It has been 7+ months since the detached retina surgery, and the vision in my left eye has not recovered. In a way it has gotten worse, as now I have halos and everything is filmy. I went to see my retina surgeon a month ago, and he assured me that the retina is in place. Now the problem is that I have a cataract and significant astigmatism. Which means that my eye is elongated and wearing glasses won't correct it. This has been driving me nuts. A constant irritation.
Friday I went to the Mass Eye and Ear Institute for specialized scans to make sure there is no other disease process going on. Checking for cancer in the eye, specifically. That has been ruled out. Whew!
Yesterday I met with a cataract specialist and had more testing done. At this point I have used all of the machines in their office suite! The conclusion is that I have a cataract but it's still small. Surgery is inevitable but can wait until I can't stand it anymore. That's funny -- how scientific is that? But that's what he said. The immediate solution is to wear hard contact lens. Who wears those anymore? They flatten out the surface of the eye and correct the astigmatism when you have them on. So today I'll go get measured for a pair.
Then once it's time to remove the cataract, they can also surgically and permanently fix the astigmatism. So it looks like relief is on it's way!
Narayan is in Burma and Taiwan until mid-February so we are left to our own practice as our teacher. Right before she left, she suggested that we sit IMMEDIATELY upon waking. I have been doing that, and it is interesting. It really works! I get up, pee, make coffee and feed Sasha. Then sit. Even coffee waits until after sitting. My mind is not so crazy in its uncaffeinated, pre-email state... I sit for 30 minutes daily and the time feels quite short... which may mean it's time to extend it. I had hoped to do so after the 3 day silent retreat at IMS I did in mid-December. But somehow I didn't really commit to a longer daily sit... so it didn't happen. It's that commitment thing!
Friday I went to the Mass Eye and Ear Institute for specialized scans to make sure there is no other disease process going on. Checking for cancer in the eye, specifically. That has been ruled out. Whew!
Yesterday I met with a cataract specialist and had more testing done. At this point I have used all of the machines in their office suite! The conclusion is that I have a cataract but it's still small. Surgery is inevitable but can wait until I can't stand it anymore. That's funny -- how scientific is that? But that's what he said. The immediate solution is to wear hard contact lens. Who wears those anymore? They flatten out the surface of the eye and correct the astigmatism when you have them on. So today I'll go get measured for a pair.
Then once it's time to remove the cataract, they can also surgically and permanently fix the astigmatism. So it looks like relief is on it's way!
Narayan is in Burma and Taiwan until mid-February so we are left to our own practice as our teacher. Right before she left, she suggested that we sit IMMEDIATELY upon waking. I have been doing that, and it is interesting. It really works! I get up, pee, make coffee and feed Sasha. Then sit. Even coffee waits until after sitting. My mind is not so crazy in its uncaffeinated, pre-email state... I sit for 30 minutes daily and the time feels quite short... which may mean it's time to extend it. I had hoped to do so after the 3 day silent retreat at IMS I did in mid-December. But somehow I didn't really commit to a longer daily sit... so it didn't happen. It's that commitment thing!
