Why was today's cataract surgery different from my last surgery?

Cataract surgery on July 15, 2014.

Same ophthalmologist
I was the first patient scheduled on Dr Frank Clark's all-day roster.

I was wheeled into the freezing cold Operating Room a little after seven a.m. The nurses are constantly giving you warm blankets and are excellent!

Trish and Nancy were the same nurses in the OR as last time.

  I had the same two brown eyes as last time.

So Tammy, the nurse anesthetist, sticks the plastic oxygen tubes up my nostrils. I cannot WAIT to get this over with.

Then Dr Clark comes over - his entire face is covered with a mask like a bandit


and says to me.....

"Your lens implant hasn't arrived yet."

Lemme repeat, Dear Reader, in case you didn't get it.

"Your lens implant hasn't arrived yet."

Well, as Huck Finn (I'm listening to the audio book in the car), might say, "I dasn't believe it!!!"

So they push me into the Recovery Room where I lay in bed for - ready? - FIVE HOURS until the lens arrives via FedEx



from


that's right... from Washington DC.

I'm vastly relieved and we tango back into the OR, Dr Clark says Tammy is administering anesthesia but I won't go to sleep b/c he needs me to follow his directions... you know, Look at the Light.

Well, then proceeds this extraordinary Light Show just like the last time. These extraordinarily bright colors flash before my eyes, which are covered, with some sort of drapery.

Blocks of vibrant brilliant colors comme ca



Well, sorta.

Does it hurt? No. Last time it did. But a Dr Goodman, anesthetologist, must've given me a stronger dose than the last doc.

Before I knew it, the operation was over.

My neighbor, Nancy Myers, from across the street, picked me up in her red Toyota SUV, having waited patiently for me for all that time.

I'd awoken at 5 am and she drove us to the Blair Mill Abington Surgical Center, landing there at 6:15.

Upon getting home, I made breakfast at 1 pm. Eggs with mushrooms, scallions and basil, followed by a bowl of


Fresh-roasted almonds from Bernie and Freda.

Make that four bowls b/c I was watching Season Two of LOST on Netflix.... and still am. Lemme say one thing about the characters in LOST, they are not nice people, they are totally disorganized, have no leader, no plans, and I detest their behavior, to a man or woman.

Now lemme get back to the show.

Before going to bed last nite - no food and drink after midnite (I had eaten so many almonds last nite that my last water was at 12:30) - I finished my short story The Obituary Writer and sent it to an online lit review that takes between four and six months to reject me.

Wanted to finish it off in case I became legally blind after the surgery.

Well, I can see well enough to blog but on the affected eye I do see sparkles - red sparkles - bouncing off Nancy's red Toyota which is parked in her drive.

Within the next few months, my vision will be perfect, whether that entails wearing eyeglasses or contact lenses. Eyes are not to trifle with.

Many folks who undergo cataract surgery need corrective lenses afterward. It's a trade-off. But, trust me, before the end of the year, mine eyes should be fine.