A man-made miracle

Sheila Hagel Zanghi.

I started noticing how bad my television in my bedroom was getting. The picture was fuzzy, and the subtitles were getting worse and worse. How could that be because it was a new TV?

I bought a larger TV and the picture improved somewhat, and the subtitles were a little more legible. But my new TV started to fail as well. Soon, I was standing one foot away from the screen to read the large letters. It got to the point where I did not enjoy watching TV at all. My 2-year-old glasses were no use as well and I just thought the failure of TV technology matched the bitter disappointment I felt for my almost 2-year-old eyeglasses prescription.

Meanwhile, I was driving my contractor a little crazy because I just could not find the color to paint the kitchen. And, choosing a countertop color was driving my son, whom I consulted, up the wall. The new colors offered were a dark yellow tan. When I looked at my floor tile, that I was not going to replace, I could not believe I had chosen such an ugly yellow-brown tile 15 years ago. What had I been thinking? So puzzling.

Finally, I went to the optometrist, and he asked me how the last prescription was working. Before I told them they did not work worth a toot I started off with, "I have not been using them. At all." At that point he said I needed cataract surgery. This was strange because only two years ago I had no real issue. But okay. Most of my friends and family members have already had cataract surgery.

So, I went to the eye doctor and went through all the steps and finally ended up waiting for the surgery. People were in the surgery room and 15 minutes or so later, they were coming back out. Finally, my turn. As soon as I laid down, they were telling me it went well and started the process to send me home. I had a transparent plastic half-blinder attached to my face to protect me from me accidently touching my eye. I had no pain or adverse effects. Even the eye drops were not very irritating.

The next day I went for the post-op. As I sat in the waiting room, I pulled the plastic blinder away from my right eye for the first time. The seemingly dark tan walls now were white, and I could read the sign on the wall that had previously looked like a big blur. I wondered, could the staff have repainted the office and replaced the sign so quickly? But, I realized the doctor had successfully removed a dark yellow-tan lens and had replaced it with a clear intraocular lens.

When I got home, I realized the tile was a light beige. Also, my televisions were performing well. I could stand 15 feet away and read the subtitles ... using my right eye. I went around and looked at everything with the color that had bugged me. My left eye confirmed the dark yellow tan, but when I closed the left and opened the right eye everything reverted to the correct color or to the easily read subtitles. My left eye is next for a more perfect vision.

This is truly a man-made miracle. It is interesting that an Indian surgeon, Sushruta, had successfully performed cataract surgery as early as 600 BC. This surgery has been in the process of perfecting for an exceedingly long time. Thank goodness this is now so quick, painless and has such amazing results. As you can see, I am a huge fan of excellent eye doctors and the wonderful aftereffects of surgery. I am such a fan that, if it were possible, I would be willing to take on the surgery on behalf of others. Of course, that would involve a whole new level of medical ability that is not on the horizon.