July 14, 2025Monday, July 14, 2025

Just a thought… Life is full of awe and grace and truth, mystery and wonder. I live in that atmosphere. [Dion DiMucci]

Well, for once I have a valid excuse if there are typos or any other oddities in today’s blog: on Thursday in Victoria I had a cataract removed and a new lens put in.

Now you or someone you know may have already had it done, and I hope you find this interesting. Let me share for you in my own words some of the experiences I had in light of the operation, and I’ll try to keep my puns to a minimum. We’ll see…(oops).

I didn’t think cataracts were a thing for me yet; at 62 and with glasses that served me well, I was surprised when our eye doctor told me that, not only was Rob a candidate (although not at the point that BC Health would cover the whole tab for either of us), I was too, thanks to two tiny ones that had shown up. We had the choice of waiting years until we needed to join the queue, but decided to do it now.

We started the process of appointments, dilations, tests and price lists. I was ready to back out last week during our last pre-surgical meeting; I just didn’t feel like spending $3850 (after the $1000 off from the govt.) when it wasn’t a necessity. Don’t forget we still have a house for sale. But Rob’s operation was: he plays in goal without his glasses and felt that he was losing his perspective, misjudging too many pucks and allowing too many goals. But somehow I got in on a cancellation and ended up going first.

If you haven’t had it done and are nervous about this surgery, let me please reassure you that it’s so much easier than you can imagine. Numbing drops do their thing, a pill to relax you does the rest and the doctors have done these hundreds and thousands of times. My procedure came in two steps: blasting the cataract and removing the tiny shards, a 20-minute rest (during which I slept, so relaxed was I) and then the insertion of the new lens. All you need is someone to get you there, take you home and tuck you in, and you’re fine.

To find out I was even eligible for any kind of sight improvement (having had an experimental Radial Keratotomy scalpel surgery 30 years ago before laser was so widespread) was a huge surprise, as I’d since been told by a Toronto clinic that they wouldn’t touch my scarred eyes with a ten-foot laser.

When I learned I could have cataract surgery after all, I was instantly disappointed to hear that I wasn’t going to have the sight I took for granted before puberty hit. I had to choose between lenses for far away or close up. So, as I type this and my right eye recovers, I’m wearing a contact lens in the other, no glasses, and still unable to read small print in front of me. It’ll all adjust and so will I. And in about three weeks, I do it all again and cannot wait!

Recovery is easy – I slept most of the afternoon Thursday and rested again Friday and Saturday. My step counter is very disappointed in me, but it’ll live! The most onerous part is putting three different drops in my eye, four minutes apart, four times daily, plus sleeping with an eye shield and a mask over top. No biggie.

I’m resting easy these days at having some improvement, while trying not to calculate how much my future expenditures on fancy readers are going to be. Mostly I’m just feeling extremely grateful that this tiny lens has made such a big difference already. Bring on number two – and thank you, science, once again!