I just found out I have cataracts. I'm only 54!

[Texas Proud]

My wife had cataract surgery in both eyes, at age 28. Yes, 28, and with none of the typical risk factors mentioned earlier. The unfortunate part is back in 1984 the doctors refused to do implants on a person so young because they were not sure how that would work for a person that would have implants for 50 or 60 years.

Consequently, my wife had what I think was called a lensectomy which basically meant they removed the lens and all the tissue that would be needed to support an implant. She can never get implants now. She has to wear special contact lens, one for close vision, the other for distance. When she removes her lenses each night for cleaning, she has to wear those frog eye lens glasses.

No need for tears, some have it much worse.

Boy, how stupid can a doctor be

Say that he did the implant... and in 50 or 60 years she had a problem (now 78 to 88 yo).... they THEN could do what he did and take the whole thing out...

I wonder what some of these people think....

 

[FIRE'd@51]

Boy, how stupid can a doctor be

Say that he did the implant... and in 50 or 60 years she had a problem (now 78 to 88 yo).... they THEN could do what he did and take the whole thing out...

I wonder what some of these people think....

If the doctor hadn't removed the clouded lens with the cataract back then, wouldn't she have basically been blind for years, until the lens hardened enough to be removed with the normal procedure?

 

[Tom52]

Boy, how stupid can a doctor be

Say that he did the implant... and in 50 or 60 years she had a problem (now 78 to 88 yo).... they THEN could do what he did and take the whole thing out...

I wonder what some of these people think....

Thomas A. Weingeist, PhD, MD - Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, U I Health Care

The Doctor that we consulted with and that did the surgery is not stupid. He is the head of the Opthalmology department at the U of I and very well known. I wish my wife had not developed cataracts until in her 50s which she is now. Her life would be much simpler. We have to take to bad with the good, so we are thankful for what we have.

 

[Texas Proud]

If the doctor hadn't removed the clouded lens with the cataract back then, wouldn't she have basically been blind for years, until the lens hardened enough to be removed with the normal procedure?

The options were (IMO):

#1 Leave it as is and she be blind..

#2 Do a normal operation and insert in a lens like they do with 'old' people...

#3 Do what was done and make it impossible to have lenses inserted for life...


What was done was #3... you gave option #1... I am saying do #2 and IF complications occured 40, 50 or 60 years down the line then do option #3

 

[Texas Proud]

Thomas A. Weingeist, PhD, MD - Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, U I Health Care

The Doctor that we consulted with and that did the surgery is not stupid. He is the head of the Opthalmology department at the U of I and very well known. I wish my wife had not developed cataracts until in her 50s which she is now. Her life would be much simpler. We have to take to bad with the good, so we are thankful for what we have.

Doing what was done and basically causing your wife to live without any possiblity of having something to fix later is life just because it was ...

"The unfortunate part is back in 1984 the doctors refused to do implants on a person so young because they were not sure how that would work for a person that would have implants for 50 or 60 years.".

not done on a young person... so it was a decision made to not do it... not that it could not be done... a big distinction...

What would they do today? I do not know... maybe you do not either... but I would not accept someone saying 'we do not know, so we will do something much worse now' just does not cut it for me...

Back in '84, maybe I would not feel the same way... I have learned that there are a lot of doctors who are not that great... my sister is a nurse and I have heard many horror stories of patients almost being killed (or actually being killed) because of the mistake of a doctor... even well known doctors...

 

[FIRE'd@51]

The options were (IMO):

#1 Leave it as is and she be blind..

#2 Do a normal operation and insert in a lens like they do with 'old' people...

#3 Do what was done and make it impossible to have lenses inserted for life...


What was done was #3... you gave option #1... I am saying do #2 and IF complications occured 40, 50 or 60 years down the line then do option #3

What I meant was that they had to remove the lens with the cataract. It's my understanding that because the lens in a young person is still very soft (that's why a young person has the ability to accomodate), they couldn't remove it without taking out the supporting tissue like they can today. So #2 probably wasn't an option for a young person back then.

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

The options were (IMO):

#1 Leave it as is and she be blind..

#2 Do a normal operation and insert in a lens like they do with 'old' people...

#3 Do what was done and make it impossible to have lenses inserted for life...


What was done was #3... you gave option #1... I am saying do #2 and IF complications occured 40, 50 or 60 years down the line then do option #3

Tex, these can be very complex decisions dealing with current vision, future vision loss, technical issues such as scar tissue formation, long-term risks and benefits for different types of lenses and unforeseen technical advances in the future. I know next to nothing about all the technicalities of cataract surgery, let alone decades ago.

I don't think any of us can make simple judgments about what was done. In my experience it's a pretty safe bet that the surgeon did what he thought was best for the patient given the information and technology available.

 

[Bestwifeever]

My wife had cataract surgery in both eyes, at age 28. Yes, 28, and with none of the typical risk factors mentioned earlier. The unfortunate part is back in 1984 the doctors refused to do implants on a person so young because they were not sure how that would work for a person that would have implants for 50 or 60 years.

Consequently, my wife had what I think was called a lensectomy which basically meant they removed the lens and all the tissue that would be needed to support an implant. She can never get implants now. She has to wear special contact lens, one for close vision, the other for distance. When she removes her lenses each night for cleaning, she has to wear those frog eye lens glasses.

No need for tears, some have it much worse.

I wear hard contacts (gas perms), one for distance, one for close vision, and have coke-bottle glasses to wear when I take them out; I'm of course so happy that my vision can be corrected by them. Opthalmologist told me I'm not a candidate for Lasik as I'm so nearsighted, but maybe if/when I get diagnosed with cataracts they can slip in corrective lenses. Or maybe not. Oh well.

You have a great attitude--"no need for tears."

 

[Texas Proud]

What I meant was that they had to remove the lens with the cataract. It's my understanding that because the lens in a young person is still very soft (that's why a young person has the ability to accomodate), they couldn't remove it without taking out the supporting tissue like they can today. So #2 probably wasn't an option for a young person back then.

You could be right.... but I am responding to what was written... that they would not do the operation because they did not know what would happen many years later... if it was said and written... she is to young, there is NO way we can remove the cataract without removing the lens... I would have a different opinion..


Rich... think prostate operation... way back when they just hacked it out and the man was impotent... just because that was the way it was... and lots of men accepted that because the doctor said so...

but someone decided that some men still wanted sex and found a way around that problem... I do not know when it became 'known' that you could do the operation without the negative side effects... but my point would be... give ME the options and the reason why something is not as good as something else... I will decide...

Another example... a top notch eye surgeon that has wrote books on how to do lasik surgery was the guy I went to see... he said I was not a candidate.. so I asked about the insertable contacts... he said he could do blah blah blah.... and I was scheduling a time to get an operation... then I found out that he wanted to remove my lenses NOW and basically give me cataract surgery... not what I had requested... he had used the term 'clear lens replacement'... if I had not looked up what he was going to do I would be sitting here with no way of reversing what he did... now, it might have worked out just fine... but I was not told the truth of what was planned... I will not ever go to him again... because I do not trust him... he just wanted to do something to me...

The guy I currently go to said he has about the same vision I have, about the same age... and would never consider having a clear lens replacement done.... or recommending it be done to someone... so I call the first doctor 'stupid'... not the correct term because he is not stupid at all... just a stupid decision....