You may not be hearing much from me over the next few days, as I had eye surgery yesterday and it’s taking me a while to be able to see clearly again.
Epithelial Basement Membrane Dystrophy is a condition where the lowest level of your epithelium (the tough outer layer of your cornea) becomes pitted or distorted. Like a bad job of installing a vinyl floor, these distortions telegraph up to the top of the cornea, where it meets the air and bends the light. In my case, this made it very hard to see fine details, or to read (except in high-contrast settings like Textmate’s Midnight theme). I had this in both eyes, likely brought on by wearing hard contact lenses when I was much younger.
The surgeon dissolved my epithelium entirely in each eye, then used an xzcimer laser to “polish” the next layer of my corneas. Yes, that was very very very painful when the topical anesthetic wore off.
I’m already 100% better than I was this morning (couldn’t open my eyes then) and had my first pos-op appointment. I still can’t see clearly up close (they used tropicamide to paralyze my iris for the surgery, and it won’t wear off for several more days). But I am very excited to see the final results. It’s been a pretty awful past couple of years, with a steady decline in my ability to see clearly, where once I had 20:15 (corrected) vision.
So when you hear me rail on about making your sites more friendly for the visually disabled, now you’ll know that I’m not just talking about my dear friend Beverly. Of course, mine was fix-able, hers is permanent and progressive.
Walter
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