Eyes Front! Part One

On Wednesday March 2nd, I'll have my first cataract surgery. The operation takes only about 10 to 15 minutes. If you live to be over 60, or in some cases, even 40, you too can have this experience. It's the most common eye problem. Fortunately, thanks to new surgical techniques the success rate is very high. A small incision is made, then ultrasound is used to break up the cloudy lens. It is then sucked out and a new clear lens is inserted. And voila - the world becomes clearer and brighter, though in my case, not any closer.

My left eye is a "lazy eye." I've always hated that term. It implies that the eye could do better but won't. That's not the case of course. Amblyopia, the official medical name for the condition, must be treated in early childhood. Mine was not and so my eye turns inward at times and doesn't work well with the other eye. It is also has low vision and is misaligned.

So, I chose to have that eye operated on first. I collected all my prescription eye drops on Wednesday. There are three kinds and a detailed list of instructions. My surgeon has done a lot of this work and his office gave me a four colour page in large print that makes it easy to see what to use and when. There are also 10 Tylenol 2's. Wheee! Even one of those gives me very wild dreams, but I have no objection to that. I do object to receiving the meds in a child-proof bottle because I'll have a heck of a time opening it, if I need to.

I'm glad my surgeon is experienced and familiar with all the latest technology. He's not green and he's not grey so he's just right, I hope.

I've read a fair bit about what one is supposed to do and not do after the surgery, but have yet to receive the surgeon's instructions. Apparently, I'll get those immediately after the surgery. And I'll be seeing him the next day, although I don't have an appointment time yet.

I'm trying hard not to think too much about the fact they won't be using a general anesthetic. I'd rather be asleep, but will have to be awake but "relaxed." I haven't been told what they'll give me to achieve a relaxed state. I vote for a heavy duty drug.

After the surgery, I'm supposed to have someone with me until the next morning. The Viking has volunteered.

I suspect I'll have to limit my computer use for a while but don't know for sure.

I'll post Part Two sometime after the first surgery. I'm looking forward to a more vivid spring.

Til next time.

Suddenly ...

I've never started a story with suddenly or with any other adverb as far as I can recall but I think it's an appropriate title for this post.

January, which seemed such a slow month while I was experiencing it is suddenly over and that means I have only a couple of months left to get stories sent out to journals again. I've received a couple of "good" rejections in the last little while. You know, the type of thing where the editor, or someone on staff, writes a kind personal comment but still says no thanks. So, do I revise yet again? Likely I do. As another writer said and this isn't an exact quote, when you get to the twentieth revision it's hard to tell if you are making good changes or bad ones. That's when the work gets harder. And since I'm an expert procrastinator (need lessons? send me a message). I have foot-dragged most of the time in January and need to buckle down. I'll be fastening those buckles as soon as I finish this post.

Also, suddenly, well suddenly as far as I'm concerned, I'm told I have another vision problem. Fortunately, it can be remedied and replacing my dirty windshields, cloudy lenses, is routine. No doubt the changes did not happen overnight, but I didn't realize my vision had decreased because I compensate for the losses. Since I've always had vision problems I should have expected that with age more would crop up, or is that down? In any event, I'll spend most of my on-screen time working on my stories so, likely I won't update my blog as often.

Have you had any good experiences that happened suddenly?

Til next time