Tag: health

Eye surgery


You’re probably wondering why I’m not wearing glasses anymore. I recently had eye surgery. I have worn eyeglasses for most of my life. And now people don’t recognize me without my glasses. Lately, people have walked right past me without recognizing me. I finally understand why no one knew Clark Kent was Superman. Now I get it!

In grade school, I was nearsighted, so I had to sit in the front row so I could read the blackboard. Finally, the teacher told my parents that I had to go to an optometrist and get my eyes examined. I remember when I got my first pair of glasses. I was amazed at all the things that I couldn’t see before. I was like, “Wow! Corduroy has lines! Trees have leaves! The Chicago skyline is polluted!”

During my last eye exam, my optometrist told me that I had cataracts. He had seen them developing in my previous eye exams. He explained that with age, the lens beneath the cornea begins to cloud up, and that I would need cataract surgery to improve my vision. On a positive note, I have lived long enough to need cataract surgery.! And I have health insurance to pay for the treatment!

I watched an online video to see the procedure. Needless to say, the video simultaneously reassured me and frightened me.

At first, I was afraid to get cataract surgery. But I felt much better after meeting the ophthalmologist. During the evaluation, I was evaluating the doctor. I kept watching his hands to see if they were steady. Because he was going to perform microsurgery on my eyes. He gave me a firm handshake. Okay, so far, so good. And he wrote all his notes with a very steady hand. I could even read his handwriting. I felt much better. And he didn’t wear glasses.

Now, I have twenty-twenty vision for distance. Which is great. But now I need glasses to read.

Right after the surgery, I couldn’t read anything up close. So, I borrowed my wife’s glasses to read. They were great as long as I was in the privacy of my own home. My wife’s reading glasses are those cat lady glasses, with a cheetah pattern. They were great for reading, but then I forgot to turn off the camera during a Zoom meeting. I was really embarrassed, but I have to admit that I did look fabulous!

So, I bought these cheap reading glasses from Walgreens that I wore until I got my new prescription.

caricature of author
DDR

I’m still here


Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo

I’ve had inquiries as to my whereabouts lately. Well, I’m still here! I’ve just been so busy correcting compositions and whatnot this semester. But I’ll be free in two weeks and back to writing my blog again. I suppose my last entry didn’t help any since I did talk about my visit to the doctor for a checkup. The test results proved that I was as healthy as I’ve always been. Life goes on.

DDR

Eat healthy, die anyway


Even the sign points to White Castle

I’m hungry. But I’m on the way to the doctor today to get an echo something or other to kind of test on my heart when I realize that I’m hungry because I forgot to eat earlier. I pull into White Castle because it’s the only “restaurant” near the doctor’s office. Well, since I’m going to the doctor anyway, why not have a few sliders? The reason the doctor recommended the test was because I went for a physical and he recommended an EKG in his office. It was quite painless until he read the results–you know that chart that just has a bunch of squiggly lines. He spotted an “event” in those lines. He said it could be nothing, but I should take another test just to be sure I was healthy. I wondered if my diet contributed to my “event.” I only worry about these things whenever I go to the doctor. However, I haven’t worried about this for years because I couldn’t remember the last time I went to the doctor. I know I stopped going quite a few years ago when my family physician died of a heart attack.

Anyway, a man–I didn’t even know his official title–did an ultrasound of my heart in the doctor’s office. He wanted to know why I was having this test done and I told him about the “event” that could be nothing at all. Well, he told me that a cardiologist would look at the pictures of my heart and then determine if I had any problems. This ultrasound guy gave me his unofficial opinion; he didn’t see anything wrong with my heart. So, I worried for nothing about taking the test. I probably took it for nothing, but I felt comforted by the fact that I have health insurance. Suddenly, I didn’t feel so guilty about eating those sliders.

DDR