For the past year, I had been having vision problems so I made an appointment with our eye doctor as soon as we returned from our winter travels. Yep, she confirmed it – it was time for cataract surgery. Oh joy! An appointment was made with Dr. Sayegh, an eye surgeon with Koch Eye Associates in Warwick, RI. After a thorough exam, my surgeries were scheduled for August 31st (right eye) and September 8th (left eye). I was a little nervous about the surgeries, but they actually were easy peasy! Lot of prep time but the surgery itself took only minutes. The biggest nuisance to the entire procedure were the seemingly never ending daily eye drops required before and after.

I elected to go with the lens technology that corrected my astigmatism. This was not fully covered by Medicare which only pays for the most basic cataract surgery. There is an even more expensive option which allegedly eliminates the need for readers too. After discussing this option with my eye doctor, I decided to stick with the basics. While the new lens technology has improved over the years, I wanted my distance vision to be the best it could be and I was told the multifocal lenses don’t work out that way for some people.

The only downsides to the cataract surgery is the need for daily eyedrops to keep everything lubricated, although I’m told this should pass with time. Also, whereas before I could read in bed without reading glasses, now I needed them. I found this annoying when laying on my side because the temples of the glasses were uncomfortable. Rob found these Thin Optics readers which pretty much solved the issue,

Also, shortly after my eye surgeries, my cardiologist required me to wear a heart monitor for two weeks to make sure my heart was behaving normally. Thankfully, it was, with just a few minor glitches! Between not being able to get my face wet for the weeks following the eye surgery and then not being able to get the heart monitor wet, taking a daily shower was a bit challenging for a month!