We all should know that as we get older, our bodies tend to break down in various ways. This year I have found that little gem of wisdom is quite true. This year I have had two parts of my body break down enough that three surgeries were needed to get these two parts in working order.
I knew the first part was running down. I have known about my cataracts in both eyes for 3 or 4 years. My vision was getting progressively worse, but it wasn't until this year that I realized I needed to get rid of those cataracts. I had my cataract surgery on my right eye July 31, and the surgery went well. The cataract surgery for my left eye was scheduled for August 20. On August 19, I was in a hospital, but not for cataract surgery. I was in another hospital with what looked like very painful kidney stones. Urine was also backed up into my kidneys. To make a long story short, I had an enlarged prostate gland which was blocking my urinary tract. Needless to say, the cataract surgery was postponed.
The earliest the urologist could do the prostate surgery was October 1. I had to use a catheter for four weeks or more in the meantime. Such fun. Finally the day for the surgery arrived, and the surgery went well. Now my plumbing seems to be in working order.
Two weeks later on October 16, I had cataract surgery on my left eye. I was worried a bit about the other two surgeries since I had never experienced them before, especially the prostate surgery. I was not worried at all about the second cataract surgery since the first one was still fresh in my mind, except I had forgotten about those burning eye drops. This second cataract went well also, and now I am seeing in HD.
I didn't realize what I had been missing with my impaired eye sight. I had adjusted to the poor eyesight until this year when I could not adjust anymore. I had also adjusted to urinating more frequently, but I knew something was really wrong with my plumbing when I had the extreme pain and was urinating every five minutes. I hope I have learned a valuable lesson, especially being a older person. I have to listen to my body more and not put off checking things out when my body is saying it is not working 100%. I shouldn't check it off to old age. I am at the old age starting point now since I turned 65 this year. My mind is still young ( I was able to write this blog posting, didn't I?), but the body is not young anymore. I could have other eye problems. I could have an enlarged prostate again and have another blockage. Unfortunately, there are a thousand and one other things that can go wrong as well. I have to be more watchful and take better care of myself, or there are going to be other problems. Not all of the problems will be fixable, but at least I must get the fixable ones fixed before they are not fixable. Lesson learned.
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