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Cataract Surgery, Anything you wish you knew beforehand? Login/Join 
non ducor, duco
Picture of Nickelsig229
posted
I have been steadily having problems with bright light and clarity of vision and even getting new prescription glasses, while some what clearer view, was not as sharp as I was hoping for.

My doctor mentioned cataract screening over a year ago but I put it off. This time around, 2 months ago, she suggested it might be the reason why I'm having a hard time on bright days, and night driving.

I went to my retinal specialist for my yearly check up, (had vitroectomy in both eyes) and he told me He see's the cataracts and that while it's my choice to make, that he would do it for himself at this point.

So I've located a reputable doctor and visited him. His staff was thorough and I'm confident he will take care of me, still the fear of messing with my vision is high on my "do not make a mistake" list.

So my question to the forum is...

What do you wish you knew about cataract surgery before having it done and what do you think of it after having it done.

Thanks.




First In Last Out
 
Posts: 4787 | Location: CT | Registered: October 15, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Happiness is
Vectored Thrust
Picture of mojojojo
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I've not had cataract surgery but my previous role was administrator for a large ophthalmology practice where our surgeons did a lot of cataract surgeries.

Technology has come a very long way in a short period of time in this field, and while there are some doctors still doing the surgery literally by hand, a lot of them have made the switch to laser surgery. It is MUCH more accurate, faster, and has better long term results for most patients. Will you be having laser surgery?

Also, be sure you have a good understanding of the lenses you select and that are being placed. Not all are created equal and there are varying types and the costs between them can be significant.

Good luck with your surgery!



Icarus flew too close to the sun, but at least he flew.
 
Posts: 6705 | Location: North Carolina | Registered: April 30, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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I was near-sighted for years before my cataract surgery gave me 20-20 distance vision. I still use glasses for reading but I love not having to wear bi-focals. The above advice is very good as there are several lens choices depending on your situation. Medicare paid for the basic lens. I chose not to pay out of pocket for a lens that also would have eliminated the reading glasses. Surgery was painless and recuperation was immediate. You will be happy with the result. Good luck.
 
Posts: 2559 | Location: Central Virginia | Registered: July 20, 2015Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of lastmanstanding
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A optometrist diagnosed a catarac in my right eye back in June when I went in for a eye test for new glasses. I knew the surgery for it was elective so I told her I would schedule a appointment and would check with my insurance first. That wasn't good enough she made an appointment for me with some doc she is hooked up with even after I insisted I would handle it myself.

Obviously she's getting a kick back for her referrals and it pissed me off the way she shoved it down my throat. I didn't go to the appointment she set up and I haven't made my own yet. I see well enough with my glasses and reading is no problem. Can I tie a fishing line on a moving boat or in the shadows sitting in a ice fishing shack hell no but I'm functioning just fine for 99% of everything else.

I plan on having it done but it will be on my own time and with insurance pre approval.


"Fixed fortifications are monuments to mans stupidity" - George S. Patton
 
Posts: 8505 | Location: Minnesota | Registered: June 17, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of John Steed
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My cataracts had gotten so bad I was having trouble recognizing faces. I had one eye done then the other about a month later. No problems. The change is like a miracle. You will be glad you did it.

The biggest problem was fussing with the eye drops afterwards, if you want to call that a problem. I just had to be a big boy and do it. Smile



... stirred anti-clockwise.
 
Posts: 2057 | Location: Michigan | Registered: May 24, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Too old to run,
too mean to quit!
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I had cataracts in both eyes. Vision got so bad that trying to drive at night was a real PIA.

Did some research and found a good eye surgeon.

In my case the cataracts were in the cornea, which resulted in both of them being partially replaced. The inner layer of the cornea (epithelium?) were slowly dying.

I now do 99% of my activities without glasses, can see very well at night. I can read without reading glasses, but it is easier if I use the glasses.

In short, I would do it again, in a heart beat.


Elk

There has never been an occasion where a people gave up their weapons in the interest of peace that didn't end in their massacre. (Louis L'Amour)

"To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful and tyrannical. "
-Thomas Jefferson

"America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great." Alexis de Tocqueville

FBHO!!!



The Idaho Elk Hunter
 
Posts: 25640 | Location: Virginia | Registered: December 16, 2001Reply With QuoteReport This Post
non ducor, duco
Picture of Nickelsig229
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It will be laser and take aprox 15 min zero recuperation he said.

My insurance is covering lenses that will allow me to see distance and I will most likely need reading glasses.

I am not sure if he doesn't want to do special lenses so I wont need glasses to read because of my retinopathy surgeries or if he just assumed I didn't want to pay out of pocket for upgrades. Ill have to ask him when i go for measurements.




First In Last Out
 
Posts: 4787 | Location: CT | Registered: October 15, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
A teetotaling
beer aficionado
Picture of NavyGuy
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What do I wish I knew beforehand?

How really easy and pain free the process is (for me at least) and what a hugh difference the results made to my eye sight and my daily life in general.

I worried quite a bit before hand thinking about the process of envading my eyes, but pff, piece of cake.



Men fight for liberty and win it with hard knocks. Their children, brought up easy, let it slip away again, poor fools. And their grandchildren are once more slaves.

-D.H. Lawrence
 
Posts: 11524 | Location: Fort Worth, Texas | Registered: February 07, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Conveniently located directly
above the center of the Earth
Picture of signewt
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quote:
What do you wish you knew about cataract surgery before having it done and what do you think of it after having it done.


I wasted a good decade to service my fears and anxiety. Pain free, about 20 minute procedure on each side, about a month apart. Why oh why did I wait so long????

I could have studies at greater length the lens options, yet following my surgeon's recommendations I've had no actual clinically significant issues. I do wear bifocals to read.

Great results in spite of hard head.

Good luck on your procedure.


**************~~~~~~~~~~
"I've been on this rock too long to bother with these liars any more."
~SIGforum advisor~
"When the pain of staying the same outweighs the pain of change, then change will come."~~sigmonkey

 
Posts: 9849 | Location: sunny Orygun | Registered: September 27, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of mcrimm
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My advice, having had cataract surgery done in July, is to run, as fast as you can, to your ophthalmologist and have this done before noon.

Seriously, I was 20/400+ in both eyes with astigmatism in each. My vision was fuzzy but correctable to 20/25. I wore toric contacts for years and years and was satisfied.

My optometrist suggested I have the surgery. I had always had mono-vision with +2 diopters added to my left eye.

I had my eyes done 2 weeks apart. The surgery took about 10 minutes and I did not take the valium recommended. It was not at all uncomfortable - just unusual. 24 hours after each procedure, the new eye was clear and colors really jumped out.

I do use reading glasses now but I am corrected to 20/15 in my right (distance) eye. My vision is absolutely excellent - except for the need for readers.

Medicare paid for all but the toric lenses. That was $3,000 out of pocket. Readers are 3 for $10 at Costco.

At 5 months post surgery I am still amazed at the acuity of my distance vision. Yesterday, while gazing out at the Gulf, I pointed out 4 fishing boats on the horizon to my wife. She called BS on me cause she couldn't even see a dot let alone a boat.

Get it done.
Mike



I'm sorry if I hurt you feelings when I called you stupid - I thought you already knew - Unknown
...................................
When you have no future, you live in the past. " Sycamore Row" by John Grisham
 
Posts: 4216 | Location: Saddlebrooke, Arizona | Registered: December 24, 2013Reply With QuoteReport This Post
אַרְיֵה
Picture of V-Tail
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I had been wearing glasses since I was five years old. More than 75 years of wearing glasses. Couple years ago I realized that my vision with my tri-focal glasses was no longer as good as it should have been, so I decided to check with a practice that does LASIK.

I got to spend all of 45 seconds or so with the doc, who quickly told me he had good news and bad news.

Bad news: Cataracts, so LASIK was not the answer.

Good news: While my insurance would not have covered LASIK, it does cover cataracts and basic lens implant (IOL).

This practice did not do cataract procedures. There is a huge eye practice in Central Florida that does nothing but cataract, LASIK, etc., so I went there to have it done.

Several options:
  1. Manual surgery by the ophthalmologist who has done thousands of these, and could probably do it in his sleep. This is totally covered by my insurance (Medicare) other than a few incidentals, amounting to around a hundred bucks.

  2. Laser surgery. There is a significant upcharge for this.

  3. Single vision lens implants. Choose correction for distant vision, near vision (reading etc.), or one of each, one eye corrected for distant, the other eye corrected for near. Completely covered by insurance.

  4. Multi-focal lens implants. A few options here, basically ran around five thousand for both eyes.
I went with the no-extra-charge options, and opted for distant correction in both eyes.

The actual procedure was pretty straight forward. I refused the offer of Valium, as I don’t do well with sedatives, tranquilizers, etc. The only “drug” that was used, was eye drops, to numb the eye. I was assured that I would not feel any pain with the numbing drops, the Valium was just to ease anxiety. Of course, not knowing what to expect, my anxiety level was off the chart — my blood pressure prior to the procedure was 207 / 92.

The actual procedure was pretty much a non-event. Patients were queued up in the pre-op area, and wheeled into the OR when it was their turn. Ten minutes in the OR, and the first eye was done. Absolutely no pain. None at all. It did feel a bit weird to have the pressure, it felt a bit like pulling and pushing. The most uncomfortable thing was having to keep my eye open to stare into a bright light.

Recovery was very fast, much faster than I had expected. The next morning I was astounded by how bright colors were, that were previously sort of washed out, and how white things were so much brighter.

Post-op care was eye drops that were a mix of anti-bacterial, steroid, and maybe some other stuff. Four times a day for the firs week, then three times a day, etc. They gave me a shield to wear at night, sort of a pirate thing, so I would not rub at the eye while I slept.

That was it! The whole deal. Easy-peasy.

The second eye, done two weeks later, was even easier, because I knew what to expect, so my anxiety level and blood pressure were both much lower. This time, I had a couple of rubber miniature football squeezy things in my pocket, that I squeezed during the surgery, to work off some of the tension.
About a year later when I went back for the follow-up exam, I mentioned that I thought my vision had gradually degraded a bit during the year following the cataract removal. The exam revealed that a hazy sort of film had developed on the back side of the lens. This does happen in a fair percentage of patients.

The cure for this is simple: The ophthalmologist used a laser to burn a hole through the film. The procedure took less than one minute per eye, totally painless other than the discomfort of once again having to keep my eyes open and stare into a really bright light, but it was over quickly. Very simple, no post-op care at all, my vision was restored, and they told me that this is a one-time thing and the hazy film will not recur.

I still wear multi-focal (bifocal or trifocal) glasses, but my distant vision is good enough to pass both driving and aviation requirements without glasses! I can walk around, drive, fly, without glasses if I want to, and use glasses only for desk work and reading. I can even do desk work without glasses, but it’s just easier to use them.

Bottom line: If I had to do it all over again, I would, and I would choose the same options that I did: manual surgery and distant correction lenses, both of which are no upcharge, fully paid by insurance.

Go and have it done, be thou not afraid. If you have a choice, pick a practice that does huge numbers of this procedure, they will be efficient.



הרחפת שלי מלאה בצלופחים
 
Posts: 30546 | Location: Central Florida, Orlando area | Registered: January 03, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
teacher of history
Picture of maxwayne
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I will somewhat second what V-Tail said. I had it done 8 years or so ago and it was a miracle. I had worn glasses since I was 9. Each eye only took a few seconds.

I had to go back a year later for the laser hole to fix things up and it took about a second or so.

I see great now and wear glasses only to read in dim light. I shoot much better.

Do find a doctor who does a lot of these procedures and I paid extra for the special lenses and am glad I did.
 
Posts: 5610 | Location: Central Illinois | Registered: March 04, 2001Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Ammoholic
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I had both eyes done 3 years ago and echo everyone’s positive experience. Since my natural lenses have now been replaced with polymer targeting distance vision, I can no longer focus at short distances. I’ve become quite familiar with cheap readers and red dot sights.

Go for it!



NRA Patron Member, Instructor and CRSO
NC CCH Instructor
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Posts: 1832 | Registered: April 21, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Baroque Bloke
Picture of Pipe Smoker
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I could benefit from cataract surgery. But my current vision is acceptable, so I’m holding off for advancements of accommodating IOL technology. Some interesting new ones are awaiting FDA approval The NuLens and FluidVision IOLs look especially promising.

https://ois.net/a-look-at-premium-iols/



Serious about crackers
 
Posts: 8856 | Location: San Diego | Registered: July 26, 2014Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Too soon old,
too late smart
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This forum is a really good resource. Thanks for the posts.
 
Posts: 4757 | Location: Southern Texas | Registered: May 17, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Too old to run,
too mean to quit!
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by Nickelsig229:
It will be laser and take aprox 15 min zero recuperation he said.

My insurance is covering lenses that will allow me to see distance and I will most likely need reading glasses.

I am not sure if he doesn't want to do special lenses so I wont need glasses to read because of my retinopathy surgeries or if he just assumed I didn't want to pay out of pocket for upgrades. Ill have to ask him when i go for measurements.


Mine was a transplant of the inner layer of the cornea. No laser stuff. Post surgery recovery was pretty short and easy. Lay on my back keeping my head still, looking straight up. That allowed an air bubble he injected into my eyes to hold that inner layer in place until it bonded. Took about half an hour, but wife was driving us home, so no problem. I just laid down on the back seat. Painless. Just had to use medicine eye drops for a while after the surgery.


Elk

There has never been an occasion where a people gave up their weapons in the interest of peace that didn't end in their massacre. (Louis L'Amour)

"To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful and tyrannical. "
-Thomas Jefferson

"America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great." Alexis de Tocqueville

FBHO!!!



The Idaho Elk Hunter
 
Posts: 25640 | Location: Virginia | Registered: December 16, 2001Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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What was the reason for the prior vitrectomy? 6 months after Cataract surgery, I lost the retina and macula from the dominant eye over a weekend.
Eye Doc said on Saturday that it was probably vitreous - come in Monday. Was blind Monday.
I paid 4 grand extra out of pocket for the laser. My new eye Doc questions what I received for that 4 grand and I cannot explain it to him.
I was extremely high risk and I wished one of the Doc's had mentioned that. All minimized the risk.
You may have to have YAG as a follow up. Vitrectomy may make the procedure more difficult(from what I have read)
Best of luck, you will probably do well
 
Posts: 1397 | Registered: November 07, 2013Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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quote:
I wasted a good decade to service my fears and anxiety. Pain free, about 20 minute procedure on each side, about a month apart. Why oh why did I wait so long????



^^^^^^ +1+ ^^^^^^^^

My Doctor ragged on me for at least four years to have it done. I put it off because I understood the procedure was improving so I thought to wait until perfection arrived.

Finally a friend (a Doctor hater at that) pointed out that I was an idiot for waiting and my Doctor told me that while great strides had been made, currently improvements are incremental.

I am absolutely delighted with the results--- if only it could have been done when I was about 10 years old.

I understand that lens implant surgery is the most successful medical procedure in the US.
 
Posts: 3853 | Location: Citrus County Florida | Registered: October 13, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of lastmanstanding
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quote:
Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:
I could benefit from cataract surgery. But my current vision is acceptable, so I’m holding off for advancements of accommodating IOL technology. Some interesting new ones are awaiting FDA approval The NuLens and FluidVision IOLs look especially promising.

https://ois.net/a-look-at-premium-iols/


Very interesting thanks for the link!


"Fixed fortifications are monuments to mans stupidity" - George S. Patton
 
Posts: 8505 | Location: Minnesota | Registered: June 17, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Originally posted by lastmanstanding:she made an appointment for me with some doc she is hooked up with even after I insisted I would handle it myself.

Obviously she's getting a kick back for her referrals and it pissed me off the way she shoved it down my throat.


Careful with the accusations of kickbacks. Both the surgeon and referring doctor would face eviction from the Medicare program (bankrupting the surgeon at least) $25000 fines per occurrence and jail time as well as paying restitution. I can't even accept ball point pens from any doctor I refer to. There are roving bands of RAC auditors authorized by CMS (Medicare governing body) who get a percentage of whatever shenanigans they can find. You may not realize it, but your casual accusation amounts to fighting words.


Light bender eye mender
___________________________________________________________
Texas has yet to learn submission to any oppression, come from what source it may. Sam Houston
 
Posts: 412 | Location: Central Texas | Registered: July 29, 2012Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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