Keeping an Eye on It

The ophthalmologist compared the scans with those taken two years ago. The faint shadow had grown.

"You don't need to do anything about it now, but you will need cataract surgery in 10, 15, or 20 years."

The doc wasn't very encouraging about whether I could do anything to prevent the condition from worsening. Some evidence exists that diet and wearing sunglasses outdoors could arrest the development of cataracts, but currently there's little consensus. In the meantime there's no downside to trying those measures.

On the whole the news was good: eye pressure was normal, and the nearsightedness hadn't worsened. I typed in a reminder on the iPhone to come back next year. In the 21st century eyesight is the sense that one can least afford to lose.