Doctor My Eyes

It's official...as confirmed at my latest appointment yesterday, my new eye has improved to 20/20!

Still has a bit of astigmatism, which can be corrected with glasses.

My other eye has gotten a little worse and will need the same treatment (partial cornea transplant, new lens implant) in a year or two.

What a wondrous time we live in, when failing eyesight due to aging can be corrected with technology and surgery. I've also been impressed by the degree to which my brain merges the information from both eyes and creates an image (a mental image?) that is better than the "raw" data from either eye alone. Tracking this experience—large changes in my eyesight followed by slower adaptation by my brain—has been a fascinating object lesson in just how much we "see" with our brains as well as with our eyes. In a way I feel lucky to have experienced this.

Very much looking forward to getting my new, updated computer glasses, corrected for 20 inches, to make the time I spend in front of the monitor more pleasant. I get a bit of eyestrain now, with the no-longer-correct glasses.

I try to spread the word when I can...if you ever need this kind of eye surgery, don't fear it. We're naturally protective of our eyes, and the thought of having our eyes poked with needles and cut with blades is horrifying. But it's really not bad at all—my surgery was quite bearable. The whole experience was a bit arduous but nothing truly taxing.

...And now this result. I'm very happy!

Mike

Original contents copyright 2020 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Alan Whiting: "As an astronomer, I've done some research into visual observations (which are still surprisingly useful to the science). I've concluded that there is no such thing as raw visual data: even the simplest observation (such as the brightness of a star) is heavily processed before you, the observer, see it. For a scientist, this can be annoying. This cartoon might be of interest."

Mike replies: That might be the best ongoing "cartoon" strip on the planet right now.

Comments

[Fred Haynes]

Mike, that’s wonderful! Your right, eye surgery is really not so terrible, and remarkable things are being done.
So, yeah, spread the word!
Fred

[Richard Parkin]

This is good news. Very happy for you!

[Michel]

I suffer from kerataconus. The topography of the cornea of both my eyes looks like the Himalayas on a raised relief globe. I don’t need to tell people on a photography blog what that does to the sharpness of images transmitted to my brain. By luck the worst of the deformation is shifted slightly from one eye to the other such that the stereoscopic image is a pretty good composite of the reality before me. A new ophthalmologist once asked me, after looking at each eye individually, if I played any sports. I told him I played tennis. Skeptically he asked if I was any good. I told him I managed pretty well. Another test but conducted with both eyes simultaneously confirmed my “luck”.

[Chip McDaniel]

Great news, Mike. Here's to 2 x 20/20 vision soon.

[robert e]

Congratulations, Mike! Wonderful news indeed. I hope you're feeling better otherwise as well.

"...my brain merges the information from both eyes and creates an image (a mental image?) that is better than the "raw" data from either eye alone."

This sounds weirdly like unsharp masking!

Of course, in another sense, most everything we normally "see" is mostly "mental image"--not only processed but largely interpreted and constructed, according to the experts. One of the most valuable qualities (and a "magic") of photography IMO is the ability it gives us to expose, contemplate, subvert and play with that phenomenon.

[MikeR]

Glad to hear!

Even though "complications" with the cataract surgery in my left eye resulted in a clear but nearsighted 20/50 eye, combined with the appx 20/30 of the right eye, (also with replacement lens), I need reading glasses for only the smallest type. I don't mind the combination at all.

A retinal tear which required surgery a year after the cataract surgery, although psychically traumatic, provided a rare insight into the optical mechanics at work. Vitreous drained, freon gas to replace it, and in about 8 weeks, my body re-filled the space that vitreous occupied with fluid. I could see the level of the fluid rising, but from the top, down! Weird and wonderful stuff.

[John Robison]

Good advice Mike. At 70 have noticed changes in my vision that are concerning so I finally made my first appointment in several years. Easy to take for granted until too late.

[Stan B.]

I think for a lot of people in this country- it's not a matter of fearing the operation... it's a matter of affording it!

[Herb Cunningham]

Glad to hear about the eye progress. I have AMD in one eye, have been getting injections in it for going on 7 years, with a tiny drop of drug every 10 weeks. Kept the AMD at a dull roar, so I can see pretty good out of that eye, and the other one is fine. I think I have better color vision in the treated eye now, not sure, will check it out soon.

[Speed]

... a fascinating object lesson in just how much we "see" with our brains as well as with our eyes.

Like the way that our phones "see" with their CPUs as well as with their sensors.

[scott kirkpatrick]

Good new for you, and reassuring for the rest of us who wonder if yet another medical miracle is possible to offset the inevitable flare, yellowing, and softening of vision that seems to come with age. Please keep sharing your experience with this.

[Bahi]

Thrilled to read this.

[Michael Perini]

Truly amazing , and wonderful.
You’re getting younger!
Good for you.

[Martin D]

Very happy to hear this, Mike.

[SteveW]

Wonderful news!

[Jim Natale]

As one who has different replacement lenses for cataracts in both eyes, one for distance, one for mid-range, I can confirm that it all blends nicely.  The inescapable conclusion is that my brain is smart, even when I'm not.

[Bob G.]

Good news! Here's one...

[Sebastian Methner]

Hi Mike, i am an optician in Germany. I don't know about the quality of glasses in USA but i can highly recommend two Types of eyeglasses for working on your Computer. If you really need glasses only for one distance (20 Inches) i can highly recommend monovision glasses produced with free-form technology, they are individualized. Not only the prescription and pupil distance find way in the production, also your individual Point of height of looking throughout the Glass. This will give you a much more relaxed view not only in the middle of the Glass. The View is more precise and clearer. If you need a View from Reading distance Up to your Screen distance i can recommend Office Glasses. There are different qualities, Go for the better. If Monovision or Office Solution, Go for bluelightfilter! By the way, our Shop ist certified Leica Eyecare Dealer :-) maybe your German is OK Checkout leica-eyecare.com

[Dogman]

I'm so glad your "new" eye is working out for you. Sight is always taken for granted until something comes along and slaps you in the face to remind you how important and how fragile it is.

Just about 2 years ago I was diagnosed with age related macular degeneration (AMD). At the time it was said to be early and the signs were subtle. All that could be done was to watch it and take AREDS-2 vitamins. I've been doing that religiously but I now have a tiny blurred spot in my right eye that I only notice when I'm looking through a camera viewfinder. My left eye has mild distortions. So far, none of this has affected my functioning nearly as much as the web of floaters I've had for years.

One good thing is that I've changed ophthalmologists and the new one gave me an updated prescription for eyeglasses that has improved my ability to see significantly. The doctor I used previously was someone I never particularly liked. Let's just say she lacked charm and never seemed very knowledgeable.

[Jamie Pillers]

Modern medical technology is amazing (at least to me). Of course its probably one of the reasons our med. insurance is expensive.

A few years ago I was told I needed to have some blood vessels on the inside of my eye cauterized. "Geez", I thought, "that's sounds bad!" But it was a laser procedure that took all of a few seconds, with no sensations at all!

Good to hear your vision is back up to snuff. It's be a shame to have to read your column filled with typos!

[Michael Potter]

Great news, Mike! I hope the vision in your other eye doesn't deteriorate too severely before you can have it treated. Wishing you continued improvement.

[Roger Bradbury]

@Mike: "But it's really not bad at all—my surgery was quite bearable."
Told yer so! But I'm glad it ended up okay.
Like MikeR, I've had the gas bubble in the eye that pushes the torn/detached retina back into place. While it was in there I could tilt my head and it would swing into position, letting me focus on objects a couple of inches from my eye. Bionic, it was.

[Nature Lover]

When I had my sequential cataract surgery I opted to correct myself to ~-2.5 diopters so as to not require glasses at the computer. Baseline was about -10 and -6. It has worked well for me. I have no problems using spectacles most of the time. It is who I was and am. But I now can navigate and even drive adequately (just a little illegally-I really gain little with specs) without specs in addition to using the computer without them. I do miss my microscopic vision at 2 inches. My wife tells me I have a computer problem.

[Peter Croft]

I'm happy for you Mike. I had my cataracts fixed a couple of years ago and intra-ocular lenses inserted. I was scared at the thought of this operation, but with a shot of Midazolam to relax me, no fear at all, and there was no pain.

The result was that my colour vision improved out of sight, pardon the pun, and I realised how yellow my vision had become without me being aware. Considering it used to be part of my job to align colour monitors in a TV station, duh!

I'm now long sighted instead of myopic, and I'm not all that pleased. It's not perfect long vision, and I need such strong reading glasses, even reading the car instruments is difficult. I've found I need half height glasses so I can look over the top.

However, dioptric eye-piece adjustment on the camera works so photography is OK. And whites are so white now. I never noticed the yellow before. Wunderbar.

[David Comdico]

Congratulations Mike. 20/20 in 2020!

[JOHN B GILLOOLY]

great news mike - glad to hear!

[Steve Simmer]

Good news! These are amazing times we live in. I had cataract lens replacement surgery 10 years ago. I swear I can now see colors I could never see before. It's a great benefit for photo procesing!

[Steve Rosenblum]

Very happy for you Mike. I think that it's a great idea to express gratefulness for the good things in our lives--it is good for our minds and our souls. There are those who make it into a daily meditation.

[Zack Schindler]

It is remarkable how the brain works with eyes. I have a lot of big floaters but rarely notice them as my brain learns how to ignore them.

[David Ramsey]

Good for you Mike!

Two comments. One, anyone who needs this, make sure you go to a highly competent ophthalmologist who has who has done this surgery many times. My dad had it done many years ago and the doctor butchered it. And there was nothing - at least at that time - that could be done to fix it.

The brain is incredible in processing the information from the eyes. Though not as dramatic as your experience, anyone who wears contacts and has both far-sightedness and near-sightedness can have one contact to read up close and the other for distance. This is known as mono-vision and after a day or two the brain automatically adjusts so when you are reading something it uses one eye and when looking at a more distant object it uses the other. But all the depth perception is still there.

Amazing.

[bloodnok]

regarding mental pictures ...
https://bloodnok.uk/aac/mentalpicture01.m4a

[Dan Khong]

"L’oeil dans le Viseur" - from the Andre Kertesz book that you recommended.

[Bruce Cooper]

That's wonderful news. Congratulations!

[Marcelo Guarini]

Great news. Go for the second, I'll be wishing you luck crossing my fingers as I did with the first one.