Last week I spent a few days with my mother as she was having a cataract operation; she tells me, a few days on, that she cannot believe the difference it has made. Last Thursday, just one day after the procedure, she told me that everything was much lighter through her left eye, but her right eye seemed to bathe everything in a sepia tint. It must be weird living with the world in two different shades like that, and of course, having had one lens replaced, her reading glasses no longer focus for her left eye, so to read she either has to shut her left eye when she has her glasses on, or try to read with the left eye without glasses. Interesting, and I imagine she’ll get headaches from that imbalance. Hopefully this is a temporary thing, as she says she’d like to get the other eye sorted out too, now that she’s not so terrified of the operation. Let’s be frank: the prospect of having someone operate on your eye while you are awake is not appealing! You can see what’s involved by reading this. She got through it though, being told afterwards by the surgeon and the nurses that she was a perfect patient, and I’m really proud of her. She did better than me, I think, as I’m not great in hospitals and couldn’t concentrate on reading my book as I was so worried about her. I must have read the same sentence ten times at one point, and I think the lady sitting next to me in the waiting room thought I was a really s l o w reader! Either that, or I was waiting for an eye operation too...
The whole experience has made me think about eye health generally, and how those of us that can see take our vision for granted. See here for some general information from the NHS about eye health. Looking at the figures, huge numbers of people go through cataract operations every year. This page, about age-related cataracts, tells us that over half of all over 65 year-olds in the UK have some cataract development, and that around the world, every year, around ten million cataract operations are performed with ‘a low risk of serious complications’. It also says that cataracts can possibly be an inherited condition – oh joy, and I thought it was the months of studying the Norton Shakespeare that killed my eyes! Seriously though, it is amazing what can be done in such a short time (Mum’s operation was a mere 30 minutes), and with such wonderful care. The hospital staff really couldn’t have been more reassuring or caring. I’m so grateful to the NHS for giving Mum a chance to see clearly again and want to shout out a huge “THANK YOU” to all the wonderful medical workers out there who do such a fantastic job every day.
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