Cataract # 2 on the right eye

I am at least 10 days late in posting this, but the fact of the matter is that the last 10 days have been quite hectic both at home and at work. Ten days back, on 22nd September to be precise, my mother had her second cataract surgery. Second as in, she had one 2 years back on her left eye and this time, it was on her right eye.

The surgery went well and she has been recovering quite well. I was out of action at work last week and returned only this week. And I have been having quite a busy week because of some personnel issues in my team at the customer's location.

Coming back to the surgery, it was done at the same place she had it done last time - Rajan Eye Care Clinic. At many levels, the whole procedure was pretty much a replay of what happened 2 years back, though there were of course subtle differences. Like for instance, the "Live Relay" of the surgery. Last time around, we were asked to be seated in a common waiting room kind of place where there was one TV showing the surgery. This time around, there was a TV in the waiting room allotted to us and so, I was able to capture the surgery from the TV on to my phone!

The other big difference, was of course in the way I settled the fees for the procedure. I actually don't remember how I did it last time, but it sure wasn't cash. This time around, it was cash. And it was cash, because of reasons beyond my control.

In a long story short narration, here is what happened:
- the clinic did not accept credit card
- they accepted debit cards albeit with a 1.35% service charge!
- but there is a limit on how much can be swiped on a debit card
- the nearest Canara Bank did not seem particularly inclined to cater to my bank's card
- the same attitude was extended to my father's card
- the nearest bank of my branch had closed the ATM to refill the cash
- the bank employees asked me to check the nearest SBI ATM to get cash
- SBI ATM was friendly to the request from my father's card
- SBI ATM preferred to hold a different view with my card
- my bank employees, after my "demanding pleas" accepted to process a special cheq book request
- by then their ATM was up and running
- this ATM had no qualms in dispensing cash for a card of its own family

I have left out many points around my driving to different ATMs, the challenges in parking, the actual interactions with my bank employees and the overall tension I was under, for almost an hour.

It is still a pity that most businesses (Such Clinics are as business oriented as a regular Corporate or a Retail Store) still have some reservations in accepting credit cards. Some of them demand an additional 2% charge (in case you didn't know, the credit card banks pay only around 98% of the transaction amount to the merchant), but in some places like this Clinic, they just don't want to give their customers, such options.

Anyways, coming back to my mother, she's been taking rest for the last 10 days. She is under strict orders not to cook, walk, lift heavy objects etc. and keep wearing dark glasses while awake. While she is allowed to watch TV and even read, the dark glasses don't really compensate the eye power and hence she gets too bored quickly. She is an active person and is getting restless by the day. And that is one feeling that I am never going to experience - being restless because of taking too much rest. Added to this, is the fact that this clinic prescribes some eye drops to be administered every 2 hours!

She had her second review today and the cute Ophthalmologist who checked her, informed us that her eyes are getting better and they would work on her power test in 2 weeks' time. The frequency of administering the eye drops have also reduced, though we still have to continue it for another 4 weeks. My mother now doesn't have to wear the dark glasses and she can even take small walks around the house. And promptly this evening, she went to the kitchen and made some rasam and cabbage kari, during a 30 minute window when my father had stepped out of the house and I was busy in my room upstairs!

Anyways, I know what my next two posts are going to be. One, is about the traffic violation ticket I got on 30th September and the other is on Endhiran movie, that I am going to watch on the 3rd at 8 AM at Vetri theatre, Chrompet.