Better is the Enemy of Good

Recently, I heard the story of a patient. He has been happy with the outcome of his cataract surgery for years, but he has now seen someone else who got a special lens implant with their cataract surgery. He is envious of that outcome, and he is wondering if he can get his implant “swapped out” for the special one.

One of the big caveats here is that not all eyes are the same, so it’s really hard to compare from patient to patient. Another issue is that cataract surgery is a lot more practiced and refined a surgery than implant exchange. Therefore, not only may the surgery not go as planned, but, even if everything goes perfectly, the outcome may not achieve the same level of happiness for the patient.

In these situations, it is nice to remember that, sometimes, better is the enemy of good.