Well, here I am, two days after my second cataract surgery. This one was extremely uncomfortable. While the first surgery went smoothly and painlessly, I must admit, this one stung a bit.
When the surgeon worked on my right eye, I felt a lot of pressure, but no actual pain. This time around, there was indeed some pain. It wasn’t unbearable, but it took me by surprise. I suppose that it is possible the anesthetic had begun to wear off; it was near the end of the procedure, after all.
You see, in Taiwan, cataract surgery is handled a bit differently than in America. In America, in addition to the anesthetic applied to the eye itself, the person is put into mild sedation…something called ‘twilight sedation,’ I think. Anyway, there was no sedation for my procedure. So I had to consciously keep my head still for the doctors to work.
But don’t let that alarm you; really, the hardest part was keeping my eye open with the surgical light shining directly into it—though my eyelids were fastened back with surgical tape, so I just had to focus, without worrying about keeping my eye open.
Anyway, it’s all over. I was given a note to rest for two weeks, and was told that in four to six weeks, I could get new glasses. Two points, now—
As to the first point– After the first surgery, I only had to rest up for one week. Why is it different now? My guess is that technically, my right eye (the first one upon which they worked) is still healing, or getting used to the prosthetic lens, or whatever. I will admit that, as I noted above, the surgery this time was at one point mildly painful, and afterwards, my left eye did ache for at least a day. Not badly enough for me to want to resort to painkillers, but it was enough to annoy me.
Now, on the second day after, I can actually see again. There is no more fog obscuring my vision, and the new lenses have given me the ability to see clearly to the end of my arm. It really is amazing to me. My eyes had been so bad, that I could not see past the end of my nose—literally. My contact lenses were correcting at -12. And I’ve worn bifocals since the age of nineteen. It’s really both delightful and weird being able to see as soon as I open my eyes in the morning.
As to the second point—Resting for two weeks makes me uncomfortable, because I really don’t want to miss that much work. One week should be sufficient, I think. I am worried about my job.
You see, despite the many areas in which Taiwan’s system is superior to America’s (Universal Health Care, for one: I’d never have been able to get my surgery done in the United States, as I had no insurance. Even having to purchase the new lens implants out of pocket was far, far less expensive that in the United States), Taiwan has very similar working conditions to America. That is, almost no days off, limited time off with a doctor’s note, at half pay. And I am coming to the end of my current contract, which finishes near the end of April.
I am not expecting to be offered another year at this place, given my success rate here, and so I have already begun looking. Admittedly, I think a lot of it will also have to do with my not fitting in with the culture of the place, so to speak.
Hey—if anyone has any leads on teaching jobs in Taiwan or China (or Eastern Europe, really), please do let me know.
So, for now, here I sit trying to rest my eyes (and not doing a very good job of it as I am passing the time by reading and writing), and patiently anticipating my return to work in (I hope) another week.
Nudnik Online 