Reading & Writing & Cataracts, Oh MY!

Ahhhh, getting older! It’s so much fun! Okay, maybe not so much, but it does beat the alternative, so go with me on this. 😀

I have been gradually getting harder of hearing for the last ten years, but apparently I’ve also been slowly losing my eyesight, as well. Or at least some aspects of it. I’ve known for 5 years I had cataracts building. When you have lived in a very sunny place for as long as I have, and you are fair-complected and light-eyed, your chances of developing cataracts past a certain age are apparently highly elevated. But what I didn’t realize was just how bad mine were getting until a couple of months ago. 

Yesterday, I had surgery on my right eye, which is my dominant eye. (My left eye doesn’t really focus on anything, though the vision isn’t too bad in it when my right eye is covered. But that’s a whole ‘nuther story.) Anyway, I have discovered that everything in my world has been covered by a nasty, yellow haze for some time. Kind of like that “waxy, yellow build-up” old floor wax commercials used to decry. Dang. Now, I’m looking around and even though my eye isn’t healed yet & is still blurry, my walls are so bright and beautiful, it’s amazing. Now I don’t need to repaint! 😀  And don’t even get me started on the plants in my garden! Oh, what a riot of colors are out there, even amidst the summer-long neglect. 

The insidious thing about cataracts is, they build so gradually, you don’t even know what you are losing, until they are removed, and you take a look around. All the other little details I couldn’t see are now apparent, too. No WONDER I missed so many typos in my last manuscript. (Which I am still correcting on Kindle, btw. You may contact me at any time, if you want an updated version.)

Of course, my eye isn’t healed yet, so I have to cover it up to force my left eye to work, in order to post here or do any reading at all.  I’ve got another week or two ahead of me before the eye is stabilized and we will know if I’m still going to need glasses for distance or not. But that’s okay. I know that better, clearer vision is coming. For now, I’m just wandering around with one lens removed from my glasses, and occasionally covering my eye to see something close up.

You know, for someone whose life centers around reading, writing and painting, you’d think I’d have been more aware of what was happening. But I guess anything that slow, quiet and stealthy can sneak up on you, if you aren’t careful. (I should know that from all the Urban Fantasy I read.) You folks out there beyond a “certain age,” need to do yourselves a favor, and even if you don’t think you have any vision issues,  get your eyes checked regularly, and not just for things like cataracts. You need to watch out for other eye health issues like glaucoma, or retinal problems. Your eyes are so precious, you really don’t want to neglect them. How are you going to read all the good books there are, if you do?

Take good care of yourself, folks! You are all special to me!