Saturday, September 26, 2015

Seeing Clearly Now

"Cataracts!" says the eye doctor
"Do you want surgery now or later?"
Immediately I say, "Later, much later."

Then the blurriness appears,
words that should be clear
are fuzzy as I squint at them.

Time for surgery, I conclude
as I return to the eye  doctor
with fear and trepidation.

"It's a simple operation," all say.
"Piece of cake, and you'll be thrilled
with the results." That doesn't stop my fears.

Soon I am laying flat on a gurney,
oxygen tubes in nose, IV in arm,
blood pressure cuff inflated.

Patches on my chest, meters measuring
my blood sugar, being reassured
by a nurse, "This is the worse part."

But then comes the moment of truth
when I am wheeled into an operating room
a nervous wreck, but there none the less.

I don't remember seeing the doctor,
but he tells me afterwards, he was there
in disguise. "Disguised as what I ask?"

All I can remember is my face being
covered with a cloth with an eye hole,
then after some anesthesia, it was over.

Wheeled back to recovery, I'm still
alive. Thrilled, I survived my first eye
surgery, only one more eye to go.

2 comments:

  1. Dear Lin,
    Soon it will be my turn to do the same operation, and I will think on you - you servived! I can hardly read with my glasses so I am anxious to get it done but there is a long line of people who want the same thing, so I have to wait.

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  2. I have one but not ready.... Hope everything is clear now!

    ReplyDelete