He also said Don't look back something might be gaining on you.
Sage advice for anyone, especially those of us who have crossed the threshold of that age when we become seniors. The stuff gaining on us comes with number and force. We fight to stave it off with decreasing luck and ability.
I got taught one of those lessons the other day. I have been dealing with blurry vision for sometime, it came on while I was ill last year. I attributed it to a side effect of prednisone. The very thorough examinations by some top notch eye doctors did not reveal anything of specific moment. I was getting a little cloudy due to cataracts that were forming, which may be a resultant side effect of the steroids or might be age related.
But of late the vision seemed more cloudy. The
computer screen a blur until I move in real close. Constanctly checking to see if my lenses were clean and cleaning them repeatedly provided little relief. At the last exam, the Doctor said we can tweak your prescription for glasses and perhaps that will help.
Saturday we went to visit our daughter in Washington DC, it was a down and back drive from NJ in one day. On the way back I was bothered by what was for me diminished visual acuity at night. It was severely annoying, so on Monday I called to get in for an exam to tweak the prescription. I needed to look into this , for driving is an important task and I could not in conscience continue in this manner for any length of time.
You are buying a little time came the word from the Dr. The new RX will help for sometime, but you need to realize you are now at the legal limit for visual acuity with your current presecription.and driving. If your eyes worsen , you no longer can drive with your current prescription. That bad, said I. Yes, things progressed much faster than I expected., was the reply, I expected several years before you got to this stage, and it is less than a full year. Well that is why I am here to get a new prescription. You can have a new prescription but it is a stop gap measure, you understand.
I was startled at the idea of being at the legal acuity limit. I was then told that seniors so infrequently get their eyes examined that the majority are well beyond the legal limit, and should not be driving at all. Many , can address this simply with cataract surgery, but man forego and put others at risk.
The new glasses will be ready on Friday and I will get a new lease , but I also got the other part of the news. Closely monitor the situation for if the condition continues to worsen, I need to make arrangements for cataract removal. She says that the steroid effect is probably involved and when you are off steroids, which I am, you can get something of a reversal of progress. Let's hope, but don't bank on it..
Maybe it will be ok, because there is nothing else going on, my eyes are otherwise fine, not glaucoma, not optic nerve or retina issues. So for me I say the prayer while the sun is shining, and I sure am not going to look back because who all knows what is gaining on me.
For the rest of the world, go get your eyes checked, among all the other bits and pieces.
