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I can see clearly now
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June 12, 2015
Regina
by: Timothy W. Shire
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It was not without considerable trepidation that I approached the issues of have cataracts removed from my left eye. Even though the quality of vision in my left eye was appreciably degraded, the very idea of having someone poke around inside your eye is not unattractive idea.

I really should not be that squeamish, as my vision has been in jeopardy ever since I discovered I had diabetes decades ago, but what first really shocked me was about ten years ago, when a blood vessel began leaking in my right eye ,effectively blinding me for a while. The blood in the virtual fluid would not go away and it was necessary to have a surgical procedure, whereby the virtual fluid was removed from the eye and replaced with water. That little expedition was followed up with a bunch of sessions of laser surgery, where a specialist using high powered laser equipment, burned up the weakened blood vessels, first in my right eye and then in the left, to prevent a further repetition of losing sight from bleeding. The surprising part about the laser procedures was that no one told me that it would hurt.

However, that is behind me and both the local optometrist and my specialist noticed the growing foggy nature of my left eye. Most cataracts form in people’s eyes with ageing, but in my case instead of creeping material around the edge of the eye I was experiencing fog dead centre. I have been told, it happens.

So this past Monday, there I was in Regina, at a special clinic set up just for doing this kind of operation and I was prepped and then the doctor quickly performed what seemed like a root canal on my left eye. I was conscious during the procedure and told to look at the outrageously bright light, within minutes the cloudy lens was removed and a replacement installed. The cool thing was that as it was being done, I actually could see a difference.

I can see clearly now! Colour, clarity and focus all remarkably upgraded. Though I had thought my right eye was fine, now I am beginning to question that when comparing what I see.

Apparently, cataract removal is a sort of right of passage in our ageing world, as people live longer, the majority reach an age where repairs are needed and for me, that time has come.

As all who read Ensign know, I am keenly interested in photography and so much of what is displayed on this site involves pictures. In the past few years, this has been a real challenge and now once again, I can see clearly. What a joy and how fortunate I am to be able to enjoy the quality of the images once more.
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