From ICU to I See You Better

2012 brought along unexpected mishaps such as another central line infection causing my first ICU admission. You can read about that in my previous blog. I also chose and scheduled a procedure during 2012. As I have mentioned, after bone marrow transplant, I was given many months of high dose steroids. Prednisone is a wonderful medication used to control Graft vs Host Disease (GVHD) after bone marrow transplant, but long-term high dose use can have negative side effects. By 2012 my bones in my hips and ankles are destroyed from the Prednisone, and now my eyes are showing the effects of steroid use. While seeing multiple eye doctors for my vision loss, one thing they find is cataracts. Cataracts are one of the nasty possible side effects from long term use of high doses of Prednisone.

 I had known for years that I had cataracts, one in each eye, but I did not want to have them removed. As a younger patient, cataract surgery results are a little different. When the eyeball ages to around 40+ years old, it changes shape causing close up vision to start diminishing. Around that age a person may notice they need reading glasses.  A younger eye has not naturally changed shapes yet and the near vision is usually clear. Having cataract surgery at 29 years old would cause a decline in my reading vision. An older eye may notice improvement in close up vision after cataract surgery.

 During cataract surgery the natural lens is removed and replaced with a man-made lens. A natural lens automatically adjusts for near and distant sight allowing you to see clearly at all ranges naturally. Once you have cataract surgery and an artificial lens is placed, there is no natural adjustment to the lens. For me, I knew once I had the surgery, I would require reading glasses. Although I’m legally blind, the small portion I can see is pretty clear, and I did not worry about the inconvenience of having to use reading glasses. I know many people use them, but most of the time it is due to aging. My dilemma was, did I want to continue with my small field of vision being foggy, or did I want to see clearly with the use of glasses for reading and for distance? Because of my extremely small field of vision, bifocals were out of the question.

 After much debate with myself, I finally made the decision to have the surgery. With my doctor’s advice and thoughts, we chose which eye to do first and I finally opted for distance vision lens and reading glasses. Cataract surgery is a very common surgery. The doctor said if everyone lived long enough everyone would have cataracts.

 The procedure went well and I could tell a big difference in that eye, but the remaining cataract still affected my vision as a whole. After a couple of days everything felt fine, but for a 2-week period I couldn’t lift or bend over. I did not realize how often I did those two things until I was told not to.

 A couple of months later I could tell that colors were brighter and the fogginess was gone in my operative eye; however, my near vision was not clear. With my other eye still having its natural lens, it compensated for the difference, so I did not have to wear reading glasses. I decided at that time that I would not have the second eye surgery. Eight years later, in 2020, I did give in and have my second cataract removed. Now I am carrying reading glasses everywhere I go and have them sitting beside my chair at home. Just another one of my old lady checkmarks. LOL!

 Sometimes you just have to take things that come your way lightly and laugh at yourself. I tell myself all the time, “somebody somewhere is doing way worse than me”. Love life, yourself, and be thankful for what you do have.