Living Between Two Worlds: One Cataract Gone

Last week, I had cataract surgery on my right eye. The left eye is scheduled for three weeks later.

The morning after surgery, I discovered that the walls of our apartment are bright white—not yellowish white. I’d been told colors would seem brighter after cataract surgery, but I had scoffed. I thought the colors I saw were already vibrant.

Apparently not.

The procedure itself was quick and easy. Thanks to Xanax, I don’t even remember being in the laser room. I do remember flashes of color as the artificial lens was inserted, but the surgery itself took only a few minutes. Recovery has been far easier than I expected. I’m used to managing my husband’s medication schedule, and I put plenty of drops in my eyes when I wore contacts, so the post-surgery eye-drop routine hasn’t been a problem.

Unfortunately, I now live with two different visions of the world.

My left eye still requires glasses to see anything more than six inches from my nose. My right eye, with its new lens, sees remarkably well from about six inches to six feet away. The result is that half the world seems blurry most of the time.

It’s very similar to when I wore monovision contact lenses twenty-five years ago. Back then, one eye handled distance vision and the other handled close work. The world was always a little blurry then, too. The difference now is that switching between worlds requires putting my glasses on or taking them off.

Here’s what’s better with my “new” eye:

• Colors are brighter and more vivid.
• Reading is easier than I expected—except in bed at night, when I can’t hold my e-reader three inches from my face.
• My vision for most daily tasks is surprisingly good. (I drafted this post without my glasses.)
• The world looks sharper and clearer through the operated eye.

Here’s what I’ve lost—at least for now:

• I can’t see distant objects well with the new eye. My current glasses no longer work for that eye, and the artificial lens wasn’t designed for distance vision.
• Half the world seems blurry at any given moment.
• Without the prisms in my glasses, my double vision is worse. This isn’t a problem at arm’s length, but it becomes noticeable at greater distances.
• Although I can still drive using my glasses and relying primarily on my “old” eye, I wouldn’t want to drive long distances or navigate unfamiliar places.

Here’s what I expect after my second surgery:

• I should be able to function quite well without glasses for arm’s-length tasks. Reading, computer work, cooking, and other everyday activities ought to be easier.
• I probably won’t be able to drive. My current glasses won’t work for either eye, and I won’t have prism correction for distance vision. In practical terms, I’ll be stranded.

These limitations should be temporary, but they will last longer than I would like. I can’t be fitted for new glasses until about a month after the second surgery, once both eyes have healed and stabilized. Then I’ll have to wait for the glasses to be made. So I probably won’t return to full functionality until sometime in August.

In the meantime, I expect to become very familiar with my retirement community’s transportation van.

Have you ever had to adapt to a loss of mobility or vision? How did you cope?