March 21, 2019

"I was smugly pleased with my apparent lack of wrinkles and quite content with regard to my personal grooming."

"I did have a little trouble navigating the streets of my new home town, but, all in all, I felt pretty good about things. All that changed with my too successful cataract surgery! My first glance in a mirror disabused me of my fancies of being wrinkle free - what's more, apparently I neither pluck my eyebrows, nor am I able to apply eyeliner in an actual 'line.' Moreover, I'm an astonishingly terrible housekeeper. - I thought the dirt was part of the linoleum pattern! I do, however, now realize that Austin has street signs..."

Writes a commenter at a NYT op-ed titled "Seeing Really Is Believing/How cataract surgery changed my life" and teased on the front page with "I Wasn't Crazy. The World Really Was Getting Darker." The teaser title doesn't reveal that it's about cataracts, but I guessed that it was. The column itself, by Jennifer Finney Boylan, is a little too sentimental and arty for my taste.

ADDED: I liked the comment. It was funny, and as a cataract patient myself, I identified with the point of view. But I've got to say that the part about eyeliner is confusing. If the bad application of eyeliner was caused by bad eyesight and she didn't notice the problem before the surgery, why would there be a problem after the surgery? You go in for the procedure without makeup, and you're forbidden to wear eye makeup for 2 weeks. So by the time she could see the makeup, she would have had clear eyesight for putting it on. But it's hard to put eyeliner on straight, and it's quite possible that seeing what you're doing wouldn't solve the problem.

20 comments:

rehajm said...

Lasik showed me how groadie the grout in the shower was...

Tommy Duncan said...

I'm reminded every morning that I no longer see well and my condition cannot be reversed. Thank goodness for large fonts and big computer screens. Life sometimes gives you lemons...

Bill, Republic of Texas said...

If the bad application of eyeliner was caused by bad eyesight and she didn't notice the problem before the surgery, why would there be a problem after the surgery?

Photos?

David Begley said...

What?!

Althouse wears makeup? I thought it was banned in Madison.

And since you are moderating all comments, can you get rid of recaptcha?

whitney said...

That is hilarious! I got contacts in my late 40's so I hadn't seen my face without glasses on for at least 10 years and I was shocked. I was getting laser treatment within a week and that was a couple years ago and now I got to it esthetician about every 6 weeks. My skin looks much better now I think...or maybe I've just gotten used to it

Ann Althouse said...

"Photos?"

Good attempted defense, but she's explicit that she's looking in a mirror.

MayBee said...

So by the time she could see the makeup, she would have had clear eyesight for putting it on. But it's hard to put eyeliner on straight, and it's quite possible that seeing what you're doing wouldn't solve the problem.

Does she say she *now* puts the eyeliner on straight?
It could be she thought she'd been putting it on straight, but now sees that she is not.

Tom T. said...

The second-highest rated comment made fun of the top commenter for having linoleum.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Are you seeing better now? Was your surgery a success?

Fernandinande said...

@Tom T. - That's why the internet is my friend.

Omaha1 said...

As a person with severe myopia, I'm sure I have no idea how dirty my shower is most of the time. I never see it with my glasses on! I used to wear contacts but when I started having to wear reading glasses all day at work I ditched the contacts and went with no line trifocals.

I do always clean my bathtub and shower when I know my granddaughter is coming to visit. They do not have a bathtub in their home and she loves to take baths at my house.

For makeup application I have a lighted mirror with magnification. Eyebrow grooming is still a challenge, with glasses off I can't see close up or far away.

I am 57, I don't think I have cataracts yet, but I would really miss being able to see bright colors.

Ann Althouse said...

@Omaha1

You might find these makeup "reading" glasses solve the problem

Inga...Allie Oop said...

I don’t have any problems applying eye makeup after my cataract surgery because I opted for the near vision implants. No need for readers whatsoever. I’m so glad I chose the near vision implants as everything I do most often is up close. For distance vision I wear glasses as I’ve done my entire adult life. My sister’s near vision got so bad after cataract surgery (she chose the distance vision implants as most people do) that she has to wear her readers to eat, or else she can’t see her food clearly. She got a pair of bifocals recently that she wears all the time now with the prescription for near vision at the bottom of the lens. She got tired of constantly looking for her readers.

Omaha1 said...

Interesting product, thank you for the suggestion...so far I am not bothered too much by my eyebrows but maybe it's because I can't see how bad they look!

Michael K said...

My dog has cataracts but I'm afraid she is going to have to keep them.

She sees well enough to get around but we will call her sometimes and she looks around to see who it is. She is always losing me in the house and will go room to room until she finds me.

tcrosse said...

I look forward to cataract surgery in a few weeks, so will ask my wife for eye makeup tips.

William said...

I'm scheduled for May. My eye surgeon says she's never had a patient go blind after the surgery. Well, she would say that wouldn't she....I'm not looking forward to the surgery, but it will be extremely cool to have good vision once again. I suppose I don't really look like Justin Bieber, so I'll have to readjust my self image. Still, all things considered, most people are agreed that vision is better than blindness.

Omaha1 said...

Things get weirder as I get older...I have been very myopic since I was three or four years old and getting my first eyeglasses as a child was very memorable. "I can see the leaves on the trees!" seemed like a miracle to me at the time.

The last few years I have added far sightedness to my visual challenges, I need correction for close up as well as distance. My nearsightedness improves somewhat as my farsightedness gets worse. New glasses are a requirement every few years but they are very expensive. Like $500 or more even with "vision insurance" which is pretty worthless for a person with major eye issues.

Fortunately I do not have macular degeneration so far, my mother had surgery to correct that, which required her to keep her head in a downward facing position for about six weeks. I can't imagine how uncomfortable that must have been.

Omaha1 said...

Macular Hole Surgery

Apparently the guidelines have changed as to how long you have to keep your head in a face down position following macular hole surgery. It used to be six weeks, now it is just two.

Michael K, please don't move your furniture, it is sad to see a blind (or semi-blind) dog trying to jump up on a couch that is not in the same place anymore!

ken in tx said...

I have cataracts but I don't need surgery yet. For me the world is not getting darker. Rather it is getting glaryer. If the sun or a bright light is in my face, I can barley see anything else.