Healing Arts
Took the day off yesterday. Had a follow-up visit with my eye surgeon in the early morning. I now have 20/20 vision in my right eye. Feels unbalanced. And I think it will take a bit before my mind gets used to the whole idea. It is pretty nice to drive down the road and see clearly, without glasses, what’s out there. Everything is sharp and clear. I’ve scheduled repairs to my left for the first week in July. I can hardly wait. That’s quite a change from the anxiety I felt before the first surgery. I think I’d do it tomorrow if they’d let me.
Meanwhile, I’m still in recovery. I sleep with a plastic shield over my eye. I’m forbidden to lift more than ten pounds, bend at the waist or rub my eye. I caught myself doing the latter once yesterday when I woke from a nap. And bending at the waist? This was hard to believe but I bend at the waist way more than I realized. Putting on shoes. Pulling up pants. Putting a dish in the dishwasher. Picking up anything off the floor. This is where it would be a mighty help to have a mate. But I’ve always been slightly self-sufficient, so I think I’ll make it through.
I asked my doctor yesterday how nice it must feel to do a day of cataract surgeries then come in the next day to find happy patients stunned at how well they can see. See allowed that it was fine, but she also noted that her patients in general seem to be a happy lot, grateful for the care they receive. Of course, I think she has a lot to do with that because she’s everything you’d want in a doctor, thoughtful, kind, cheerful, and always smiling. And I think happiness begets happiness. It probably begets healing, too, which is what I seem to be doing. And I’m certainly grateful for that.
John W. Wilson is the author of The Long Goodbye: A Caregiver's Tale