Fancy Colours

“Going where the orange sun has never died
And your swirling marble eyes shine
Laughing
Burning through the light
Bittersweet the drops of life
Memories only fading
Fancy Colours
Fancy Colours” – Robert Lamm (Chicago) – 1970

Five days after my corneal transplant and artificial lens surgery, and my vision continues to improve. The first 3 days of lying flat on my back staring at the ceiling all day were a bit of a drag. And when I got up, having no/poor vision in one eye gave me a bit of vertigo as I was walking around. I knew it was a routine procedure, but it was certainly a relief that first time I was able to see out of my refurbished eye. The doctor did tell me it would take about 5 days for the gas bubble to clear and for me to start seeing again from my new cornea and lens. Having limited vision in my post-surgery eye made it impossible for me to administer the 14 eye drops a day I require, since I couldn’t see the bottle and would constantly hit my face with the drops instead of my eye, but Eva came to my rescue, setting her alarm clock regularly and giving me my eyedrops throughout the day and night. Then things finally started to clear up a bit. I first noticed when I was laying on the sofa watching TV that I was seeing blobs of light which looked like jellyfish, and between the light tentacles of the jellyfish I could see a very clear TV picture. Yay! Then I closed one eye, and then the other eye, back and forth to compare eyes, and I made a wild discovery- colors looked different depending on which eye I was using. What looked like a pale blue with my old eye appeared as a deeper, darker blue with my new eye. I couldn’t stop blinking and comparing the colors. The samples below are the closest approximation to describe what I was seeing (although perhaps not quite this dramatic). This morning, I just had to go outside and to look at today’s beautiful blue sky, blinking my eyes back and forth to see the new bright fancy colors, and it reminded me right away of the Chicago song, “Fancy Colours” (see link below). Then this afternoon I went back out for a walk with Eva and I had to keep stopping and switching my eyes to enjoy all the colors and sharp details of everything I was seeing with my new eye- it was jaw-dropping. I felt like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz stepping into the technicolor Munchkin Land for the first time. I still have a way to go, but I’m progressing nicely and I already can’t wait to get eye #2 done. I may have to get one clear lens in my glasses in the short term, until I get the other eye done and things stabilize. The expectation when I’m done is my vision will be close to 20/20, but I may still need glasses for reading- time will tell. But I am certainly looking forward to seeing more fancy colors as I continue my journey in my golden years!

“Fancy Colours by Chicago is a deeply introspective and thought-provoking composition. It invites listeners to escape the confines of mundanity and immerse themselves in the extraordinary aspects of life. Through its rich imagery, it encourages us to open our senses, embrace the colors surrounding us, and fully appreciate the beauty that exists in our world.”