Tuesday, May 05, 2009

After effects of cataract operation

Unintended consequences of the cataract operation are various.

I went back to the surgeon on the eve of our New Orleans trip for my four week check up. I was relieved to learn that the eye had healed perfectly and the discomfort was due to an irritation easily cured with a steroidal eye-drops for a few days and not terrible scarring or some such (did I mention I have fevered imagination).

Anyhow several unexpected corollaries follow on from the operation:

1) I was offered the option of correcting my lifetime's short-sightedness by having a powered lens inserted which I opted for. Unfortunately the human body is a natural product and variations will occur - there is an art to guessing the right corrective power.

Instead of perfect driving vision I had a far point of about six foot. As the eye healed this halved to about three foot. Fine for the dinner table but not good for driving or general outdoor life. So I will still need some optical correction - glasses or contact lenses.

2) I cannot correct my vision by glasses alone. The prescription difference between the two eyes is so great that the brain cannot accommodate for the differing images. I either have to go for contact lenses in both eyes or one contact (to even them up) and a pair of glasses on top.

3) There is a visible colour difference in what I see between the clear right eye, whites are white, and the left natural eye in which the whites have a subtle hint of yellow.

4) I have a strange glint in my eye. Every now and the Mary catches an odd reflection in the eye with the lens implant. It is now official - I am a cyborg.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Sorry about this, but couldn't fail to laugh about Maru catching the glint in your eye!!!!