Gratefully, I have not yet reached the point of requiring or even thinking about requiring cataract surgery. Most of us (human beings) will need to have the cataract conversation with our optometrist sometime in our early to mid seventies; and, well, let’s just say I still have an 8-month-old baby at home. Recently, however, I had an experience that gave me a brief and unsettling glimpse at what may lay ahead for me in a few decades.
With my family out of town, I decided to head up to the mountains for some late-season skiing. Although recent snows made for a great day on the slopes, they also contributed to some slushy driving on the way up.
Unfortunately, I did not check that my windshield wiper fluid was up to an adequate level; and with all the muck being thrown onto my windshield from fellow cars, I soon found that my wiper fluid ran out completely. I did my best to wipe the windshield immediately, while the muddy water was still wet; but I was soon left with a frighteningly opaque film that made it difficult to navigate the road, especially when hit with glare from the sun.
As soon as I could, I pulled over in a safe area to grab some snow that I could use to wipe off the mud. Although this got me back down to ground zero, within minutes of returning to the road I was back in the same predicament, and I knew there would be no stopping until I got to the next town. Obviously I’m here to tell the tale, so all’s well that ends well, but I can tell you it was not a comfortable experience at the time.
By now you’re probably asking yourself what in the world this has to do with cataracts. Well, on pretty much a daily basis, I use the analogy of a dirty windshield to describe cataracts. If that windshield is dirty, it doesn’t matter how good your prescription is – you can’t see as well as you should. Glare definitely becomes an issue. And because that windshield (cataract) gets worse bit by bit, sometimes it seems like you’re doing fine, and all of a sudden you realize you’re in trouble.
I didn’t realize just how apt this windshield analogy was until I lived through it myself. If you or a loved one has ever been told they have cataracts, an annual comprehensive eye exam is vitally important to ensure that vision hasn’t gotten worse than you think!
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