Okay, technically it was seven years ago yesterday since it is past midnight. What happened back then? I had a trabeculectomy on my left eye. It was my twelfth glaucoma operation and first since 20 May 1980. Maybe I should have put off that surgery. Since that trab in 2003, I have not seen better than 20/100 (and that was only for a span of about eight months.) Before the surgery I was about 20/80. A little better on some days and a little worse on others. I was able to read the mail by myself. Well, I wasn’t by myself. Our dog Zamboni, would sit next to me while I went through it.
There were plenty of other things I could do then that I miss terribly now. I still love sports, I just can’t participate anymore. I used to go to about 30 Flyers games a season. Even then I couldn’t see the puck, but I could follow the game and enjoyed going. I’ve been to three since 28 January 2003. That date was the last home game before my surgery. It was the last game I “saw” (and it was a bad game — a 3-0 loss to Tampa Bay.) I’ve been to two Phillies games at Citizens Bank Park, one this past season when they played Baltimore (and lost 6-5.) A friend had two extra tickets and Jane wanted to go (it was her first Phils game, but her second O’s game.) It was great seeing her get into the game and get excited, and I enjoyed spending time with my friend and his son. As far as the game went, I pretended like I knew what was going on, but I didn’t.
My whole life was about trying to maintain my vision. Glaucoma cannot be fixed or reversed. I remember as a kid I used to ask my eye doctor if anything new had been developed that could improve my vision. The answer then is the same as it is now: not yet. Maybe some day. On that day back in 2003, we tried. It just didn’t work out the way we hoped.