two eye surgeries, coming up

The other day I got measured for new eyeball lenses. It was a very strange procedure. I had to lie back in the chair while the tech inserted little water-filled cups into each eye. If I thought that was creepy and bizarre, I can only imagine how I'll feel about the surgery.

Romping around on the beach in Mexico without sunglasses caused a cataract in my left eye faster than you can say, well, cataract. It's one of the reasons I moved back to Arizona, to see if I could get on the public health program and get my eye taken care of.

I hadn't realized that cataract surgery would correct my vision and I really hoped that I could have both eyes done. Also, I had some choices: Did I want the free lenses the state would pay for which would allow me to see either near or far, or did I want to find $5,000 somewhere and go for the lenses that would correct for near, far, and intermediate? I've been wearing glasses since I was 8 years old. I've always wanted to lie under the stars and be able to see them. I want to ride on the back of a motorcycle without worrying that my expenses glasses will fly off my face. So I went for the free distance.

Even though people can get cataracts at any age -- two of the women in my writing group had cataract surgery in their thirties -- cataracts are mostly caused by old age and a degeneration of the lens. So it was quite fun to be in the surgeon's office and have everyone -- including the surgeon who is younger than my daughter -- say, "What's a youngster like you doing with cataracts?" They kept talking about how young I was. Hell, the only thing I thought I was too young for is Social Security and that's just barely.

So here's to happy seeing. Left eye this Tuesday; Right eye the next.