A Whole New World!

"A whole new world... a new fantastic point of view!"

When I woke up this morning, the theme from Disney's Aladdin was going through my head. My left eye has its new "bionic" reZoom multifocal lens, and I can actually function without glasses or contact lenses most of the time. My right eye will get its reZoom lens on May 3. Until then, my vision will be half clear and half blurry. This morning my husband Tom asked, "Can you see me?", and I told him, "Yes, but you're not in high-definition mode yet!"

Having surgery under anesthesia was a new experience for me. Scary, because I didn't know what to expect. My blood pressure was higher than usual (140/80 instead of 120/70) as I was being prepped, and the nurse asked if I was nervous. "Yes!" I replied. She asked if I wanted her to bring my husband in from the waiting room, I said, "No, because then he'll think something's wrong and he'll get nervous, and I'll be more nervous because HE is." When my doctor (Dr. James Liu) stopped by my bed before the surgery to ask if I had any questions, I asked him what I would feel or see when he was operating on my eye. He said I might feel some pressure but no pain, and depending on how awake I was, I might see bright lights and colors.

When my bed was wheeled into the operating room, I had my eyes shut. The left eye was taped shut to keep the eyedrops in place, but I had my right eye shut on purpose. The anesthesiologist, Lou, asked me if I was nervous. "Yes!" I said. "Do you want sedation?" he inquired. "Yes!" (I thought: Bring it on!) Lou did a good job. I was asleep throughout the procedure, which was fine with me! Let's save the bright colorful lights for the Fourth of July.

No pain during or after the procedure. During my pre-operative Internet research on cataract surgery, I learned that it's normal for everything to have a pinkish cast as the eye is healing. Yesterday evening the sky was the most amazing shade of violet!

This morning I carefully took a shower, making sure that no water got in my eyes. (Fresh water after eye surgery can cause infection or irritation.) It was startling to be able to notice details inside the shower stall, like a piece of sock lint. I might be forced to clean the shower more often from now on.

So far, the worst part (besides the cost and the anxiety) has been wearing protective goggles at night. They're cumbersome, and they leave red rings around both my eyes. My close-up vision with the new lens could be better, but it's not bad. It will be interesting to see if the visual clarity increases over the next couple of weeks as the eye heals.