I am now two days post-op for my second cataract. Last Sunday, New Year’s Eve, at 08:30 I went along to my local NHS surgery for the op, and was home again at 09:55, cradling a freshly-brewed cup of coffee made for me by my daughter. The op itself was painless and quick: an excellent surgeon with a well-rehearsed team made it as easy as possible. Thank you so much to Mr Raza and the whole team at New Hayesbank!

So now, I am, as cliched as it sounds, looking at 2018 through new eyes.

So far, so good. My left eye had seemed to have deteriorated since my first operation (on the right eye), and I had lost most of the visual acuity in it. But with the new lens, I have sharp distance vision in both eyes, even so soon after the lens replacement.  

It is a terrifying thought that had I not had the two operations, I would have been functionally blind before the end of 2018. Rectifying cataracts really is life changing, and nothing to be scared of. (OK - if you aren’t nervous before the operation, you’ve probably misunderstood the situation, and, yes, there is some mild discomfort, but, really, if you’re old enough to develop cataracts, you’ve already shrugged off much, much worse).

Anyhow, this morning, I looked out of my bedroom window and was able to read the car number plates up and down the road without glasses. Here’s to a clear-sighted 2018!

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The opening picture of this post is one of the last I took before the second op. I went up to Oare Marshes nature reserve last Saturday, and spent about three hours pottering around photographing the wildfowl. There was an enormous flock of black-tailed godwits feeding close to the road on the East Flood. I was walking back to the road from the far side of the East Flood when they blasted off into the air. An amazing sight, and I managed a few shots before they disappeared out of range. I’ve never made a picture of so many godwits in flight before: worth looking at large, so click on the picture and it should open larger.