Conscious Task

I found a note yesterday dated January of this year in which I was still complaining a lot about my poor sight. I realize now my vision has improved a good deal since that time due to the medication put behind my retina by the eye specialist!

This sort of thing sneaks up on you. Slowly, I’ve become braver and started driving myself around again the last couple of weeks, something I haven’t done since before Hurricane Rita! Also, I have begun reading library books, even if they are now the “Large Print” books. Birds may still be difficult to see when they whiz past me, but if they’ll light somewhere, I can spot them again and get the binoculars aimed! I found I could see the tiny date of the month on the pocket watch I bought in September, then realized that I’d have to set it again! I set it once when I bought it, but had to use a magnifier for that. This time, once the light was right, I could set it without any magnifier! The watch is easier and easier to read. TV no longer looks as grey or uncontrasted as some channels used to look, so that’s better. I can read the computer screen more easily, too, of course.

My retina specialist agreed it was all better. Though he only treated the left eye, the right eye too seems to have come along for the ride insofar as it, too, is improving a bit, he said! The bit of medicine is still in there (and working); sometimes I can see it swimming around in there, though mostly I’ve sublimated it. Beyond all this, of course, I still have cataracts that aren’t too bad right now but that will someday have to be dealt with. They can wait a while.

If you see me driving, though, just move cautiously out of my path. I may see better, but I’m still a wreck, trying to remember all the constant driving precautions that I got unused to during 6 months of not driving! It wasn't just my eyes that got lazy, but my habits as well! It used to be like Autopilot to drive my car; now it’s a very conscious task!

---