Saturday, July 26, 2014

Cataract Surgery Dates Have Been Set

Wow, cataract surgery is actually going to happen.  The surgery on my right, dominant eye is scheduled for July 31 at 8:50 AM.  That is this coming Thursday!  OMG!  The surgery for my left eye is set for August 20, almost 3 weeks later.  The reason the surgeries are done on different days is that it is harder to tell the cause of an eye surgical problem if the surgeries are done on the same day.

How do I feel about this?  For one, I can't help but feel a little nervous.  There is always a risk with any surgery.  Cataract surgeries are done everyday all over the world, however, and the success rate for these surgeries is extremely high.   My eye surgeon, Dr. John Baldinger, has done over 20,000 cataract surgeries, and he has been practicing for 25 years.  He certainly knows what he is doing.  I think the risk is very low, but it is still there nonetheless.  Wouldn't you be nervous even a little bit?

I am also excited about having the surgeries done.  I have known for the last few years that I had cataracts in my eyes, but they have been really causing me increased vision problems this year.  I have noticed the it is harder to see at night, especially when driving at night.  The cataracts cause glaring from the headlights and taillights of the cars.  Thus my reaction time for reacting to events happening around me has slowed down.  In other words, it is not safe for me to drive at night.  Thus I have stopped driving at night.  I can drive during the day, but I noticed yesterday that when the sun was hitting me from the side where my sunglasses were not blocking the sunlight, my vision was adversely affected.  I was having difficulty seeing in the daylight, too.  I will be very happy to be able to see better.  I won't have perfect vision, but I will be able drive safely and do all my normal activities.  I will no longer need contact lenses as the artificial lenses that will be inserted in my eye will take care of being able to see far away.  I will need reading glasses for seeing up close, but I use them now anyway.  I know if I don't have this surgery, eventually I will go blind.  I certainly don't want that to happen.  Having cataracts is a normal part of aging for most people.  I am thankful that something can be done for this aspect of aging.


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