Phacoemulsification

I don't know how to pronounce it, but its what they are gonna do to my (Pat's) right eye on St. Paddy's day--Phacoemulsification. 

During phacoemulsification — the most common type of cataract surgery — the rapidly vibrating tip of the ultrasound probe breaks up the cataract, which your surgeon then suctions out (top). After removing the cataract, your surgeon inserts the lens implant into the empty capsule where the natural lens used to be (bottom).


My doctor said to think of the lens as a transparent M&M. With the first needle, they break up and suction away the top layer of sugar coating and all the chocolate, leaving a "rim" and the  "back side" sugar coating in place.  The new lens is inserted via a needle into the empty shell. Procedure is done!  10, maybe 15 minutes in all.  The hole in the eye is 2.7mm long or about one tenth of an inch--which takes virtually no time to heal.  My vision will be half a diopter off of 20-20 which he does on purpose--not bad for an eye that has been awful since I was thirteen years old.  


Reenie arrives Tuesday so we have an adult to supervise us once this starts.  Mary is feeling good enough, we think, to handle things but just in case and she still cannot drive--the lady is still on morphine.  


Thanks to all who expressed birthday wishes to Mary (its still not too late if you haven't gotten around to it!).  My favorite was the neighborly exchange with Bill and Lillian. They decided to have margarita's and discovered they were out of Triple Sec.  Well, in exchange for saving their drinks by providing Triple Sec, Bill made me one too (Mary isn't drinking with the morphine) so I toasted Mary's birthday with mine! Thanks to Bill and Lillian!  Mary said she didn't mind...


All in all, Mary is clearly getting stronger each day.  Grocery store on Saturday, Farmers' Market and grocery store on Sunday plus a walk up and down the block with the dogs.  We just want to a) make the pain go away and b) get her off morphine as soon as we can.  


One last trivia bit.  My left eye is not yet suffering from cataract to the point surgery is needed but I am suffering a loss of vision in that eye.  About a month ago, the doc wrote a new script to adjust my left glasses lens because the eye had changed slightly. It was clear during the February examination that my glasses needed updating--there was no other problem with the eye.  


As I left his office on that bright, sunny day, it was clear I was in need of sunglasses.  I found an old pair of prescription glasses in the glovebox of the car. When I put them on, my left eye could see perfectly!  This old pair of glasses was from 1967!  I bought them in college!  Anyway, I had them checked this morning and the 1967 glasses are exactly the same prescription as the one he just wrote in Feb of 2010. I don't know why the eye went back to its former prescription, but it certainly has done so.   His comment, "Ah, nothing like long-term stability!"