From an old man’s perspective, things that are ordinary and unremarkable, often become an occasion to contemplate and speculate. I had such an experience recently in my appointment with my opthalmologist.
When you have diabetes, your vision is vulnerable to its effects and so regular check ups are necessary. I was pleased with my report, no indications of deterioration . There is one troubling issue unrelated to diabetes but common in older persons… sagging skin, in my case my eyelids (not my only sagging skin problem but the one effecting my vision)
It is pretty obvious that my vision is impeded by the sagging eyelid. I notice it particularly when I am reading and it gets worse as the day goes on. Older readers will understand how skin sags more as the day goes on. (I only look in the mirror naked early mornings.) This is not a new problem but it is getting worse. There is a surgical solution for my condition. The doctor and I have discussed this before and it it’s a matter of deciding if and when to have the procedure. No problem.
As we discussed the procedure and the condition, she says, “It is really nothing more than excess skin.”
At that point my old man brain kicks in and I say, “So, it’s kind of like circumcision?”
Doctor chuckles, “Well I’ve never heard it described that way.”
To which, I reply, “Looks like I am coming full circle, 78 years later.”
Realizing the conversation is running off the rails, my old man brain turns to alternative solutions to the surgical procedure.
“Maybe you could just suture my eyelid to the my brow?”
“That would be risky, not any flexibility.”
Undaunted I suggest, “How about an eyebrow ring? That would work and it would be a great conversation piece.”
Doctor is losing interest and has patients waiting, but I persist.
“So what about tape?”
Dr, “yes that could probably help but it might be inconvenient.”
I am thinking, “Yeah, better than circumcision.”
As you can see the tape isn’t all that effective and it doesn’t have the gravitas of an eyebrow ring. Apparently there is circumcision for me in the near future..ok, it is blepharoplasty, not circumcision but…
So later I’m sharing this story with a friend, Alter making my case for the procedure being a circumcision, He muses for a few moments and asks, “So, would that make you a dickhead?”
Still on the journey.