The Day I Became "The Karen"

My name is Karen, but really, it's not pronounced the way you are reading it. This is a good thing lately because people are making rather derogatory remarks about Karens.

I recently had my cataracts done, both on the same day. Two days before the surgery I was to start taking two of the three kinds of drops I needed to keep my eyes healthy and heal well after this procedure. The antibiotics drops were fine but another one meant to reduce inflamation made my face itch, my nose bleed, and gave me diarrhea. Worse than that, it made me dizzy. That didn't go away even when I tried to lie down.

I was actually afraid to take any more of the drop that was causing the problem so first thing in the morning I called the ophthalmologist's office. As expected, I just got an answering machine. This was very worrisome since I had left a question several days before and had still not gotten an answer and my surgery was to be the very next day. My hubby decided to go talk to the pharmacist. They are very helpful at our local drug store and offered to try faxing the ophthalmologist's office as that might get through sooner. The pharmacist also said that of the three drops I would be taking, the one that was causing the problem was the least important.  

Meanwhile, the hospital phoned with the time for me to show up for my surgery and I explained the problem to them too. The lady said she would also try to reach the doctor but that she would be calling the same line as me so suggested I just keep trying.  

I don't know which message the office eventually got but someone finally phoned and told me it was okay to discontinue that particular drop and repeated what the pharmacist said. It was the least important of them all. That was a relief!

The day after the surgery I had to go for a follow-up appointment at the ophthalmologist's office.  I presented my health card, and the receptionist looked at it and said, "Oh, The Karen!"  I told her I was sorry if I was coming at her from all directions but timing was of the essence and not knowing what to do was the most nerve-wracking thing about this surgery. 

I have never been so glad that my dad named me after a Norwegian lady he knew.  I will definitely be correcting people's pronunciation of my name until all this blows over.

A Trick of the Eyes

One never knows what the next day will bring. Sometimes it's something good you weren't expecting and sometimes it's quite the opposite.
One day, more than 15 years ago, during a routine eye exam, I was told I had developed cataracts. For a few years, I was told to get my eyes checked every six months. OHIP covered that and I suddenly no longer had to pay for eye exams while my hubby still did, at least until he was 65. The cataracts have never developed to the point where it was time to have them removed and eventually the eye exams became more of a yearly thing.
This year, when I went to have my eyes examined, the optometrist discovered there was elevated pressure on my eyes and she sent me to a specialist. There I discovered that the cataracts were actually pushing my irises forward causing the natural fluid drainage system to be blocked. I was told I had closed angle glaucoma and was being scheduled for laser surgery. The idea was to prevent damage to the optic nerve so I wouldn't go blind.
I always say that no matter how healthy you are, by the time you turn 60 your body starts to play tricks on you. One moment I'm fine and even my cataracts aren't ready to come out, and the next, the darn things are creating another way to cause me to lose my sight.
It took just over a month to get my laser surgery. In the meantime, I had a chance to do some research. I found that they would freeze my eyeballs, just like when they did the pressure test, and then I'd have my eyes zapped and it would all be over in less than five minutes. The operation would create a new hole in my iris so the fluid could drain into my bloodstream and relieve the pressure.
There were all kinds of warnings to follow the doctor's instructions after the proceedure. I also read warnings of how I might experience scratchy eyes, blurred vision and/or bloodshot eyes. All this would last just a matter of hours or at most, a couple of days. I felt well prepared and not nervous at all, though I wasn't sure we could still enjoy the evening out we already had planned for that night. We were scheduled to celebrate our 44th wedding anniversary, which was the very next day.
We showed up at the hospital where I was given registration documents and told to go up the stairs and proceed three-quarters of the way down the hall until we came to a big eyeball. We went all the way but found no such symbol so we found someone to direct us. Once seated in the waiting area we had been sent to I noticed a sign that listed two doctors whose patients that area was meant for.  My doctor was not one of them. I went to a deserted registration area down the hall where I had to ring a bell and disturb someone who told me that was the right place to wait. Several minutes later she directed someone else to the same area and told him to put his registration forms in the bin hanging on the wall in the corridor leading off the main hallway just across from where I was waiting. I still had my forms as no one had told me to do that. I deposited my forms into the bin and hoped that I was doing the right thing.
The area was getting more crowded as everyone came with another to drive them home. Eventually, a man came out with a handful of registration forms and started putting drops in all the waiting patient's eyes. Everyone but me, that is. As he walked away everyone turned and stared at me. I had heard him say the drops would take about 20 minutes to work so I said, "You are being dilated. I'm going to be frozen."  Freezing only takes seconds I discovered when it was done during the examination I'd had previously. So, of course, I got called in first.
The doctor explained that some people have told him they feel "something" like a little electric shock or a pinprick perhaps, while others don't feel anything at all. He just wanted me to be aware that I might feel something and not to worry about it. He did not freeze my eyes. He just shone a light into each eye and told me to stare straight ahead and then zapped me. I felt nothing in the first eye which he said went easier than expected. I felt it in the second one, however,  and he actually zapped that one twice. I wouldn't call it painful though. 
He said he would send a report to my optometrist. I am under no restrictions and can even resume my exercise class. I have no drops or follow up visit to make.  He said he doesn't need to see me again and the next time I'm to go to my regular optometrist is next year for my yearly exam.
I am not bloodshot, nor do I have scratchy eyes or blurred vision. The whole experience was very quick and easy and the threat of blindness has been eliminated. I was not expecting any of this but it has a  happy ending. I am very thankful for modern science.
I wonder what trick my body will play on me next.

Visual Frustration

I told you about my trip to the eye doctor last year and how frustrating I found that to be. Well, I eventually picked out a pair of frames and got myself some prescription reading glasses.  I wish I could say that was the end of my frustration.

When I picked them up, I mentioned that they didn't seem to make me see as clearly as I was expecting. I was told to give them some time and, if I was still unsatisfied, I had a 3 month guarantee period in which to bring them back. 

I gave them time. At first I compared the results to that of the drug store glasses, and decided they did improve things a bit better after all. But that effect wore off within a couple of weeks and I found I was once again closing that left eye while reading. 

I started doing experiments. Cover one eye and read, uncover it and read. Do the same thing with and without the glasses. The glasses definitely improved the right eye.  But with the right one covered, the left eye was seeing letters that were blurry and appeared to be double.  That effect was even worse WITH the glasses!  I've created a little visual so you can see the way my left eye sees now. Imagine trying to read a full page, or an entire book like that.  Frustrating, isn't it.  No wonder my body automatically forces me to close that eye when reading.

I figured, what I said in the previous blog post was definitely in effect. Guessing what I was seeing during an eye exam got the prescription wrong. But first I decided I had to go back to where I had the glasses made, and have them check to make sure the lenses matched the prescription.  They did.

So next I had to make an appointment with the eye doctor and explain that I was having problems with the left lens, and perhaps something had changed.  Something had changed alright. The cataract in that eye has progressed somewhat since my last exam. Between that and the astigmatism, I'm apparently not expected to be able to see as well as I'd like. I still could not get the Doctor to understand that I can actually see better without  that particular lens. She insists that the numbers are correct.  If the numbers are correct, then why does that lens make things worse instead of better?  I'm very frustrated now. I'm tempted to have the left lense replaced with just clear glass.

This is the second time I have attempted to improve my vision with prescription lenses. Years ago I tried bifocals. They distorted my world so badly that I declared that if I had always seen like that, I would have been in looking for glasses years sooner, just to correct that distortion.  It was awful and I never got used to it, and finally gave up.  I don't need to see things at a distance, since I don't drive. I can identify people on the far side of the street by what they wear and how they move. I know yellow things in the grass are dandelions. But I cannot get through the day without being able to read. It's probably what I do most.  That's why I decided just to go for reading glasses this time.

I can tell you one thing though. I have no faith in the corrective lens process.  When it comes time to get my cataracts done, there will be no prescription lens embedded in my eyes.  If I get frustrated with lenses in a frame, I can take them off.  So, they can just replace my natural cloudy lenses with non prescription clear ones. If I feel the need for corrective lenses, I'll wear glasses that I can remove when the frustration gets to me. 

Seeing The Way Clear

Most people hate going to the dentist. I, personally, would much rather do that than go for my annual eye exam.  I had to do that this week, and it seems I see better than I did last year...... or perhaps I made better guesses. 

I don't think I have a lot of confidence in this procedure to determine how good or bad my eyesight is. After all, it's all based on what I say.  I find I'm often having to guess at what I'm seeing, so the results are based on not how well I see, but how good I'm guessing.  If I am guessing wrongly, then the results may be accurate, as the doctor would then know I cannot see as well as I should be able to.  But if I'm making a lot of accurate guesses, then I'm sure that can screw up the final results of the test. The doctor will, of course then think I can see better than I can.  No matter what I do, I always feel like I came out of there a failure.

I have cataracts and I like to read.  I can read this screen without glasses, but if I'm reading a book, I tend to wear drugstore glasses....magnifiers the optometrist calls them.  I had thought of getting prescription glasses several years ago, but when I first found out I had cataracts I decided to wait until they were taken care of first.  That, apparently can take a long time since not all caracts grow quickly.  Then, last year, I found I was suddenly closing one eye to read.  Not on purpose mind you, but apparently my brain is trying to make things easier for me now and magnifiers just aren't helping anymore.

I went into my eye exam last year, all prepared to come out with a legitimate prescription for reading glasses.  The optometrist informed me that she could  no longer bring me back to 20/20 and that we would deal with the cataracts first. I was told I could no longer see well enough to drive, and she was sending me off to see the surgeon.  I don't drive anyway, but it's a good thing as the surgeon decided the cataracts were not bad enough to deal with at that time.  I would have gone this entire year without being able to drive.  Mind you, I have an astigmatism and would need distance glasses to drive anyway, so perhaps that's what she meant.

When I went for my eye exam this year, I was told that I could have come back in for the prescription for the glasses anytime.  Huh?  It seems I misunderstood something here, and actually could have had the glasses last year after all.  Maybe I should worry that I'm losing something other than my eyesight.

Now, when faced with a wall of frames, I get very frustrated. There are far too many choices and I have no idea how to pick out something that will be both functional and becoming.  Any advise would be greatly appreciated.