How well do you want to see?

I’ve had cataracts for a while now and have been waiting for the right time to have surgery. Initially I understood that the right time meant cataracts needed to be at a certain level of ripeness before surgery was the right choice; subsequently, I’ve realised that’s not the whole truth.

Despite my early decades requiring little to no intervention medically speaking, the increasing decades have caught up with me and there are a few health matters on the list. As any hospital stay results in a period of disruption – both personally and professionally – I aim to balance them out by prioritising.

Of course life is such that no-one is entirely in control (unless paying for private health care) so while I was able to ignore the cataract for a while, it jumped rapidly up the list late last year. And, remarkably, once they schedule one, the criteria for ripeness becomes less critical, and you get fast-tracked. So I’m now scheduled for two separate eye ops which means that the next few weeks/months will – potentially – be disrupted by their preparation and recovery.

Initially I was thrilled at the prospect that, while removing the cataract, they would also alter my sight and give me (all things being equal) perfect sight, meaning I wouldn’t need to wear anything other than reading glasses. Having been short-sighted since before my tenth birthday, this was a significantly exciting prospect.

But, during the pre-op discussion, it was pointed out to me that those of us who are short-sighted have something they referred to as a “special power” because we can see stuff up close really clearly. I had no idea that not everybody could do this, so when the question was asked if I wanted to retain this, I was completely thrown.

Initially I decided I wanted to keep that special power, so went for a half-way house measure, rather than going for the best it can be sight option. But as the weeks and days have ticked down, I’ve wondered if I was being too hasty.

So I asked Himself to put his rational brain to it, and he pointed out quite how often I comment on issues with my contact lenses. He also asked the critical question – how often that “special power” was truly useful. As I could only come up with two scenarios and, in truth, it wasn’t hard to adopt work-arounds, I’ve changed my mind and am going to ask for the best possible option instead.

In full disclosure, I won’t get a cool eye patch like the photo in the header, but – seriously – how could I resist? 😉

Have you been faced with a similar question? How would you/did you decide? If you’re short-sighted, were you aware of this “special power”?

© Debra Carey, 2024