I'll be getting cataract surgery soon

[captain queeg]

Just saw my eye doctor and got new glasses. I lost my old ones and the doc said I should just stick with my current prescription till after I have cataract surgery. Appointment with the eye surgeon is in a couple weeks.

I’ve been wearing reading glasses for some time already and that doesn’t really bother me much. But driving at night or in the rain has gotten difficult. My glasses always seem dirty even after cleaning. I have a hard time with shadows and thus depth perception and the doc said the surgery ought to fix that. I have high hopes that there will be noticeable improvement, but when I talk to those who have had the surgery so of the symptoms they describe don’t really match my experience. Anyone had the surgery and gotten noticeable improvement?

[snowybirdie]

1. Yes, both of us

Our vision was markedly better without glasses. We've worn glasses since childhood. Hubby and I both need readers for up close stuff, but not for day to day vision and driving. He got the standard Medicare paid operation. I got the more expensive laser type. No real difference in outcome. Good Luck!

[rzemanfl]

2. I had one eye done. I got the basic lens that didn't cost me anything out of pocket.

You will be thrilled. My problem is the other eye is not ready for surgery yet. The next day I was 20/20 in the eye that was operated on.

I am on prostate meds and because of them had to be dilated for a day or two before surgery, which was sort of a pain.

[Meadowoak]

3. Yes, it's amazing, colors will be so vibrant and bright, I didn't

Even need glasses anymore after surgery. Best thing I ever did, totally painless and only takes 20 minutes. They only do one eye then you have to wait 2 weeks to do the other.

[MOMFUDSKI]

13. After my cataract surgery

the first time I poured DOWNY into my washing machine dispenser I was blown away by the BLUE color! Doc said the first thing to go are blues as your lens gets yellower/browner. That dulls the blues the most. You will love it.

[Eliot Rosewater]

4. I paid for the laser surgery version and got this

https://www.webmd.com/eye-health/cataracts/intraocular-lens-implant


Because I had stigmatisms and cataracts I chose to spend money and get new eyes, so to speak.

If you are willing to pay around $2500 per eye, you can get new lenses as if new eyes!

Medicare pays for cataract surgery if you do it the old fashioned way, not laser. I am very glad I did both.

[Joinfortmill]

5. Yup, let there be light.

I didn't notice much until I had difficulty driving at night. The oncoming car lights blinded me. Very scary. They did one eye at a time. The difference was amazing. I'd been looking at the world thru a haze of yellowish tinge. That was in 2017. No issues. I had the simplest lens put in. No fancy stuff. Still wear my specs. No issue there. My son-in-law had some fancy new lens put in - nothing but trouble. Best of luck.

[LakeArenal]

6. Of course there's improvement.

Cataract surgery is one of the most common and successful surgeries there is.

[Tumbulu]

7. Absolutely life changing amazing!

I was severely myopic- could not even see my hands without glasses. Now I only need glasses for distance. I chose single vision lenses that allow me to see close up without glasses. And then have this sort of nothing prescription for distance. Less than -3 diopters each eye. Wow, what a difference!

I got so used to not driving at night, that I forget that I actually can do it now.

I was scared of the whole thing and let the cataracts get so bad that they had to do both eyes on the same day. Which was rough.

But utterly worth it.

For years I just stared at everything. I had no idea that the cataracts had removed so much of my vision.

[Grumpy Old Guy]

8. You will love it!

My night vision was terrible prior to surgery, and I couldn't read freeway signs. After surgery my vision went from 20/400 to 20/20 or 20/30. Everything is brighter now. I have one pair of glasses with a mild prescription for driving & watching TV, and a pair of reading glasses. You will be very happy with the results.

[samnsara]

9. i had one eye done and the difference between the two eyes was I was able to see

the color white!!! It was so amazing that my other eye was seeing a cream color. I immediately scheduled my second eye to be done. Good luck.. they give you good drugs ( however the full effect is only felt during the first surgery) and the drops are no big deal.

I do have some large floaters that I didnt have before. I also had them correct for far sighted as thats what they suggested. I see no difference however.

[Chainfire]

10. You do not know what you have lost over time until you get it all back.

It is a good thing, it is quick, easy, and with minimal discomfort afterwards.

Don't watch videos of the operation before you have it! It looks awful, but it is not.

I would recommend that you do what I failed to do. Get the premium lenses or you will still be wearing glasses either to read or drive. Before I had mine, I could read small print fine but had a hard time driving at night. Now I have to have glasses to read, but I can drive fine. I shouldn't have been a tightwad and sprung for the few thousand extra dollars that insurance wouldn't cover.

Don't fret over the procedure, it is a piece of cake. My wife and I have had both eyes done.

[keithbvadu2]

11. Cataracts pt 1

I watched Patty's right eye cataract surgery on 17 Dec. 2013
(I had both of mine done earlier this year.) They had a small viewing room slightly above the operating room and a window to look in. Couldn't see a thing; too many people around the table. Instead, they had it on a flat screen tv. A giant eyeball with some clamps holding the eyelids open. It had to be the same view the doctor was seeing.
They cut two tiny slits at the bottom and left side of the eye. The LPN said about point two millimeters (maybe it was two mm). Then they put a metal probe in there (sometimes two) with a rounded tip.
Then they smooshed around the organic lens and broke it up into pieces. It had covered the whole eye. They inserted a small (everything is small) hollow tip in there and vacuumed out the pieces of lens until the eye was clear of debris.
Then they inserted a flat, wide probe that had the new synthetic lens. It looked like a vacuum cleaner wand that's wide and thin.
The synthetic lens was folded over like a tortilla shell folded into the center from both left and right.
As soon as it was pushed out of the wand, it started to unfold into a circle.
The doctor used the rounded tip probe to guide it into place and help it unfold.
It does not cover the entire eye like the organic lens did.
He said the pressure of the eye holds it in place.
When I had mine done, the doctor said he put one in that had a focal point of about an arm's reach.
It doesn't take long at all. Some say eight to fifteen minutes.
My first one didn't take long but the second one seemed to drag and I was impatient/anxious for it to be over with. Don't know what made me feel that way.
They numb your eye with some drops and liquids.
One of them burns. You're not too keen on that one.
My anesthesiologist said that they gave me about two beers worth of anesthetic but I couldn't even notice it.
The patient cannot see diddly.
You cannot feel what they are doing and all you see are some bright lights looking down at you.
The place Patty went to did about 33 or 35 cataract surgeries that day. Big bucks for the partners that day.
Plus she had a laser procedure to help fix/lessen astigmatism. That did not take very long either.
She said it gave a little burn feeling in the eye.
It also gave a $1,400 burn feeling in the wallet.
The 'even better' laser procedure would have cost $3,900.
The laser was optional so Medicare does not cover it, of course.
She can tell that her vision is better and the astigmatism is better for the right eye.
Might or might not have the left eye done in six months or so.
.
We get touchy and protective about someone fiddling with our eyes.
.
Just plain FANTASTIC, AWESOME, INCREDIBLE that they can do such things and it's now routine.

[gibraltar72]

12. Yes and yes.

Could not believe it, first time in my life since age 9 I could see without glasses. Colors so vivid didn't know what I was missing. They neglected to tell me to take lens out of my glasses on side done first. First 12 hours I was feeling like it was worse not better. And then the lightbulb came on.

[captain queeg]

14. Wow, thanks everyone

I've had a few surgeries, and this is the first time I actually am looking forward to it. I had perfect vision for many years. The deterioration has been slow but steady. I've been afraid to ride my bike for the last year, and I avoid driving under certain conditions. I can' wait to be able to see again.

[msdogi]

15. Modern medicine is amazing

I had been wearing contacts for 55 years, extremely nearsighted. I chose to have that corrected, still wear reading glasses.
I am now 20/20 and it's wonderful!

[keithbvadu2]

16. Cataracts pt 2

patty's second cataract surgery

done on thursday may 08.

came out fine, maybe even better than the first.

she noticed a tremendous improvement the next day.

i watched this one also.
the doctor had to work a little harder on this one.
the cataract was a bit more developed and tougher to break up than the first.

i learned a new tidbit of knowledge about the operation.
the doctor is barefoot.
he sits on a special stool which does not look so special,,, after all, a stool is just something to sit on, right?

the stool has foot pedals. At least two pedals for water and suction and probably a third pedal to push the new, synthetic lens out of the wand into the eye.

he has to use his hands/fingers to control/position the various probes into and around the eye under the outer layer.
if he had to use his thumb or other fingers to control water and suction, the action of the finger movement would also cause the probe to wander.
NOT a place you want a lot of uncontrolled movement!

she says it still came out great and is now only wearing glasses for up-close reading.
she was seeing 20/20 out of the left eye the day after surgery.

this time, she did not have the laser surgery for the astigmatism.
that would have been out of pocket, just like last time.

when she declined the extra laser surgery, the heavy guns sales pressure kicked in.
not quite called foolish but leaning towards it and 'you really should have it done'.

will get an eye exam in about a month for a real prescription but doesn't look like it will be very strong.

coming out great so far!
.
(added later) ---- it seems that the second eye was a little bit tougher because she did not
have the laser treatment done.

[captain queeg]

17. One thing I forgot to ask. Do you need someone to drive you?

From what people have said that appears to be the case, for the surgery. How quickly are you are able to drive yourself, no need for assistance?