I Have an Artificial Lens in My Eye (Way Cool)

I had cataract surgery last week.

When I share this with people, they’re usually pretty surprised. I realize I’m not the typical age for this. I’m no spring chicken, but I’m still at least twenty years shy of when most people have a surgery like this.

My cataract developed as a result of a different surgery. When I was a young adult, I had a detached retina. That was actually quite serious, and I needed surgery to repair it. Sometimes that type of surgery leads to the formation of a cataract. That’s what happened to me. Mine was first spotted when I was 30 and grew slowly over the years.

Well, now it’s gone. Bye!

A surgeon removed the lens I was born with and replaced it with an artificial one. I am now a card-carrying member of that club. Literally. They gave me a card. A whole bionic woman, though you can’t tell. I can’t even tell.

Cataract surgery has become remarkably routine, and it’s been that way for decades. (Although cataract surgery was invented in 800 B.C.E., wow.) For most of human history, though, it wasn’t widely practiced, and certainly not with artificial lenses. It’s easy to forget what a medical miracle this really is. Most humans simply lived with terrible eyesight.

And that leads me to a very different thought, though I think you’ll see the throughline.

One of the funniest lines in the Bible comes from the Song of Songs, where the writer praises his beloved by saying, “Your teeth are like a flock of goats, and not a one is missing!” This phrase shows up several times in that book. Why a flock of goats? And also, why is it such a big deal to have all your teeth?

Oh! Because it actually was a big deal to have all your teeth. Most ancient people didn’t. I had never really thought about that before. (Though still, why a flock of goats?)

Anyway, I’m grateful for our eyes and our teeth, including the artificial ones. (P.S. I still have all my teeth. What a flock of goats!)

—Renee Roederer