I had a cataract removed from my right eye on 15 May 2019.
The problem had developed gradually. Night driving became harder and printed text looked less definite than it should. I blamed my glasses until the optician explained that new lenses would not solve it.
Alan drove me to the hospital. The operation was a day-case procedure under local anaesthetic. I was awake and could see changes in light, but not enough detail to be useful.
The waiting took longer than the surgery.
Afterwards, my eye was covered with a shield and I was given drops and written instructions. I was not to rub the eye, bend too far, lift anything heavy or get soap in it. Gardening was also discouraged for several weeks.
Alan read the list.
‘You’ll have to leave the garden.’
‘I can still tell you what needs doing.’
‘That wasn’t on the sheet.’
At home, I sat in the chair and tried to watch television with one eye. This was less restful than it sounded. The treated eye watered, so I relied on the other one.
I used the drops at the stated times. Alan checked the clock, although I had already set reminders. At night, I wore the shield and slept carefully, which is not a useful instruction once you are asleep.
The first few days were awkward rather than painful. I avoided lifting shopping and let Alan deal with anything that required bending. He was helpful without saying that he had been waiting years for medical authority to support his view of my gardening.
My sight improved over the following weeks. Colours looked stronger through the treated eye. I covered one eye, then the other, comparing the television, the garden and the print on food packets.
Alan said I was treating recovery like an inspection.
‘I need to know whether it worked.’
‘Can you see me?’
‘Yes.’
‘Then we have a result.’
At the follow-up, I was told the eye was healing as expected. I returned to driving when I was advised it was safe and went back to the usual work at Millbrook.
I continued with the drops until the course was finished. Alan stopped checking the times several days after I had stopped needing him to.