Color Me Amazed!
I had cataract surgery on Wednesday. I didn't really think I needed it much. I'd been living with this theoretical cataract on my left eye for quite a few years. I could still see. I could drive. I could read. I could do everything I needed to do.
But when I was working on Theo's book (now being revised) I spent LONG hours at the computer in January and the eye that didn't have the cataract (well, not much of one) took a beating. It got cloudy, foggy, irritable from staring all those hours at the screen (getting very little help from its colleague, the left eye). So I said to the doc, I think now's the time.
Of course now is NEVER the time in the medical world. Two months later is now as far as they are concerned. Well, in the ensuing two months, I had lots of re-thinking time. And once I stopped spending hours and hours staring at the computer screen trying to get Theo and his lady to a happy ending, the right eye felt much better. I was 'cured.' Well, not really. But I began to think I was jumping the gun getting the cataract removed.
Still, by this time I had invested time (and money) in a new eye exam and refraction. I'd listened to nurses tell me about what to expect. They promise you dire things, really, these days, all in the interest of not being sued because they didn't tell you that you could die. I think they should just make it a given -- you could die -- and then get on with it. So anyway, I thought, oh well, what the hell, I've spent this much time getting ready for it -- and I'm going to have to do it someday. And even if Theo and his lady are not completely revised, they're well on their way (I killed off granny the other day at my editor's request. Who'd have thought she was so blood-thirsty? But I digress.).
So Wednesday afternoon, I duly marched off to the cataract removing doctor (whose son #4 was best friends with my son #3 and we compare notes on offspring frequently and I'm probably the only person who brought wedding pictures to her eye exam this year). But that's beside the point. The point is -- I had the cataract removed.
The eye was blurry. Very very blurry. That day. The next morning. I had serious 'um, maybe I made a mistake' thoughts when I woke up and couldn't see the ceiling fan over my head. But I went to the doc (no, I didn't drive. The prof drove me) and the doc said, "It's fine. Doing great. You'll be amazed."
Color me amazed. The blur cleared. There was color. Such color as I have never seen (ever -- I've worn glasses since I was 2 1/2 years old). Edges -- there were edges to things. They didn't just blur from one thing to another. Blue. I've always loved blue. But when it's really blue and not muddied with a sort of brown-paper bag lens over it it's INCREDIBLE. Wow. I can't stop looking at things. I like staring at my computer just because things are outlined in blue and the blue is so bright, so vivid, so amazing. The sky is blue, too. And my neighbor's roof is gray, and my dog Gunnar is actually blue-black (he's a flatcoat retriever) and extremely impressive. As I said, wow.
The downside? Well, if there is one, it's that I just discovered there is way more dust on my wooden blinds than I ever saw before. I've just dusted everything to within an inch of its life. Things are looking better. And better.
But I have to stop looking now and go do something where I give the eye a rest so I can actually work on Theo for a while this afternoon. But I'm so impressed that I think I'm going to have the other eye done sooner rather than later. If I close the left eye, the world becomes muddy -- and this is with the eye that was the better of the two (cataract wise).
I've always been more of an auditory person than a visual one (because I couldn't see? Possibly). But I'm thinking of becoming much more visual. I might actually start describing things in my books now that I can see them.
Wow. And wow again.
But when I was working on Theo's book (now being revised) I spent LONG hours at the computer in January and the eye that didn't have the cataract (well, not much of one) took a beating. It got cloudy, foggy, irritable from staring all those hours at the screen (getting very little help from its colleague, the left eye). So I said to the doc, I think now's the time.
Of course now is NEVER the time in the medical world. Two months later is now as far as they are concerned. Well, in the ensuing two months, I had lots of re-thinking time. And once I stopped spending hours and hours staring at the computer screen trying to get Theo and his lady to a happy ending, the right eye felt much better. I was 'cured.' Well, not really. But I began to think I was jumping the gun getting the cataract removed.
Still, by this time I had invested time (and money) in a new eye exam and refraction. I'd listened to nurses tell me about what to expect. They promise you dire things, really, these days, all in the interest of not being sued because they didn't tell you that you could die. I think they should just make it a given -- you could die -- and then get on with it. So anyway, I thought, oh well, what the hell, I've spent this much time getting ready for it -- and I'm going to have to do it someday. And even if Theo and his lady are not completely revised, they're well on their way (I killed off granny the other day at my editor's request. Who'd have thought she was so blood-thirsty? But I digress.).
So Wednesday afternoon, I duly marched off to the cataract removing doctor (whose son #4 was best friends with my son #3 and we compare notes on offspring frequently and I'm probably the only person who brought wedding pictures to her eye exam this year). But that's beside the point. The point is -- I had the cataract removed.
The eye was blurry. Very very blurry. That day. The next morning. I had serious 'um, maybe I made a mistake' thoughts when I woke up and couldn't see the ceiling fan over my head. But I went to the doc (no, I didn't drive. The prof drove me) and the doc said, "It's fine. Doing great. You'll be amazed."
Color me amazed. The blur cleared. There was color. Such color as I have never seen (ever -- I've worn glasses since I was 2 1/2 years old). Edges -- there were edges to things. They didn't just blur from one thing to another. Blue. I've always loved blue. But when it's really blue and not muddied with a sort of brown-paper bag lens over it it's INCREDIBLE. Wow. I can't stop looking at things. I like staring at my computer just because things are outlined in blue and the blue is so bright, so vivid, so amazing. The sky is blue, too. And my neighbor's roof is gray, and my dog Gunnar is actually blue-black (he's a flatcoat retriever) and extremely impressive. As I said, wow.
The downside? Well, if there is one, it's that I just discovered there is way more dust on my wooden blinds than I ever saw before. I've just dusted everything to within an inch of its life. Things are looking better. And better.
But I have to stop looking now and go do something where I give the eye a rest so I can actually work on Theo for a while this afternoon. But I'm so impressed that I think I'm going to have the other eye done sooner rather than later. If I close the left eye, the world becomes muddy -- and this is with the eye that was the better of the two (cataract wise).
I've always been more of an auditory person than a visual one (because I couldn't see? Possibly). But I'm thinking of becoming much more visual. I might actually start describing things in my books now that I can see them.
Wow. And wow again.
posted by Anne McAllister at 10:16 AM
2 Comments:
Oh yes, get the other eye done. You will see even clearer.
And yes I agree the world is an amazing place in colour!!!
Wonderful, Anne! So glad you had the eye done, and are loving the depth of focus and colour!
Wishing you lots of beautiful, colourful things to adore.
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