Well, it has to be done so I must endure a day and night of chaos. Much of it will be overnight and hopefully I shall be asleep.
I have bought a Serious Readers light on the advice of my Optician. I have cataracts and at my age I just feel I cannot face the trauma - not the actual operation (I have plenty of friends who have had them removed and speak well of it) but the trauma at my age of the twenty-odd mile to the hospital, the wait, the return journey (travelling now really freaks me out) and then the routine eye drops - and then the repeat with the other eye. My optician, who I count as a friend as I have been going to him for so many years, tells me many of his clients who are my age feel the same.
Friends whose judgement I trust also have a light each and they too speak highly of it - so one now sits in the corner awaiting the electrician who is coming in the morning at 9am to put in a new socket behind my chair and then to fit the light and (I hope) adjust it to suit my eyesight.
It means moving my largest bookcase and that, of course, means emptying it. And while I am at it, sorting out the books. I start out with all poetry books together, all natural history, all travel - and so on - neatly filed but oh dear what a mess they have got into.
My electrician told me to leave everything and he would empty the shelves in the morning and after he had fitted the new socket he would put the bookcase back and we would sort them out together. But of course - stupid me - I decided I would start today.
I managed to find all the poetry books, take them out and stack them on the carpet; then I did the same with natural history and gardening. Then I ran out of steam. I am sending some books to the Charity Shop (eg I have the Oxford Companion to Music, to Literature and to Art. They are large, unweildy books and these days such information is so easily found on the internet so I am unloading them.) I put them on my trolley and took them into the kitchen to add to the disposal pile. I spotted a very slow wasp crawling across the kitchen floor, put my foot on it and killed it, bent down to pick it up on a piece of kitchen paper and almost fell over! That's it - no more can be done today. So books all over, nothing I wish to see on television so write this, make a coffee, eat a Tesco individual Quiche Lorraine for me tea (and a 2 finger kit kat for 'pud' and then it is off to bed.
Night-night!
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18 comments:
I am just so thankful that you didn't fall over. Hopefully you will have plenty of help to get things back in order tomorrow!
Not chaos, just work-in-progress. It will all get sorted soon. I think it is common to decide to live with something rather than endure the 'cure'. I'm like that.
I had my cataracts removed when I was about 75. At that point I could hardly see, especially at night. Now I see so well mostly without glasses. The 10 minutes of the surgery was so well spent. I would do it again now at 82.
I find it very hard to part with books especially the ones that have become close friends and I have read many times. Nothing too highbrow, just favourites that I can lose myself in.
the worst thing about cataracts is all the drops...474! But the improvement in sight is well worth the effort. The micro manager put in my drops. You really need somebody to put the drops in.
Now that was a close call, nearly falling. I am glad you are ok. Not to worry as all the books will be arranged tomorrow. Rest easy and tomorrow is a new and better day.
It will be nice when your new light is set up and your bookcase is back in order. Glad you sat down to rest when you realized you were overdoing it!
Imagine the chaos if you HAD fallen over. You did not. You knew when you were done and you stopped. Your clear mind saved the day once again.
I think I would have used an extension cable.
I agree with Cro, they are perfectly safe, and can follow the skirting board round so they are not a trip hazard.
Considering your love of reading I am puzzled by your optician's advice.
Actually I can understand your reluctance to go down the way of operation for your eyes. It does mean hospital visits, eye drops and hopefully better sight at the end. I found the whole thing in the eye clinic totally efficient, with pleasant consultants explaining fully what was going to happen and yet I was also readying myself to lose my eye sight. In the end it is your choice.
Like Cro, I did wonder why you couldn't just plug it in elsewhere in the room and use an extension cable. Seems like a lot of trouble and expense.
Well you‘re old enough to know what you want (and what you‘re doing), but like some of the others here, I do wonder why the bookcase has to be moved to plug in a new lamp. Anyway, it is wonderful (and unusual) of your electrician to offer help with your books instead of merely doing the job he was called for.
Hope your new light will be up soon and make a difference to your reading - it certainly did for me before my eye operations two summers ago.
If you could get around the travelling, the operations would be worth it.
To be able to read easily, see the colour and definition of the view from your windows.....
It sounds as if you have a good helpful electrician..worth their weight in gold!!
Hoping all works out well for you Pat. Vision problems seem to be solved much easier these days - Bob is being coaxed into cataract surgery soon, but just one eye, the other can't be operated on. I think perhaps you are making the right decision if you can get by with this new light instead of surgery. . . .and I wish you good luck dear.
That's the trouble with the floor these days - it's further down than it used to be! So glad you didn't fall over.
Hope your new light is a joy and allows you to read what you want to read. Many people don't know that as you age, you really do need brighter lights to illuminate your home and tasks. It's also very important that you're certain that your old lamps can use brighter light bulbs. Some older lamps cannot use anything brighter than 60 or 75 watts.
It's your decision about having cataract surgery but dwindling vision is a huge price to pay for very quick and easy surgery. Family, friends, and carers would help with the eye drops for the month thereafter. As for the car trip, lie down in the back seat of the car! Something to consider again?
Hugs!
Regarding not having my cataracts removed - there is some problem with one eye (my better eye at the moment) which makes my optometrist question whether or not that eye should be tackled. Also at my age I find travelling extremely exhausting - I prefer to be close to home.
As to having an extension cable - and moving the bookcase. My chair sits almost in front of the bookcase so that I can easily get at any book I wish to consult. The socket at its side is a single socket and in it is my door bell. Without it that close to my ear I wouldn't always hear it. As to extension cables - I can fall over at the drop of a hat and all efforts must always be made to keep the floor clear. The electrician has put me a new double socket right by the side of my chair - which means one socket for my new lamp and a spare one. The difference between a single socket and a double socket installation is only a couple of pounds The whole job cost £50 and as far as I am concerned money well spent. I have always found when moving housethat the sockets are in the wrong place for my needs.
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