How do you prepare to lose your eyesight?
March 10, 2018
Right now, I'm facing the question in the title of this blog post. How should I prepare to lose my vision? Yesterday, I was presented with that set of dynamics during an appointment with my glaucoma surgeon at the LOEYE practice in Lansing, Michigan.
My vision journey has been long and started about 18 years ago when I had cataracts taken out of both eyes. It went great for a few years until an artificial lens in my right eye slipped off its grippers. The road between then and now has been experiential and has made me appreciate the complexity of my eyes and the skills of ophthalmologists more and more.
My current challenge is from cornea in my right eye. It has swollen to the point where my vision in my right eye has been affected greatly. My ability to read a book or a computer screen is marginal, depending on the time of day and lighting conditions.
I'm trying to get ready for it to get even more worse. Audible.com says "listening is the new reading." So, I'm experimenting with listening to books and to newspapers being read.
Family pictures of our kids and grandkids are scattered throughout our house. I'm trying to create a mental archive so I have a mind picture of everybody and everything.
When we drive to the grocery store, I try to pick out the different shades of brown in farmers' fields. The nuances of color are amazing.
While scared about the future, I'm trying to turn it into a journey that might be valuable to others.
Next step is an appointment with my cornea specialist about the next step. I was told that a possibility might include a cornea transplant if my condition continues to worsen.
Meanwhile, I have the camera on my phone. I want to remember lots of images, particularly family.