I had my annual eye exam last week and the news was both good and bad. The bad news was that it’s finally time to have the cataracts that have been slowly growing in both eyes removed. My close-up vision remains good, but distance vision has deteriorated to the point that glasses can improve things only slightly, with objects and views in the distance remaining fuzzy and blurry without the surgery.
I knew this was coming eventually, but it was still something of a blow to my sense of good health to get the news. I recently finished re-reading Being Mortal by Atul Gawande, M.D. and one strong lesson reabsorbed is that the aging process is one of things and parts breaking down. Just like a complicated power plant, eventually parts of us stop working as they should and either need to be repaired, replaced, or removed. When that’s not possible, we adjust.
The surgery will make a positive difference. I will continue to need glasses for reading and such, but may not need progressives any more once the new lenses are in place in my eyes. I will also be able to see better at night, and overall clarity should return versus what I’m experiencing now (which is everything in the distance being uncomfortably blurry).
Between Medicare and our military insurance the entire cost of the surgery will be covered, so that was the good news. I won’t even have a co-pay. New glasses following the surgery will be more expensive though, even with insurance, because the frames I’ve chosen cost more than what they have in the past few years. But, they’re The Ones, still come in right at the top end of what we can afford, and I am not going to budge – I want them!
I’ll meet with the surgeon the last week of this month, and surgery will be scheduled for some time in February. It’s time.
The Occasional Nomads 
I know you’re not looking forward to it, but the results will be worth it! My only thought is, how long will it be before you can read comfortably?
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Everyone who I’ve heard from who has had the surgery said it’s well worth it. So, not looking forward to it but looking forward to different it will make! I have no idea about how long before I can read again, but I’ll have my new glasses ordered before the end of February.
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All the best for your surgery!
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Thank you! Can’t say I’m looking forward to it, but am looking forward to the results.
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I loved Being Mortal. So much wisdom there.
Everyone I know has had an easy time with cataract surgery, so I hope yours goes well too. They all say how much better they can see. I will have to do this at some point. Like you, I will go for an eye exam one of these years and have hit the mark. Oh, and glad you are getting those frames! Now that I wear glasses daily, I agree you have to get the ones you love.
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Being Mortal is so good because it’s not only informative, but so personal as well. Humbling, too, I think. I know I’m going to pick it up again, maybe in another year or two.
The glasses I wear now have never felt “right” but I think it’s because the doctor got me the best prescription he could – he knew we were leaving and there would be no surgery while we were still on Kaua’i. So, it sort of makes sense now what’s been going on. Oh, and I do love those new frames – they aren’t what I thought I choose this time but I love them so much.
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