Fr. Paul's Eye Surgery Update

Friends and parishioners: My eyes are healing well from the two operations this week to remove cataracts, correct astigmatism, and implant lenses that change my vision.  As of yesterday (soon after the operation on my better eye, my right one), my vision is 20-50, rather than 20-1000.  And it should improve more in the next few days as the minor trauma to eyes recedes. Previously I had to wear glasses for everything, but I preferred to take them off to read, as I like a book or iPad close to my face.  That has reversed.  Now I do not need glasses for getting around, for walking, even for driving, but I need them to read and to write.  Instead of $600 for lenses and $200 for sturdy frames, I pay about $10 for a good pair of +2.5 reading glasses. My left eye a torn macula, and I had surgery last September to keep the problem from worsening.  It has worked.  But I could not read with my left eye, and still cannot—except, as the optometrist told me—to read out of my peripheral vision, which helps to some degree. Overall, the two surgeries went very well, and the follow-up exams showed excellent results and (so far), no problems with swelling, infection, bleeding, and so on. I am truly amazed at what I see. The most astounding change is that now I see in 3 dimensions. Because of my extreme myopia, I have not seen in 3 dimensions for years. For example, viewing a tree in the park appeared as though the tree was smack against the hill beyond it.  Now the tree stands out as a separate being, distinct from the hill and anything behind the tree. And colors are clearly brighter, more vibrant.  The streaks of light I see when looking at moon or street light will, I have been told, subside in a week or so. Finally, I repeat my warning:  If and when you need cataracts removed, schedule the surgeries for as close together in time as possible. This is especially urgent for anyone who is also extremely myopic (as I was).  Someone with relatively minor eye problems other than cataracts can afford to space out the removal surgeries.  But with extreme myopia, the difference in the eyes, when only one has been repaired, is so extreme as to be utterly disconcerting, disturbing. Between the first and second cataract surgeries, I was seeing everything in two sizes at once, as corrective lenses for extreme myopia radically reduce the size of what is seen. I have not walked about without glasses since the sixth grade. Now I do. Is that not amazing? I find it amusing that the appointed gospel reading for this Sunday, from Jesus’ inaugural sermon in St. Luke’s Gospel, includes the line, “He sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind.” Of course the text was intended spiritually, not physically, but I sure like recovery of physical sight. If people crave miracles, then they should open their eyes to what is being accomplished through medical science. It is miraculous. And if you can bear a little preaching from the Letter of James, “Every good gift, every perfect act of giving, comes down from above, from the Father of lights….”  Gift received, Giver thanked, agents of gift (surgeon and nurses) much appreciated. If you are interested, this YouTube video shows how the surgery is performed. In Christ, Fr. Paul