I can see clearly now, almost

This being 39 stuff is for the birds.

In November, 2015, I had an eye exam. The prescription for my right eye (just the nitty-gritty here) was -0.75 -0.75. I bought a new pair of glasses.

By August of this year my glasses just weren't doing the job anymore, so I got a new eye exam. This time the prescription of my right eye was -2.00 -0.50. The left eye did not change that much, but the optometrist said my best corrected vision in it was 20/40.

I have known for about four years that I had cataracts in the making. I was then told I would  not have to worry about them for 20 years. Last year I was told 2-3 years. In August I was told "Dang, you got some nasty cataracts there, son." I was actually told that it was not really safe for me to drive at night.

On November 3 I had surgery to replace the lens in my left eye. The doctor told me that the cataract was so dense he had to crank up the ultrasound to dissolve it. Unfortunately, that causes corneal swelling, which takes a bit longer to heal.

When I got home, my eye was bothering me so I decided to take a nap -- hoping my eye would feel better when I woke up. As I lay on the bed, I looked at the ceiling.  I could not really see anything with my left eye because of the swelling and because I was wearing a clear plastic patch to protect the eye. While I could not see clear images, I could see color -- and I wondered why someone was shining a blue light on the ceiling.

The next day I had a 24-hour follow-up. I picked a shirt to wear out of my closet. This shirt had something of a plaid pattern, with a beige main color and some wide brownish lines. I was shocked. There was not a speck of brown on the shirt. What I thought was a creamy beige was in reality pure white. The brown lines were gray. When I went to work on Saturday, I chose a shirt that had a small pattern of black and white -- except now it was white and a bluer-than-blue pattern.

To put it in perspective, here is a picture of the curtain in our bedroom with sunlight shining through it. This is an unretouched photo and reflects how my left eye now sees it.

Here is an approximation of how my right eye sees it.

The ceilings that I thought were beige were, in fact pure white. I mentioned this to the doctor at my check-up, and he said one patient asked him why he put in a blue lens.

Right now I am doing what is called "mono vision." I use my left eye for distance and my right eye for reading. I have been reading a book and using a yellow highlighter. I thought the highlighter was drying out as I could barely see it on the page. Then I happened to look at it with my left eye: it almost looked neon against the -- you guessed it -- white page. Against the brownish page, it was hard to see.

On December 8, I get the other eye done. There will be some recovery time after that and I will again have to wear reading glasses. I must say that I have enjoyed the past few weeks of not wearing anything but sunglasses, but getting 20/20 again and seeing the full spectrum of colors is well worth it.