Seniors

And I doubt they mean you have any significant chance of going blind. And they are describing extremely rare complications.

Again, cataract surgery is by far the most common surgery in this country. It is incredibly successful. Speaking for myself, knowing that I had two good eyes to begin with, the gain from cataract surgery is remarkable.

As I've already said, in first grade I could not read the blackboard. And no, I am not exaggerating. First grade was a trial. During the summer between first and second grade I got glasses. Hooray! I could read the blackboard.

I'm one of 6 children, and my parents became resigned to the fact that all of their kids were nearsighted and needed glasses. Indeed, the eye doctor they used simply had all six of us in his office one day a year and did what needed to be done.

What I do recall is that every year, when I first got new glasses, things were crystal clear, but very quickly got less so. That is the problem of conventional eyeglasses.

Shortly after graduating high school, at age 17, I got contact lenses. Wow. How amazing. I could look out the corner of my eye and still see.

That was back in the day of hard lenses. What was good about them was that the steady deterioration of my vision was stopped cold with hard contact lenses. The down side was that if I didn't get enough sleep, putting them in was a bit difficult. But I was young, and managed.

Eventually I got soft lenses, which were far better in terms of comfort. And then cataracts. Which were, honestly, the best thing that ever happened to my eyes. I got cataract surgery, had good lenses implanted, and the very best part of all is that I can see! When I wake up in the morning I can look across the room and read the clock. I can read small signs on distant hills -- well, not exactly, but it feels as if I can.

Since not getting cataract surgery will surely lead to blindness, I hope you will consider the alternative.