I am typing with dilated eyes – this should be interesting – after just returning from a trip to the cornea specialist who will be performing cataract surgery on my left eye in the next month or so. I had high hopes of getting those fancy lenses inserted that would correct my vision while fixing the cataract, but with my keratoconus (an eye condition that causes the corneas to steepen), the doctor said that she just couldn’t guarantee a good result. Though I was disappointed, I appreciated both her honesty and her disinclination to up-sell me. That was heartening. She also had to go through the required disclaimers regarding surgery, including potential blurry vision, additional surgeries, and, worse-case scenario, blindness. I said to her, “The truth is that at this point, I am pretty close to blind in my left eye anyway. You might say I have nothing to lose.” She laughed. “That’s the truth. We can’t go too wrong in your case.”

So, in the next month or so, I’ll be getting my left eye fixed. (We’ll wait on the right eye until the small cataract that’s there gets troublesome.) A month post-surgery, I’ll go back and get fitted for scleral contact lenses (which will give me 20/20 vision) as well as a pair of tri-focal glasses. Not exactly the same as getting those fancy lenses inserted in my eye but a fine alternative to the gray cloud that’s obscuring my vision now.

I am excited and grateful. I can’t wait to see the world clearly again. What a treat that will be!