This had originally started out as a blog on data quality, but I wasn't too sure about the direction in which it was headed- trust me, you didn't miss out on anything. Something happened to me recently that I found quite interesting, and which totally pertains to my programming career and aspirations to deepen and broaden my programming skills.
Back in April of this year (2015), I went in for an eye exam. Everything was good, and I ended up getting a frame with progressive lenses. As I'm far-sighted with astigmatism, I've been wearing reading glasses since I was eighteen. This was my first foray into "distance" lenses. To be completely honest, I don't strictly "need" a distance prescription, but I was told they might help out with night driving, which I do practically every day. So, my progressive stack has distance on top, "computer" in the middle and reading on the bottom. They take a little getting accustomed to, but they're quite effective- especially in the car, where everything both in and outside of the cabin is in focus.
I did have a slight problem with them at work, however: the computer part of the prescription was not large enough. I was offered the option of a wider field of view when I first purchased the lenses, but being that this was my first progressive lens, I decided to go with the basic one. Bottom line: this pair works great in the car and is fine with my 15" (~38cm) laptop, but with 23" (over 58cm) monitors at work and in the Secret Underground Lair (SUL), I could only see with clarity what I was looking at directly; to get focus on the left- or right-most parts of the screen, I had to do a bit of adjusting. And, as the nature of my work requires that I take in the whole screen (left to right and top to bottom), these didn't quite fit my needs. Therefore, I got a second pair of single visions lenses designed specifically for computer work.
This was pretty much what I was hoping to avoid- the expense of a second pair of glasses. However, upon trying out the new single vision computer glasses, everything was perfect, and I was happy.
Until the morning of September 12th.
September 12th was a Saturday, but (in my "quantum" time) it was actually Friday. I still had a couple of hours worth of work left, so I got up to have a short stretch and clean my glasses. Normally I'll use the piece of microfiber that I keep in the case, but this time I decided to give them a good dousing from the water cooler. I rinsed them, gave them a good wiping with the cloth and returned to my desk. I put them on, and discovered that I still had the same blurriness. I took them off, and looked at them through my desk lamp. Yup, they were clean- which meant that the problem, literally, was inside my head- my right eye, specifically.
So, if you'll pardon the pun, the chronology gets just a bit fuzzy here. At some point after that, Jennifer and Mr. T had their eye exams. As they were wrapping up, I nonchalantly asked someone about my recently discovered difficulty. As I described my problem, the nice folks at Vision Care Specialists decided that what I had described was important enough to squeeze me into their late afternoon schedule. After a bunch of tests, it was determined that I "probably" had a cataract.
Now, I'm told that pretty much everyone over the age of forty is in a "pre-cataract" condition- in fact, I was told this at my exam in April. What I was not aware of is that some folks have a rapidly-developing type of cataract. Unusual, but not rare... I'm an overachiever.
I was referred to an opthamologist. He confirmed the diagnosis and recommended the treatment: REPLACEMENT OF MY EYE LENS! This well and truly deserves all caps, as I had never heard of such a thing. And outpatient, to boot! No sutures, no bandages... not even a stinkin' pirate patch!
Anyway, it JUST SO HAPPENED that I had scheduled the bulk of my vacation for November. I had to rearrange two days, but this is how November has shaped up so far:
On Tuesday the 10th I started my eyedrops. With discounts, three tiny vials of eyedrops were $~120! I'm not one of those "older" folks who seem to be constantly medicated, so I can't tell you what these drops are... suffice it to sat that one stings a bit, and the other two do their job painlessly.
Wednesday, 11/11, the day of the surgery/procedure (throughout the entire process, the medical community referred to it as a "procedure"; in my mind, when someone stabs your eye, rips out your lens and puts a new one in, it's an operation).
I arrived at Holy Family Hospital, did some paperwork, paid part of the bill and was admitted. Jennifer and I were directed to a waiting room. After a very short period of time, I was invited by a nurse to a room where I was asked to put on a hospital gown... but allowed to keep my socks and fire engine yellow skivies. I was given booties, but they just didn't seem to want to stay on.
I don't want to say I was nervous at all, but the blood pressure measurements from admission to release showed about a 70 point swing.
And for all of the hype, the procedure itself was pretty painless. The pre-op prep was pretty painless; I experienced many firsts: first IV, first gurney, first operation. When the procedure was done, I was a bit woozy from something they gave me, and happily accepted the wheelchair ride to the curb. Jennifer drove us home, and I'm happy to report that everything seems to have turned out exactly as planned. It looks like I'll be taking eyedrops for the next 2-3 weeks... it's a small price to pay to be able to see.
As always, I am hochspeyer, blogging data analysis and management so you don't have to.
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