Kind of like being dyslexic
Five years ago (or so), I developed a macular hole in my left eye. It was like having a bullet hole in the middle of the glass that was my field of vision. Lots of people develop them as side effect of passing age 50, and most of them close spontaneously. Mine didn't; it got worse. I had surgery (vitrectomy) that allowed the hole to heal, but I the flaw in the middle of my left eye's field of vision remained. (I'm not complaining too much; 20 years before, I might simply have gone blind in that eye, because the surgery didn't exist.)
Four years ago, I developed a cataract in the left eye, which was a known and predicted side effect of the previous vitrectomy. The surgery was uneventful, and after the surgery, the blurriness and cloudiness I'd been experiencing went away.
This year, in early August, the vision in my left eye started getting blurry and cloudy again. It came on gradually, but a week or so ago I realized that I couldn't read my computer screen with my left eye. (Normally, my vision in that eye isn't perfect (see above), but it's around 20/30 with correction.) Around the same time, I realized that I needed a correction in my right eyes as well.
I was able to get an appointment with the ophthalmologist on the day I called (about a week ago), and the diagnosis regarding the left eye was as expected -- I had developed a film behind the lens that was clouding my vision. This is something that could be dealt with via a laser procedure. Not quite surgery, but performed by a surgeon. The surgeons, it turns out, are very busy people -- the first open date on the schedule was October 23. I mentioned that the eye problems were interfering with my ability to work, and I would be happy to fit into any cancellation on short notice. Yesterday, I got a call asking if September 18 would work, and I said yes.
In the meantime, my left eye is useless for reading (but is okay for most things where fuzziness isn't as important), and my right eye needs a new lens for my glasses. My understanding was that I shouldn't get that new lens until I can have both eyes tested properly -- which means not until after the procedure. Mostly I'm coping, but the print seems to crawl around on the page from time to time, and I've been bumping up the print size when I'm reading electronic versions. Thus the title of this post.
I'll be very glad when this is over and fixed as well as can be -- an I'm even gladder that I'm living in the future, where such fixes exist in the first place.
Four years ago, I developed a cataract in the left eye, which was a known and predicted side effect of the previous vitrectomy. The surgery was uneventful, and after the surgery, the blurriness and cloudiness I'd been experiencing went away.
This year, in early August, the vision in my left eye started getting blurry and cloudy again. It came on gradually, but a week or so ago I realized that I couldn't read my computer screen with my left eye. (Normally, my vision in that eye isn't perfect (see above), but it's around 20/30 with correction.) Around the same time, I realized that I needed a correction in my right eyes as well.
I was able to get an appointment with the ophthalmologist on the day I called (about a week ago), and the diagnosis regarding the left eye was as expected -- I had developed a film behind the lens that was clouding my vision. This is something that could be dealt with via a laser procedure. Not quite surgery, but performed by a surgeon. The surgeons, it turns out, are very busy people -- the first open date on the schedule was October 23. I mentioned that the eye problems were interfering with my ability to work, and I would be happy to fit into any cancellation on short notice. Yesterday, I got a call asking if September 18 would work, and I said yes.
In the meantime, my left eye is useless for reading (but is okay for most things where fuzziness isn't as important), and my right eye needs a new lens for my glasses. My understanding was that I shouldn't get that new lens until I can have both eyes tested properly -- which means not until after the procedure. Mostly I'm coping, but the print seems to crawl around on the page from time to time, and I've been bumping up the print size when I'm reading electronic versions. Thus the title of this post.
I'll be very glad when this is over and fixed as well as can be -- an I'm even gladder that I'm living in the future, where such fixes exist in the first place.