'Everything was perfectly fine, up to the last day'

Cataract Awareness Month

For Arlene Morris, cataracts were a blessing in disguise

By Dennis Thompson
HealthDay Reporter

(HealthDay News) -- Arlene Morris had no clue that her eyesight was failing, until she flunked a vision test in April at the Department of Motor Vehicles.

"I went to renew my license at the DMV and couldn't read the letters on the wall," said Morris, who's 55, lives in Palo Alto , Calif. , and is CEO of a biotech company.

She'd needed glasses since the third grade for nearsightedness, and immediately thought the worst -- a detached retina, perhaps, or something more serious. But she was in for another surprise when her doctor told her she had developed cataracts in both eyes.

"The optometrist said they are more common in people who are very nearsighted," Morris said. "As a contact lens wearer, I've always been wearing sunglasses because of the glare, so I don't think sun damage was it."

Morris underwent cataract surgery in one eye in May, and the second eye three weeks later.

"The surgery was really nothing," she said. The procedure only took 15 or 20 minutes, and she was out through the whole thing.

"They say you are awake, but I don't remember being awake. Apparently, you're awake and respond to commands, but you don't remember anything," she said.

Morris didn't have to wear an eye patch afterward and even went back to work the next day.

"I went out with my husband for coffee right after the surgery, then I went home and took a little nap. You can really do anything except drive, because you've had the drugs," she said.

Her doctors also told her she could do other things she thought impossible immediately after the surgery. For instance, they gave her the green-light to exercise, if she chose, or to take a shower.

Morris did feel some slight physical discomfort, however.

"Right after the surgery, for the first day, your eye is scratchy. It feels like it has sand in it," she said. "But then you go to bed and wake up, and it's gone."

There also was a day of blurriness as her eyes recovered from the dilation required by the surgery.

But after that, Morris found herself enjoying the best vision of her life.

"I don't think I can ever remember seeing this well," she said. "I have the multifocal lens, so I can read as well as see at a distance. I don't need glasses for anything."

The sharpness of her eyesight particularly astounded Morris.

"Colors are brighter. Edges around things are a lot sharper. I don't have the glare during the day like I had with contact lenses," she said.

"And the good thing is," she added, "with this multifocal lens, I got rid of all my glasses, which is pretty amazing."