So I’ve started the countdown to my first cataract surgery. I wasn’t going to blog much about this, but I’ve found that although the web is full of text and video links for cataract surgery (in humans and other animals!), most are commercial or professional pieces. There seem to be relatively few first-person accounts of what it’s like to experience lens replacement. And since it’s a really cool technical fix, it’s worthy of the “Geek” tag.
I’m having my right eye operated on this Wednesday, September 21; the left eye will be done on October 18. In preparation for the surgery, I’ve just started eye drops three times a day: Vigamox (an antibiotic) and Nevanac (an anti-inflammatory). The pre-op tests took place on September 6, when they measured the interior and exterior geometry of my eyes using an ultrasound device; they’ll use these numbers to choose the right lenses for my replacements.
In peparation for the experience, I’ve been reading up on the subject and watching a number of videos. The best (lengthy) discussion of the subject is this lecture from UCSF:

For a quick presentation of the actual procedure, this video is good, though rather low-res:

One of the things I’m particularly intrigued by is how much difference I will experience in my vision. Yes, I know that my eyesight has been getting increasingly poor – my right eye is around 20/80 – but the deterioration has been gradual enough that I probably didn’t notice the changes. I’m really curious about how my color perception will shift. In some areas I’ve noticed the changes – increased glare during night driving, for instance – and I’m looking forward to improvements there. I just read an interesting piece by an ophthalmologist who himself had to have cataract surgery; as you might imagine, he was keen to document the experience carefully. (And it changed his professional outlook completely.)

Anyway, more and more of you will be going through this process over the next few years, so I’ll try to blog regularly about what it’s like.