Progress

We made some progress this week with my cataract diagnosis, so I thought I’d provide an update here.

To recap the story so far:

In my twenties, I had a cataract removed from my left eye. Because of my age, they decided not to implant a lens into that eye. The medical term for that is that the eye is aphakic.

This left me extremely longsighted in my left eye, and extremely shortsighted in my right eye. To give me reasonable vision, my optometrist prescribed RGP (rigid gas permeable) contact lenses; for my left eye (which can’t focus), the prescription was set to focus at the distance of a computer monitor, since I am a software developer. This worked well, but it meant that I relied heavily on my right eye for focus.

I couldn’t have the vision in both eyes corrected using glasses, as that would have led to double vision. The only solution for glasses was to have a plain prescription in my left eye, and to have the right eye corrected as normal, meaning that I would only see properly with one eye with glasses.

Last August, I received a diagnosis of a cataract in my right eye. This was problematic, because it meant that my strong eye was now impaired. It also meant that I couldn’t work, as reading from a computer monitor caused considerable eyestrain and headaches.

Yesterday, however, I attended Glasgow Royal Infirmary for an assessment. It’s taken a long time, but this appointment really cleared up a lot of issues for me.

First, it is likely (from what the consultant said) that they will operate on both eyes and I will end up having implants in both eyes. The surgeons might perform both operations in a single session; alternatively, they might operate on my right eye first (leaving my left eye with a contact lens), and then operate on my left eye at a later date. This is good news, because until now, I had been told they would only operate on one eye. Having both eyes with implants will probably give me better vision than I’ve had for 35 years (albeit, I’ll need to wear reading glasses).

I am to have another appointment to measure my eyes pre-operation. However, prior to that appointment, I’ve been told not to wear my contact lenses for two weeks. This is problematic, because I really can’t see without contact lenses. I will have an appointment at the optician this week, to investigate getting glasses to correct the vision in my left eye only (as I can’t see properly in my right eye because of the cataract).

So, still lots of time to go before I’m operated on. I don’t have an appointment for the eye measurement yet, and once I do, the appointment will be some weeks away to let me have two weeks without contact lenses. After that appointment, the consultant has said it will be several further months before my operation.

The hospital visit was great yesterday, and allayed a lot of my fears. Correcting both my eyes would make me especially happy.

It’s been a long time, but it’s good to see some progress at last. Financially, this is difficult, because it will be many months before I can go back into the job market, but we’re just taking every day as it comes.

Thanks for reading my blog posts. I hope that someone in a similar situation can get some value from seeing what the process is.