At least the last few days are over. I have to admit that I was scared by the mere idea of eye surgery, especially under local anaesthetic only and dreaded the way that the 7th June seemed to approach with such rapidity. Well, it finally arrived last Thursday and so I set off to St Thomas’ Hospital, accompanied by the husband (it was made very clear that if patients aren't accompanied by a companion then the operation would not take place). By the time we reached the hospital my fear had gone up enough notches to reach the state of being terrified. But we took the lift to the 8th floor and arrived at the Unit for ophthalmic day cases. I was given several eye drops almost immediately by nurses, before seeing the surgeon who painted a huge arrow on my forehead pointing to my right eye in black felt tip pen. I was glad to see the precautions taken to make sure they operated on the correct eye (although it took about 10 minutes enthusiastic rubbing with surgical spirit the next day to remove the marks). Then they took me to the operating theatre. Lots of strange noises, having my eye kept open but unable to see anything but vague colours, hearing the surgeon talking to the nurses and a strange warbling noise in the background were not conducive to a relaxing atmosphere. I was never more relieved to hear the surgeon say it was all over. Then they took me straight back to the waiting area and immediately asked if I’d like a sandwich. After the surgeon had finished his list for the day he had a quick look at my eye and told me not to remove the dressing until the next day and to come back and see him in a fortnight.

The next day, Friday, the Husband helped me remove the dressings, tidy up the area and scrub off the felt tip pen marks. I was astounded how well I could see. I have been very short sighted since I was a child and worn glasses all the time since I was about 5 years old, so I was amazed to discover I could see distances without glasses. And the colours are so clear, I had no idea how the cataracts distort the colours you see – I still have a cataract on my left eye and the difference in colours between the two eyes is amazing. What looks like dark cream or even yellow by my lefy eye is clearly white with my right eye. And the garden looks so much brighter in colour. The difference is amazing. There are a couple of downsides in the short term. I now have one very good eye and one very bad eye for distance work which is a bit disconcerting. And I can currently not read with my right eye at all - the only way I can read either papers or the computer is to wear my old glasses with a tissue covering the right lense. But both problems will be resolved with new glasses once I can have them, probably in 4 – 6 weeks. Well, that the story of my cataract surgery. The Husband is emphasising how good my sight would be if I had the left one done too. He’s right, of course, especially given the cataract on that one. But I’ll have to see what the doctors say about that.