Moto Broad

Cataract surgery for the left eye was 10 days ago; it wasn’t perfect (some difficulty getting all the cloudy lens out; a bit of scarring already — apparently that’s not uncommon in younger patients), but there’s still a huge improvement in vision (well, on one side, anyway). The blinding glare is gone — it’s like having half a clean windshield. I yielded to the temptation of the warm spring day after work today and went for my first ride since the surgery.

Colors and contrast are improved: whites are bright and clean in the post-op eye, still slightly subdued and yellowish in the “old” eye. I can see more detail in shadows because there’s more contrast. Distant vision is sharper than it was before, but I still need reading glasses. And I no longer fear riding at sunset. I’ve approximated the improvement in the Yield sign photo: the left side gives you an idea of the results of surgery. It’s not quite as perfectly sharp, but it’s a heckuva lot better.

I’m afraid to get anything — even dust or pollen — in the eye, so I bought a pair of cheapie gasketed sunglasses (Undercover Eyewear from Mountain Motorsports in Conyers; $20). They’re reasonably dark, supposedly protect against UV rays, but aren’t polarized. Later, I’ll find some higher-quality shades, but it was the gasket that most appealed to me. They do a good job of keeping out wind and particulate matter (a very good thing on a day with 6000+ pollen count). Even though I have a full-face helmet, there’s enough airflow to provide a ram-air influx of pollen and dust that I feared would glom onto the healing eye.

This Tuesday, I go for the second surgery. I’m looking forward to having a matched set of eyeballs (but I’m glad I’m not a spider with another six eyeballs to fix).