We spent yesterday evening with some very good friends. He had had cataract surgery earlier in the day and wanted the company. Jack was very comfortable and his wife said the surgery only took about ten minutes. Actually, the only sign of surgery was the eye patch that both said was going to be removed this afternoon.My dad had the same surgery some years ago but recovery took a bit longer for him. He had no complications but was very frustrated at not being able to play golf for a while. During his retirement he discovered golf and was very good at it – even getting a hole-in-one more than once. Something I still haven’t done!
Mother had also needed cataract surgery but kept putting it off until it was too late. When she became bed-ridden during the last months of her life, she said she regretted not having had the operation; her sight was so bad that reading was difficult and her only diversions were watching TV or having visitors. She loved company and people enjoyed hers. After she passed away I had many of her medical records and on one her doctor had written what a gracious and pleasant lady she was. She was.
Though in many ways my mother and I are alike in one respect we are extreme opposites; she loved having people do things for her and was very good at letting them think it was their idea. She never taught me that art – I try to do everything by myself and only ask for help as a last resort. DH thinks I'm stubborn but I think it's more a matter of use-it-or-lose-it.
3 comments:
She was beautiful. I like seeing pictures of people in their youth - helps me to remember that they were not always old.
When i was a student nurse cataract surgery was a very big deal. Patients were hospitalized and unable to move their head at all for 10 days. Techniques have improved.
Yes, I agree your mother was beautiful. Sad that 18 year olds don't wear bows anymore...suggests an innocence lost. As for parents and cataract surgery....after my mom's first one she was never able to sleep laying down again. She spent the rest of her years sleeping in a recliner. She said the surgery made her feel suffocated and claustrophobic and if she laid down in a bed, she thought she was going to stop breathing. Yes, she was dramatic. I have stopped using several things and yes, they are lost.
Jack had his patch removed and was out driving today - doing great!
Mom, ten days without moving? You're right, techniques have deinitely improved.
Rosemary, afraid she'd stop breathing unless she slept in a recliner? That must have been an ordeal for all of you.
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