by Melissa Gilbert

Created on: July 14, 2009

It is not common for a three year old to have cataracts, but at three I had cataracts. This is something that is common among fifty or older adults to have; not for a kid. What I had is what they call congenital cataracts. Cataracts are basically a cloudy of a lens.

I had cataracts in both eyes. What that basically means to me is that I had to have multiple eye surgeries. What they do now is not like what they did then. Mine was done the old fashion way. Laser surgeries were still in their experimental stages so that was not an option for me. That really does not bother me that it was not available. Advancements change and we just have to deal with what we were dealt with.

Most three year olds don't remember anything from when they were three, but I do only because of this experience. There were things I had done back then that my family would never let me forget. I was only three years old. Knowing a world that I didn't see well and then coming to a whole new world of being able to see more than I had done before. Nobody knows what could have caused it, but we can only speculate the true reason behind it.

After going through the patches separately with each eye, I had to wear glasses. They are not the typical glasses. I had to have those thick glasses with bifocals. You know how cruel kids can be. Kids used to tease me because of my glasses, but I had no control of that. Over the years, the way glasses were made had improved. I was finally able to have wired framed glasses by the time I had been in high school. You realize how much happier I was when I finally was able to get those because they looked better than those big coke bottle type of glasses that I had before.

Adults whom usually have cataracts, their cataracts are removed and replaced with a lens implant. That is something I do not have. I am old enough to have it now, but I do not have the money for it to be done. Having something like that done can be costly. Would I want it to be done? Probably, if it that means that I could go without glasses. Honestly, I probably would feel so weird if I ever get this done because I am so used to wearing glasses all of the time.

Cataracts are not the only problem I have, but in my mind I think that this is related to even though people tell me that it's not related. I am blind in my right eye due to a lazy eye. In the past few years, it has also gone out of alignment, so the eye is really not where it should be. Because of this problem, I cannot drive.

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