My Eyes!
No, it’s not like when Phoebe saw Monica and Chandler kissing on Friends—but it is rather dramatic.
Let me recap my vision story. My dad died at 41, so I have no info from him or his family. My grandmother had cataracts removed when she was about 70. It led to a decline in her health; she never could get used to the glasses with thick lenses that looked like the bottom of Coke bottles. Remember, lens replacement as we have today didn’t become common until the mid-1980s. My mother had glaucoma, which was the genetic factor in my development of glaucoma.
I still remember the exact moment I discovered I needed reading glasses. I had been given a badge to enter campus during an international sport competition, and I couldn’t read the fine print on the badge. My real journey began when I finally had an eye exam about 10 years ago. The ophthalmologist tested me for glaucoma and the numbers were high—over 30 in each eye, and it should be below 8. Prescription eye drops lowered the pressure, but they can’t repair the damage I have in my right eye. Neither the cataract surgery nor the drains can repair it. I consider myself lucky it wasn’t more severe.
As for my vision about a month after the first replacement? I would say it’s excellent—over 18 inches away. I typed this without glasses at all in a 12-point font. I still need glasses for reading to help the eye with the lost vision, but that seems relatively easy.
The questions I have are: what could I have done to prevent either condition? And what should you and I do in the future? I’ll cover that on Saturday.
What are you prepared to do today?
