'MY EYES ARE DIM I CANNOT SEE ..."

I mentioned last month that I have a problem with my eyesight, finding it difficult to clearly see things that I'm reading (and typing in case any pedamtic old X - skoo cgoggletichers ary ruding this).

I made an appointment with an eye specialist last month and that appointment is tomorrow.

The Old Girl has  to drive me in and to home because the procedure means that the drops they put in my eyes for the examination rule out driving for a while afterwards. I guess that golf will be out as well (boom boom - an old stand-up Dean Martin-type joke there).

With the long waiting list for GP appointments, dental appointments and basically any professional or specialist procedures nowadays (what's that about? Maybe an investigative post is required?) I made this appointment while looking at my diary for a clear week. Of course, Murphy's Law steps in and makes sure that the day of my appointment will be the funeral day of a beloved uncle who died during the week and whose funeral is tomorrow in Paraparaumu. I can't go as I've waited so long for this specialist appointment and need to get things sorted out.

Eyesight is an extremely valuable sense that many people take for granted. One of my tennis playing mates, Bruce, recently underwent major eye surgery. He had been having trouble with his eye and his vision was getting w ..... yes, you read that correctly, I said "his eye". Bruce, who is the best tennis player at the club only has one working eye. He was blinded in the other as a child about 70 years ago. Recently his good eye has been giving him gyp and so, after an eye specialist appointment he was scheduled for surgery to correct a range of problems. It was touch and go but after several surgeries his vision has improved and he says that he hasn't seen as clearly for decades.

In previous posts I've hinted suggested regaled you with anecdotes of my eyesight and the need to wear glasses from about 14 years on. Hey! Did I tell you this story about when a flatmate of mine asked me, after I told her, that when I take my glasses off I can hardly see anything and she then asked me how I make love, I told her that I did it in Braille much to her amusement (and willingness to put it to the test)?

Moving on ...  I'm not sure what the eye specialist will discover tomorrow. I can accept cataracts or macular degeneration which are both fairly serious. If it's cataracts a laser op. will fix it, macular degeneration - less likely to be fixed. It may well be that a new spectacle prescription for my astigmatism is needed.

I can live with that - I gave up vanity years ago.

We're all getting old and medical procedures beckon.  A good friend is undergoing chemotherapy at present but it looks like, invasive as it may be, the results are looking good. A beloved and close family member recently underwent chemotherapy and thankfully (not thanks to any god) made it through.

Stay safe friends and readers and if you have any sort of health problem for Robert's god's sake - get it checked out early.