By Tom Moore
Newsroom retiree
As my good friend Dave Boerner says, “Don’t get old.”
Of course the alternative is not too good either.
But one of the downsides is all those visits to doctors . . . and my latest, an eye surgeon.
Now horrible thoughts can run through your mind when it comes to fooling with the eyes. But anymore it’s routine laser surgery to get rid of cataracts in my left eye. Thousands of folks have gone through it . . . and if you live long enough, odds are you’ll experience the procedure.
And it’s a piece of cake.
Just a bit on the irritation side. No pain . . . just uncomfortable.
The worse part of the whole ordeal, at least for me, is trying to hit the eyeball with all those drops necessary before surgery.
In this case, one medicine had to be taken twice a day for three days and another four times a day. And those drops are not cheap. One is 30 bucks co-pay . . . the other $60. (Hello, doughnut hole).
On surgery day, I was given a wristband with my name and birth date on it. And over my left eye, the nurse pasted a piece of paper . . . just so the doc didn’t do the wrong one.
Then on to the table in a very cold room, my blood pressure was taken and my temperature (the temperature measurer was inserted in my ear).
Next my blood surgery was checked and I was hooked up to a monitor. Then came an IV in my right arm. (The scar it left matched the one on my left arm . . . which came about the day before when I went to the hospital for bloodwork for my kidney doctor). And somewhere along the line came an oxygen tube for my nose.
I was covered with a blanket and repeatly asked if I was too cold, I could have another blanket. I told them I was fine.
Then came more drops, as my left eye was propped open to prepare for the operation. The nurse kept putting in drops.
Finally a goopy-like drop, almost like the old paste we used in the hot type days, landed in my eye. That seemed to help keep it open.
As I said, I was feeling no pain.
And then the surgeon came in to do his thing.
I looked straight ahead as he worked . . . and saw the greatest light show I’ve experienced in a long time. Like the Fourth of July fireworks in the left eye . . . brilliant yellows, dancing reds . . .
And then it was over.
I was wheeled into the “kitchen” where I got off the table and sat down for a much-needed cup of coffee and a banana nut roll. (I forgot to mention, you couldn’t eat or drink anything 12 hours prior to surgery).
I was given a patch to wear over the eye at night so I wouldn’t accidentally touch, etc, it.
And a pair of sunglasses that was worth the surgery. Great ones, that wrap all around the eyes.
No problems that first night and not any other since.
When I went back for a checkup the next day, I found that with the left eye I could read that EAI4 eye chart much better than with the right eye.
Now all I have to do is get through the next few days with four different eyedrops.
Click on the headline to see a photo of Tom with really cool sunglasses.
What about you? Have you had any surgeries this year. Email John Olesky at
Jo4wvu@sbcglobal.net
with the details and recent photos of yourself.
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