手術を終えて退院してきたが、結論から言うと確実に前進だろう。文字が三重になるあのもやもやした見え方は消滅して、駅の表示などもほぼそのまま判別できる、裸眼で0.4程度の視力を得た。
入院期間は昼から翌々日の朝10時までで、その間オリエンテーションと点眼の指導、手術後の2度の点滴、さらに2-3時間毎の目薬などをこなし、診察も毎日積み上げていくので、ある意味万全の体制で臨んでもらえる手術だと思うし、多くのスタッフが携わっている。白内障の手術は高齢者が多いことを考えれば、理に叶ったシステムと言えそうだ。
食事は量的には少なめだがよく考えられた料理で、150gの白米と4品のおかずは素直に美味しかった。夕食の熱量が470kcalに対して昼食は620kcalくらいで、夜は軽めのバランスに持って行っているようだ。
さて肝心の手術だが、僕は第一陣で朝9時に手術室に移動した。歯医者にあるような手術用のチェアが5台くらい並んでいる。左目からの手術は何の違和感もなくすんなりと終わった。どちらの目から取りかかるのか興味があったが、悪い方の左が先で安心する。右からの人もいたので、何らかの決め事があるのだろう。ただその後、僕の手術はなぜか順番の組み替えが発生して、一度病室に戻って待機となる。理由の説明はない。結局右目の手術は最終組くらいまで待って、執刀医も若い女医さんとなった。この回はちょっとつらい手術で、水晶体を取り除く時、鈍い痛みというのか圧迫感があって、麻酔の効きが足りないのかなと思った。術後も何か突っ張るような感じが残り、ずっと涙が止まらない。最初の医師は作業のステップを説明しながら患者とのコミュニケーションを維持しての処置で安心感があったが、女医さんは黙々と効率的な作業を進めるだけ。水晶体に針か何かを刺す際に「硬いな」とつぶやくのが聞こえた。
手術は昼前に無事終了、午後の視力検査と診察でも順調と言われた。右目の違和感は眼圧を抑える薬を飲んだあたりで治まってきたし、翌日には何も感じなくなっていた。
現在の焦点距離は50cmくらい（前回書いた60cm〜1mは説明する医者の身振りから自分が解釈した数字）で、やがてもう少し近くに落ち着くとのこと。僕はこのままでも良い気がする。しっかり遠くをフォーカスするにはやはり近眼用のメガネが必要になるが、周囲の光景はすべてつかめるので、メガネなしで普段の生活が可能に思われる。顔のしわなどしっかり見える。ただ50cmから被写体を手元に寄せても、焦点はボケて行くのがこれまでと根本的に違う点だ。小さくて読みにくい文字は焦点距離を縮める老眼鏡とか虫眼鏡で拡大することになる。
この手術で発見したことがいくつかある。
● 手に持つ本や小物のサイズがまるで違う。A4の楽譜がB4に近い大きさに見える。足元までの距離も短い。これが歪みのない姿なのかな。
● フリッカーのようなチカチカが時々ある。理由はよく判らない。
● 眼内レンズの透明度が高いのか眩しさが強い。眼の保護も兼ねてしばらくはサングラスを多用するつもり。
I came back from the hospitalization and the result of the operation was a steady step forward. The images of tripple-offset characters disappeared and the displays of the stations and the others are all readable. My visibility is now around 0.4 with the bare eyes.
The hospitalization starts at noon until 10 a.m. of the third day, and there are a couple of orientations, the lesson of administering eye drops, an intravenous drip injection twice after the operation, the scheduled eye drops every 2 to 3 hours, and the medical examination by doctors each day, therefore it is the operational process with full attention as a system with many medical staff involved. Considering that the cataract operation is mostly for the aged patients, it may be said that the system of hospitalization is logical.
The meals are small in volume but very well considered, and 4 different dishes and 150 grams of steamed rice were quite good. The supper is 470kcal while the lunch is 620kcal indicating that the balance is made lighter in the evening.
As for the operation itself, the main theme here, I was in the first group to be guided to the operation room at 9 in the morning where I saw 4 or 5 chairs like those we see at dentists. The operation started with my left eye and everything was smooth. I was curious which eye to start and relieved as they chose my left eye that was worse of the two. Some other patients had their right eye operated, and it seemed there was some rule of choosing the order. After the left eye was done unfortunately, there was a rearrangement of patients’ orders somehow, and I was sent back to my bedroom to wait until called again. They did not explain why. It was almost the last group I suppose when I returned to the operation room and a young, female doctor was on my right eye this time. It was tougher because I felt subtly dim pain or stress while she removed my chrystalline lens as I assumed if the anesthesia was not sufficient. Some kind of tension remained in the eye after the operation and the tear did not cease dripping. The first doctor spoke up to me explaining the process during the operation to maintain the communication that gave me some understanding and relief, while the female doctor simply proceded the operation efficiently without a word. When she stack a needle or something in my lens, I heard she muttered “this is rather hard”.
The operation was over with no other troubles before the noon, and I was told every thing was fine in the afternoon examination. The right eye’s uneasiness was calmed down when I took the pill to reduce the eye pressure, I felt nothing obtrusive the following morning.
The present focal distance is about 50cm and the doctor said it would settle down with somewhat shorter distance, though I tend to appreciate the current status. For me to precisely recognize the things in far distance, I still need short-sighted glasses, but I can see things around me well and I think I can have my routine life without them. I now see the wrinkles in my face very clearly! For reading books with small characters, bringing the object even close loses the focus unlike the old days, and the magnification is needed.
Few things are new to me after this change:
a. The size of books and things in hand is totally different. A4 size scorebook looks like almost B4 size. Also, the distance to my feet seems shorter. This is the real, life size probably.
b. I occasionally see flickering but no idea why.
c. Perhaps because of better transparency of silicon lenses, the light looks brighter. I tend to use my sunglasses also for the protection.
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