Tag Archives: cataracts

Eye to Eye (Part 3)

Posted on by
5

I went to see my eye doctor Mr. Lee yesterday, for a follow-up check. He was pleased with my right eye, and just reminded me to keep instilling the eye drops. We talked for a little while, and I asked him when it would be possible to perform cataract surgery on my left eye.

Needless to say, he’d have to order the lens from the States again (wow, then I’d really have a pair of American eyes, lol) We’ve fixed the next surgery for July 29, 2009. I’m sure my right eye would have healed completely by then, so at least I won’t be so blind when my other eye is done.

At present my right eye sees about 95% clearly (I have some residual power left, due to my intense near-sightedness) I’m wearing a contact lens for my left eye, but even that is under-corrected. However, it’s such a nice feeling to be rid of those thick glasses once and for all—yay! It’s great to wake up in the morning, open my eyes, and be able to see well without putting on glasses. Sight is probably one of the most important senses we have—so take care of yours, and visit a qualified ophthalmologist periodically to check.

Related posts

Eye to Eye

Posted on by
10

I’ve suffered from myopia (short-sightedness) ever since I was 10. Practically all the male folk in my father’s side of the family had this, so I guess this was a hereditary thing. And my mom’s side wasn’t too good either. So I had to wear glasses during my school days, and the lenses got progressively thicker and thicker and thicker. Being young and naive then, I just shrugged it off.

Then while I was on Summer vacation in 1981 my dad recommended me to see an optometrist friend of his, and he encouraged me to wear soft contact lenses. Wow, what a difference! No more glasses perched on my nose, and vision was excellent. I wore contacts for close to 20 years. However, I felt like my vision was deteriorating again after 1998. A visit to the ophthalmologist confirmed the reason—I had cataracts developing in both eyes.

Fast forward to the present and for the past year or so I’ve been having difficulties again, especially with seeing far distances. People would be calling me before I could even recognize them, and I absolutely hated the Coke bottles perched on my nose. Fortunately I could still drive, but I had to exercise more caution while driving at night. Enough was enough, and I made an appointment to see the eye doctor at one of the private hospitals here.

Mr. Lee (my ophthalmologist) recommended that I have my cataracts removed, one eye at a time. However, the surgery in my case was going to be a little more complicated, as I had severe myopia. Firstly, he’d have to order the artificial lens from the US (so guess I’ll have something American implanted in me after all). Secondly my eyeballs measured about 10mm bigger than normal eyeballs, so he’d have to dig deeper to get at my cataracts. And the third issue is so complicated that I won’t write it here and risk everyone giving up reading this post. Suffice to say that he recommended I have GA (general anesthesia) due to these circumstances.

I’m scheduled to have my first surgery on June 17, 2009. Hopefully all will go well, and I should “see” an immediate improvement in my vision. Wish me luck!

Related posts