Cataract Surgery

[Dreamer]

Yeah! Glad to hear that it went so well. DH went for his follow-up with the doctor yesterday. His vision was 20/25 in that eye. They said it should continue to improve hopefully. Take it easy and rest!

 

[ejman]

Glad to hear all went well. My wife who used to wear really thick glasses all her life had the surgery on one eye 3 weeks ago and the other eye about 10 days ago. She can see distance just fine now without glasses. In fact it is really strange to see her walking around without glasses after all this time (been married 45 years).

 

[braumeister]

They dilate your pupil to the max for cataract procedures. Mine was first thing in the morning and it was still somewhat dilated when I went to sleep that night. This is the main cause of the blurriness.

On the bright side, you'll be amused at yourself when you realize how much calmer you'll feel when you go in for your second eye.

 

[aja8888]

great to hear the first one went well. DW had both done this year with no issues and can see much better. Now she has stopped running into immovable objects with her car!

 

[kaneohe]

Happy to hear you survived the first one w/ flying colors. When you finish w/ the 2nd and are admiring the lost wonders of your world in fine detail, here's one to add to your list:
the headlights of your car.........what color are the lenses? and do they also have............
cataracts? Just a new way of looking at the issue inspired by your recent thread. Perhaps they also contributed to the night driving issue? I just restored the ones on
DW's Camry with what is likely to be a temporary fix but DW says she can see much more of the road at night now.

 

[W2R]

They dilate your pupil to the max for cataract procedures. Mine was first thing in the morning and it was still somewhat dilated when I went to sleep that night. This is the main cause of the blurriness.

On the bright side, you'll be amused at yourself when you realize how much calmer you'll feel when you go in for your second eye.

Last night's 7 hours' sleep made a HUGE difference in the blurriness and I am utterly thrilled at how clearly I can see from that eye. I am no longer wondering if it was stupid to schedule getting the other eye done so soon (next Thursday), because I can see so well from the eye that had surgery yesterday.

And you're right - - I already feel SO much calmer about getting the second eye done, now. I can hardly wait!

This morning I see my surgeon for the first post-operative checkup. I think he is going to be as pleased as I am.

As for the difference in colors, it's amazing. It's as though I had been going around with the lights out and somebody turned on a light.

 

[W2R]

great to hear the first one went well. DW had both done this year with no issues and can see much better. Now she has stopped running into immovable objects with her car!

What a relief that must be. Maybe I'll actually see the stop signs in residential neighborhoods, now. Also I am hoping that I stop breaking my toes on the furniture, as I have done twice in the past six months! They are healed now and I don't need any more of that, for sure.

 

[W2R]

Happy to hear you survived the first one w/ flying colors. When you finish w/ the 2nd and are admiring the lost wonders of your world in fine detail, here's one to add to your list:
the headlights of your car.........what color are the lenses? and do they also have............
cataracts? Just a new way of looking at the issue inspired by your recent thread. Perhaps they also contributed to the night driving issue? I just restored the ones on
DW's Camry with what is likely to be a temporary fix but DW says she can see much more of the road at night now.

We have a business near my old house that fixes that problem with headlights. I don't think that is my issue, though - - I was very confused by the glare more than anything. Still, it's a good item to add to my task list so thanks.

This morning my vision has cleared up and I no longer have all that blur due to my eyes being so dilated! The difference is miraculous. In about two hours I have my first post-operative checkup with the surgeon. I am sure he will be as ecstatic as I am.

As for the colors, well, I feel like I have been wandering around in a world with the lights out, and somebody turned on the lights. I had forgotten what it was like to have young eyes, and now I have one again. Can't wait to get the other eye done next Thursday.

 

[Amethyst]

So very, very pleased for you!

On the subject of cars and cataracts: We just sold our 10-year-old car and got a new one. What a difference the windshield's non-glare coating makes! Also, the LED headlights! And the automatically-dimming mirrors! These things won't fix bad cataract issues that require surgery, but for small early cataracts, they are a miracle.

Amethyst

 

[W2R]

So very, very pleased for you!

Thank you!

My surgeon was pleased with the results so far as well. He checked for infection or other problems and found none. Also he pointed out that my eyes are still fairly dilated and that my vision will get even better once that wears off in another day or so. As Frank drove me to and from his office, I was having a ball reading street signs and so on. Lots of fun.

Even though my (still dilated) vision was just 20/40 without glasses, before surgery it was only correctable to 20/35 with glasses on - - so to me this amount of improvement is nearly miraculous. He expects considerably more improvement as the dilation wears off, and I am hoping for 20/20. Looking in the mirror, my left pupil still looks like a gigantic, yawning abyss. This is because they use super-powerful meds to dilate the eyes for surgery, compared with what they normally use to dilate eyes.

The brighter colors and whiter whites are subtle but amazing. I had assumed that the dull appearance of things (instead of bright and colorful) was just due to bad attitude and not due to a physical cause, but boy was I wrong.

The feeling of sand in the eye that bothers some people was very mild for me, only lasted a few hours and is now gone. Whew, dodged that bullet.

 

[MBAustin]

Great report, W2R! Hope # 2 goes just as well next week!

 

[tmm99]

Your result sounds great! All surgeries are scary, but your experience makes me want to get the surgery myself.


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[Accidental Retiree]

Thank you!

My surgeon was pleased with the results so far as well. He checked for infection or other problems and found none. Also he pointed out that my eyes are still fairly dilated and that my vision will get even better once that wears off in another day or so. As Frank drove me to and from his office, I was having a ball reading street signs and so on. Lots of fun.

Even though my (still dilated) vision was just 20/40 without glasses, before surgery it was only correctable to 20/35 with glasses on - - so to me this amount of improvement is nearly miraculous. He expects considerably more improvement as the dilation wears off, and I am hoping for 20/20. Looking in the mirror, my left pupil still looks like a gigantic, yawning abyss. This is because they use super-powerful meds to dilate the eyes for surgery, compared with what they normally use to dilate eyes.

The brighter colors and whiter whites are subtle but amazing. I had assumed that the dull appearance of things (instead of bright and colorful) was just due to bad attitude and not due to a physical cause, but boy was I wrong.

The feeling of sand in the eye that bothers some people was very mild for me, only lasted a few hours and is now gone. Whew, dodged that bullet.

My husband had an eye exam today and learned he has cataracts starting to form.
It was wonderful to be able to cite your excellent results to him; I think it allayed his worries somewhat.

Thanks for sharing your experience with us.


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[W2R]

Your result sounds great! All surgeries are scary, but your experience makes me want to get the surgery myself.

If you really need it to see, then I'd recommend it. The first surgery scared the heck out of me, as you can tell from my earlier posts in this thread. Surgery on the second eye is going to be a piece of cake, because I know what I am getting into and because my first eye came out so nicely. Eyes are nice that way, in that we have a spare and my spare is in great shape.

Now, I am eager to get the second surgery which is on Thursday. Right now, F and I can't seem to get the left lens out of my insanely expensive glasses frame. He says the screw was stripped when they put my present lens in. Oh lovely. So, I will be going "glasses free" all week.

Then for the rest of my life, I am hoping/assuming I'll continue to be "glasses free" except for cheap drugstore readers. This will be wonderful because in New Orleans, we are constantly going from highly air conditioned indoor environments into extremely high humidity and heat outside, so glasses fog up a lot.

 

[rodi]

This thread makes me want to get cataract surgery even though I don't think I have cataracts.... corrected vision, brighter colors... It all sounds wonderful to me.

 

[W2R]

My husband had an eye exam today and learned he has cataracts starting to form.
It was wonderful to be able to cite your excellent results to him; I think it allayed his worries somewhat.

Thanks for sharing your experience with us.

Oh good! I hope that if/when he needs to get them removed, his experiences are as good as mine have been so far.

My optometrist first told me about my cataracts probably about 10 years ago, so he may possibly have some time. At first I didn't want the surgery but my vision got so bad that I didn't have any choice.

 

[W2R]

Great report, W2R! Hope # 2 goes just as well next week!

Thank you! Me too.

This thread makes me want to get cataract surgery even though I don't think I have cataracts.... corrected vision, brighter colors... It all sounds wonderful to me.

It is, once it's over. But beforehand? Not so ideal. I have seldom if ever been so scared in my whole life. It's awful being wheeled into surgery knowing that someone is going to disintegrate your lens, pluck/vacuum the pieces of disintegrated lens right out of your eye, and insert a plastic thingie into your eyeball instead, and somehow try to get it oriented correctly, and then somehow keep everything intact and not leaking eyeball fluids all over (how is that done? I'll have to look that up). Anyway it will cure you of any immediate desire to do anything other than run in the opposite direction.

Thank goodness the Versed anesthetic calmed me down enough that I didn't. Since Medicare and BCBS are footing the bill, now I feel like I not only got new eyes for free, but also something similar to free LASIK since hopefully I won't need glasses any more.

 

[powerplay]

Congratulations W2R! It sounds like everything is going very well. Enjoy your new view of the world and get out there and enjoy it.

 

[braumeister]

disintegrate your lens, pluck/vacuum the pieces of disintegrated lens right out of your eye, and insert a plastic thingie into your eyeball instead, and somehow try to get it oriented correctly, and then somehow keep everything intact and not leaking eyeball fluids all over (how is that done? I'll have to look that up).

FWIW, the incision made in your eye is very tiny -- only about a millimeter. The new lens is folded up like a taco and inserted that way. Once it's in the capsule, it unfolds to its normal configuration.

When we were on a cruise a couple of years ago, we met a guy who had invented and designed many of the instruments used in modern eye surgery. He had a long list of patents for them. Fascinating stuff.

 

[W2R]

Congratulations W2R! It sounds like everything is going very well. Enjoy your new view of the world and get out there and enjoy it.

Thanks! I will, within the rather strict confines of doctor's orders. Which means lots of couch potato time this week, but F did drive me around in the car today and I loved reading the street signs with my "new eye".

FWIW, the incision made in your eye is very tiny -- only about a millimeter. The new lens is folded up like a taco and inserted that way. Once it's in the capsule, it unfolds to its normal configuration.

That's true - - I haven't even been able to see the incision, although I haven't really looked for it except briefly. And what if the taco unfolds the wrong way? In my mind's eye, I imagine the surgeon practicing with folded lens-tacos and artificial eyeball-like practice units, to make sure the lens would unfold the right way if inserted just *thus*. I still wonder why my eye isn't leaking, but maybe the eye fluids are too thick for that to be a problem. (Yes, I was a horrible child, too many questions!)

When we were on a cruise a couple of years ago, we met a guy who had invented and designed many of the instruments used in modern eye surgery. He had a long list of patents for them. Fascinating stuff.

I hope you thanked him! I wonder sometimes if people who design life-changing instruments like that can even begin to grasp the huge ultimate impact of their life's work on so many people.

 

[MichaelB]

The brighter colors and whiter whites are subtle but amazing. I had assumed that the dull appearance of things (instead of bright and colorful) was just due to bad attitude and not due to a physical cause, but boy was I wrong.

It is pretty amazing. The cataract grows so slowly we aren't aware of it's effect until it's removed. It's like a dirty screen on a window.

 

[W2R]

It is pretty amazing. The cataract grows so slowly we aren't aware of it's effect until it's removed. It's like a dirty screen on a window.

I like that analogy! That's exactly what it is like.

The colors I am now seeing are not drastically different, but still they are the beautiful, bright colors we all saw at five years old. I remember back then. At five years old, the question "What is your favorite color?" was actually interesting because the colors were so bright and beautiful.

My vision in my "new eye" is even better this morning than it was yesterday morning. I couldn't be more thrilled and can't wait to get the other eye done. Meanwhile, I am just going without glasses. F and I tried to remove the left lens from my glasses, but apparently the screw that loosens it is stripped. It's only 5 more days. I am going to let him do all the driving until both eyes are completely functional, instead of driving myself, for safety's sake.

 

[Likes_to_Lurk]

W2R, I'm glad both you and your surgeon are happy with your "new eye".

When I had my first cataract removed, I went without my glasses for distance after a day or two. I found that I could navigate fairly well. I was so thrilled that I could go without glasses!

You may find that after dilation and swelling improve, you will see better and that the cataract-free eye will be enough to eliminate the need for glasses for distance. Your brain will figure out how to process the images from both eyes.

 

[Amethyst]

Good grief.The part about "no taxi" is just ridiculous. What do people do, who don't have a partner handy and aren't the type to "approach" neighbors or don't have approachable neighbors? Do they have to pay to hire a driver for a whole day?

No way! I needed a driver. Not only that, the surgical center would not even do the surgery unless I had a driver sitting there waiting to drive me home. They wouldn't even allow a taxi.

 

[Likes_to_Lurk]

Good grief.The part about "no taxi" is just ridiculous. What do people do, who don't have a partner handy and aren't the type to "approach" neighbors or don't have approachable neighbors? Do they have to pay to hire a driver for a whole day?

This was my situation. (Friends are still w*rking.) I had to hire a home health aide to meet me at the hospital and escort me home. Since I live in NYC and don't have a car, the aide helped me get a taxi home. For both surgeries, the aide had to accompany me into my building or apartment. As part of the pre-op preparation at the hospital, the nurse wrote down the name of the agency and the person who would be meeting me. They don't fool around with this. I had to pay $65 (4 hour minimum), plus cab fare. I was able to take the expense as a medical deduction on my taxes, so that reduced the pain a bit!