A woman left blind for 15 years has finally regained her sight after a life-changing operation.

Doctors believed 59-year-old Connie had glaucoma when she rapidly began to lose her eyesight over a decade ago. But then an ophthalmologist diagnosed cataracts in 2018—one of the most common and treatable adult vision issues.

Connie, who lives in Colorado, began noticing halos and prisms on lights while driving in 2003 and went to a doctor who told her she had glaucoma. Three weeks later she lost even more sight and peripheral vision.

Doctors believed her vision was inoperable. She went blind. Determined not to let her condition stop her, Connie continued doing things she had loved before—such as ice skating, kayaking, camping, and attending sporting events and concerts.

"I was so happy to be in the nosebleeds screaming my lungs out and not seeing anything," she said.

"I just lived life as much as I possibly could the way I did before I lost my sight."

Still, she found some things difficult to adjust to.

"I wasn't really sure to how to use a cane and I would keep walking into bushes," she said. "I had to have somebody with me when I cooked to make sure the food looked okay. I couldn't vacuum and had to sweep in a pattern."

Then, three years ago, she got the surgery that changed everything about her life.

On November 12th, her right eye was operated on.

"When they took my patch off the next day the first thing I saw was the nurse's eyebrow, eyelashes, and pupil and I started crying," Connie said. "She had me read an eye chart and the first line I read was 20/20.

"I had the second eye done and right after Thanksgiving, I was seeing 20/20 out of both eyes."

Connie's guide dog Talulah Mae now acts as a regular, much loved dog. He also has a job as a unit clerk with UCHealth.

She has been able to see her eldest grandchild for the first time since she was an infant, and her other eight grandkids for the first time ever.

"The eldest doesn't look anything like she looked when she was three weeks old," Connie joked.

Then there's the unfolding beauties of nature to see and behold once again.

"I got to watch all the flowers bud and the trees grow leaves," she said, delighted.

"People think it's tedious to watch grass grow, but when you haven't seen a blade of grass in years, you watch the grass grow."

Of seeing her husband once again? Connie says: "He's still the most handsome man ever and I'm still completely in love with him."

Now, she's excited to retake the vacations the couple had been on when she was blind.

"He took me to the Oregon coast, Yellowstone, and all through the Rockies. Now I just want to go experience it again," she said.

"Well, I want to go see it."

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