you and Ron.
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I just had cataract surgery on my first eye yesterday.
I asked everyone I could find about how theirs went and no one hated it.
I went for the lenses that shouldn’t required glasses for distance and intermediate vision. The surgeon pushed for that, said driving would be an issue if I went for the near vision that I’m used to. Medicare doesn’t cover that but I’ve been saving up for a year.
I don’t have the issues that you are dealing with but it’s eye surgery! I was kind of scared. I was scheduled for February but since there were a total of 6 appointments (1 per eye for the surgery, then a next day follow up per eye, then a next week follow up per eye) and I started having other appointment piled on I ended up cancelling the eyes to get through the rest.
I had to have a driver. It’s 70 miles one way to the surgeon’s office and my friend’s car overheated and then broke down halfway home.
I can’t let it stop me though now that the process is started. I’ve been looking at alternate travel arrangements for the next one. That surgery is in 10 days, on the 22nd.
…
I don’t know if this story will help but here’s one point for Ron. If he still sees well enough to drive and you don’t, he should drive for you and then, after you recover and your eyes heal up, you should drive for him. This business of trying to bum rides or find a replacement last minute is for the birds. (We have a taxi company here, but their taxi – yes, one – was already occupied today. I might be setting up the next surgery appointment with them. I’ll have to schedule ahead.)
Starting with 200/20 vision in my better eye – now I can see in one eye without glasses and the other eye with glasses. I found a pair with a recent prescription and popped out one lens but that left me with double vision. In the follow up today I was told that with vision as bad as mine the glasses send my eye a smaller version of whta the repaired eye gets. He also said that *maybe* my brain could reconcile it into a single vision and I’ve been working on that for a few hours. It’s glitchy, but I might be able to return to work between surgeries. Driving was successful – the distance I was looking was consistent so my brain could handle it since it didn’t change for a close up adjustment to a farther away adjustment – I’m guessing though.
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Well, you take good care, too, MDavis. I’m glad to see you here after your eye surgery.
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Thank you, I do my best.
I remember being told decades ago, by a doctor even, that eyes heal very quickly.
I’ll have to watch out for a tendency to take that for granted. In fact, it’s time for eye drops right now.n
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I remember when DH got his done; it was a number of trips, like yours. He was conscientious about all the instructions, though, and his healing went really quickly. He did have the trouble with one eye being perfect and the other not, after the first surgery, but when he went back to work, it had worked itself out, as you’re hoping it will. I’m not certain he was off work the entire 7 weeks he had for recovery; I know he went back to work less than a month after the second surgery.
And he had yet more interesting eyes after it was done-in some light, they would shine similarly to pets’s eyes in a photo. Not red, but blue/green. I guess it was the lens implant.
I hope you’re comfortable and well otherwise. I know you’ll be happy when it’s done! 🌻
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They have no respect for my line of work, <redacted>. Surgery was Thursday, first follow up was yesterday, Friday,. and the surgeon thinks I’ll be fine to go back to work today.
I was officially “impaired” due to anesthesia for 24 hours after surgery so yesterday was a no go.
I’m not sure how I’ll handle returning to work. I have to go (like now) to check on the LOA paperwork, see where it is in the system.
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Keeping my fingers crossed and putting good energy out and all that. Wish I could do more! But I’ve seen from reading you that you are one remarkably capable person. All my best!
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“remarkably capable person” had me laughing, but I appreciate your compliment and your good wishes/energy as well. Thanks!
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🌸 You’re welcome!
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Hi MDavis. I am so happy you have started the process and are happy with it. And also thank you for the encouragement. Have you looked into Uber? When I couldn’t take Ron to the airport because it was at night we set up an Uber account and used that. Ron’s sister uses Uber all the time as she doesn’t like to drive in busy cities. I was going to go with no correction at all as the doctor thought once the cataracts were gone the vision would return to 20/20 or at most require readers. My issue with the left eye not reporting much to the brain is depth perception. I stuggle with hitting things with my fingers rather than go above or beside them. As for your suggestion of us driving each other that was the plan. Hugs
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It will get better. By all reports this is the worst part with my eyes on different tracks, sort of. At least I can say that they pretty much stay in sync at the distances needed for driving. I would not attempt a longer trip or one with a lot of traffic but I’m able to get the 6 miles to our town to restock and for a vet visit* although I usually take along my neighbor as a seeing eye person just in case. She likes getting out of the house from time to time so it works out.
I don’t know if we even have Uber here (probably, just haven’t checked it out) but it’s far enough that our taxi service would be roughly 700 for the trip. I have a friend of sorts who said she’d be glad to do it. I told her I’d insist on paying her but she’ll be a lot cheaper and I won’t feel guilty about her waiting. Plus she’s bringing her husband along for which I am very glad
She’s the kind of friend that I don’t want to owe any favors to. But she always needs money and I always make sure to pay generously for her gas and incidentals. I can’t let her in my house, though, unless I have a lot of spare change and small possibly valuable items that I need to get cleared out.
– I caught one of “my” ferals! He wouldn’t eat anything but the vet was able to get him in the next morning to be neutered and get his rabies shot. For now he’s stuck in my quarantine room and acting like a house cat. He was eating the next day and often hops off his counter spot to weave around my ankles. Bet he changes his tune when I release him, though. Well see how it goes.
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Hi MDavis. As my left eye got worse I stopped need the prism to bring both in sync to make letters clear. However since my left eye is not helping with my vision and being ignored by my brain I have issues with depth perception judgement on my fingers. I keep banging my fingers into things because I don’t see the edges or ends correctly.
Sorry about your friend. It is hard to be with out dependable people around to help as you help them. We have a core group here but much more assistance during season.
As to the feral cat you might be surprised. It sounds like they were once domesticated or an in house cat. Tupac took to being in the house easily but he still wants out during day light. we struggle with him during the day when it is storming. He wants out in light rain so cries to go out. During hard rain or thunder he hunkers down.
What I thank you for is caring to do that for him. All of the people around us would give Tupac and his companion food but no one would take Tupac in or get him the needed medical care he needs. We were the only ones to take him in and give him the medical care he needs which is a lot and an expense we did not need. But if we had not done so Tupac would have died with in 6 to 8 months since we did. You have just made a new inside / outside cat friend. Hugs
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Thank you for that.
Him being possibly someone else’s cat might explain some things. Many of the ferals I feed vacillate between keeping their distance and coming up to accept pets. I’ve not had the best luck in getting them fixed, though.
I might rethink the ear clipping thing. They promised to do as little as possible but it seems like a pretty deep cut to me. This neighborhood is rural and I don’t know if people will take it as a hint to leave him alone or as license to just shoot him since he doesn’t belong to anyone. If he stays friendly he might stick around, though.
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Hi MDavis. I think that is a really good idea. He seems to friendly and accepting inside to not have once had a family. He might if you work on it want to move in. Tupac did. Hugs
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