Vision struggle coming to an end
As I sit here struggling to read posts, it is painfully obvious how bad my eyesight has become...again. Even with my 4th pair of prescription eyeglasses this past year, I still see double at distances of greater than 18 inches away from my laptop screen. While this is almost OK for reading posts, because I can get closer, it is very challenging to type this while attempting to watch myself type.
However, in 2 days this will all change. I'm getting surgery for cataract removal in my right eye, and the following week will get the left eye done.
After 2 years of my vision drastically changing I was finally diagnosed as having cataracts.
Initially it wasn't alarming, because when I turned 50 we assumed it was just a natural change in my vision. But when my vision changed again a couple months later I became suspicious and returned to the eye doctor for another exam, and sure enough it had changed again resulting in new eyeglass lenses.
With a new prescription in hand I started getting tested for glaucoma, and though I did have some pressure in my eyes I was cleared of glaucoma being the cause. Meanwhile, as I was undergoing these tests, my vision changed again resulting in new eyeglass lenses.
Next on the path to diagnosis was medical exams. Was it diabetes? No. Were there other causes? No. My vision changed yet again during this phase of testing resulting in new eyeglass lenses.
Finally the eye doctor was able to clearly see that cataracts had manifested to the point they were more easily detected. So, off to the cataract specialist I went.
After they exclaimed how surprised they were at my age, they confirmed that it was cataracts causing my issues. And it was time once again for new eyeglass lenses.
I am so happy, and also a bit nervous, because Tuesday will be the end of this amazing journey, and the beginning of another. I will be able to see clearly again, and possibly without the glasses I started wearing when I turned 22.
Wish me luck, and stay tuned. I'll post more on this topic as things unfold.
Ouch! Not fun at all. At least you figured out what it is, and there's a way to address it.
I don't know how cataracts work. Is the surgery to correct them the same as lasik, or is it just easier to get lasik while you're at it so you're going to?
Hopefully you'll be able to see all of us at Sunshine PHP in a few weeks. :-)
It involves removing the old natural cloudy lens using ultrasound to break it apart, and replacing it with a man-made lens. It will correct my near vision, but I will still wear glasses for distance. (They can't correct both.) But that is the way it has been since I was 22, so I'm used to it. http://www.allaboutvision.com/conditions/cataract-surgery.htm