Sitting in a theater, I have been noticing for the past year or so that my hearing has been weakening. Weakening is not quite what has been happening; it is more like blurring. It’s not that the sound I hear is getting faint; words are losing clear contours. So, the lines spoken on the stage are getting hard to hear unless I am sitting close to the stage, perhaps within five or six rows. It is somewhat like seeing through a grime-covered glass; outlines are recognizable but details are lost. I have been noticing, too, that I am more often asking to repeat what the person I was conversing with was saying.
The very same phenomenon is happening with my eyesight. My ophthalmologist assured me that my sight is good and that I am free of cataract and glaucoma. Yet, even with my new glasses on, writings in the distance are blurred; and supertitles in the theater are sometimes hard to read. On the computer monitor, I can enlarge the text, and that is helpful. Reading printed books has become hard and slow Again, I easily misread words, and reading small types is painful. The hyphen often shows itself as an equal sign; a and s are interchangeable. Squinting the eyes used to sharpen the focus and make the text clearer; but now I see better if I open my eyes wide, as wide as possible, apparently so as to allow more light into the eyes. So, it makes sense that I see better under brighter light.
My memory is also getting blurry, especially the short-term memory, words and names, sometimes some simple words. All these blurs are expected at my age. I’m sure, approaching 84. I get sleepy a lot during the day; I often doze at the table after or even during my breakfast. My mind is then really blurry. I believe this has to do with the fact that my bedtime is normally 2:00 a.m. and I have habitually six hours of sleep. I don’t forget tasks and appointments. My hands don’t shake and my balance is good. My knees are firm though I wobble a little when I take a seat on a subway, and my gait is still secure. Most importantly, except when I am sleepy, my thinking is clear and alert. Thank heavens!
The very same phenomenon is happening with my eyesight. My ophthalmologist assured me that my sight is good and that I am free of cataract and glaucoma. Yet, even with my new glasses on, writings in the distance are blurred; and supertitles in the theater are sometimes hard to read. On the computer monitor, I can enlarge the text, and that is helpful. Reading printed books has become hard and slow Again, I easily misread words, and reading small types is painful. The hyphen often shows itself as an equal sign; a and s are interchangeable. Squinting the eyes used to sharpen the focus and make the text clearer; but now I see better if I open my eyes wide, as wide as possible, apparently so as to allow more light into the eyes. So, it makes sense that I see better under brighter light.
My memory is also getting blurry, especially the short-term memory, words and names, sometimes some simple words. All these blurs are expected at my age. I’m sure, approaching 84. I get sleepy a lot during the day; I often doze at the table after or even during my breakfast. My mind is then really blurry. I believe this has to do with the fact that my bedtime is normally 2:00 a.m. and I have habitually six hours of sleep. I don’t forget tasks and appointments. My hands don’t shake and my balance is good. My knees are firm though I wobble a little when I take a seat on a subway, and my gait is still secure. Most importantly, except when I am sleepy, my thinking is clear and alert. Thank heavens!
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