Sometimes Dreams Do Come True - Cataract Surgery at 52

I was a bit shocked last month when the opthamologist told me that the cataracts that he had been monitoring had gotten bad and that I needed cataract surgeries on both eyes.  I wanted to sream, I could not believe that I needed another surgery and really couldn't believe that at 52, I had cataracts.  I have never wanted any sort of eye surgery.  I would not even have my vision corrected all these years of ever worsening vision - bifocals and transition lenses.  I was not happy, but not wanting to drag it out all summer (and some concerns about health insurance), I scheduled the surgeries for May 1st and May 15th and they are both now over.  I have been through some really rough surgeries, but for some reason, the eye surgery was freaking me out.  I never had my vision corrected, even though I had super terrible vision since I was in 3rd grade, because I never wanted anyone to touch my eyes.  The brain cancer was super upsetting because it affected my vision - I think that the vision issue was harder to deal with than the brain cancer itself.  Unless you are missing peripheral vision (or wearing an eye patch or some other obstruction to vision), you have no idea how much less your vision is.  It has been almost 4 years since losing my left peripheral vision and I still walk into things (Read on to hear about most recent crash later in this blog:).  Well, although scary, both cataract surgeries went fine.  The first one seemed really easy and the second one was more difficult and a bit more painful.  Although in the grand scheme of things, cataract surgery was not painful at all.  The needle for the IV was probably the most painful parts.  The constant eye drops are stinging and uncomfortable, but not really painful.  After each surgery, my face did look a bit bruised and there were some dark circles under my eyes.  Because of my terrible near sightedness, the two weeks between the first and second surgery were rather difficult.  With one eye seeing well and the other eye barely seeing at all, it was a real mess.  Driving and reading were somewhat impossible.  Distance views were okay - I could watch tv, etc.  Computer work, reading and anything with detail was almost impossible.  I lived the two weeks with weird arrangements of one eye closed while wearing glasses to be able to read with the other eye then removing the glasses to cover the other eye to see distances with the newly operated on eye, etc.  It was a wacky way to see!  But, the end result is that I can not see very well with both eyes, well EXCEPT for the reading part.  After spending every day since third grade wearing super thick glasses (and mostly hating every minute of it), I now only need glasses to read or view things close up.  It is an awesome feeling to wake up in the morning and be able to see the clock without reaching for my glasses!  It is also really great to be in the shower and reach for the shampoo or soap or anything and know exactly what it is and where it was sitting instead of guessing and feeling around to find something.  More than once, I have washed my hair with liquid soap because the bottle was the same shape and size as the shampoo bottle.  I had not realized how, over the years, I have gone through my morning rituals partially with memorization - I knew where things were, so I knew where to reach for them.  Without my glasses, I could only see large shapes without details, so staying in hotel rooms or other people's houses was always a bit disconcerting.  It is hard to explain to someone who has always had good vision.  Waking up that first morning after the second eye surgery was very strange.  Without moving, I could see everything in the room - without reaching for my glasses, I knew what time it was.  I can finally get rid of that super giant clock in my bedroom.  It was a great feeling.  When I was little and would dream, I would always dream of myself without glasses.  I guess in a weird way, one of my dreams has come true.  I know that the on and off of the reading glasses is going to take some getting used to, and we all know that I am not big on change, but I believe that this is going to be a very positive change in my life.  I guess that I can't say "no" glasses, but I can say "no, all the time" glasses!  Dreams sometimes do come true!