More often than not, submitting to any kind of surgery is a scary event, conjuring up limiting life functions and a lengthy recovery time. But that’s not always the case.
Last week I took a friend to the VA Hospital in Portland for cataract surgery. A short while later, he fairly danced out of the building. Just a week with an eye patch at night, and no lifting heavy items or bending down below his waist, and he’d be good as new.
His vision was so much improved on the very first day he had the lens taken out of that side of his glasses. We stopped on the way home to get “protective eyewear” at a sporting goods store, and then at Walgreen’s for reading glasses.
I’m kind of sorry he didn’t have to wear that metal eye patch any longer than he did. It had holes in it like a tea strainer protruding from his face and made him look like a pirate. He thought maybe he could save it to wear next Halloween.
“Ask for a second one,” I suggested. “Then you can cover both eyes and go as The Fly, and you won’t need a parrot to finish off the costume.”
“Or—” he said, sticking two pens, a paperclip and his hospital release papers to his forehead where the residue of the surgical tape securely held them all in place, “I can always go as an office desk set.”
Now there’s an original costume!