Have one in my right eye that the optometrist says should be removed. I went in for a eye exam to get my first prescription glasses.

Let me say this I'm very procedural intolerant.
I understand you are awake during the procedure? Having my eye sliced and diced while I'm awake makes me wonder if going blind is really so bad!

I'm not completely trustworthy of the medical community. The optometrist wouldn't let me out of the office until she scheduled me a consultation even after I said I needed to check into coverage with my health share provider. She insisted on scheduling it. It's the first week of August.

I'm sure some here have had it. I'd be interested to hear about the procedure and if the results were worth the expense and discomfort.

Outpatient surgery. Nothing to it.

Click Here

Of all of my surgeries and out patient procedures, my two cataract surgeries had the least problematic or uncomfortable recoveries. That and the results were the most positive and dramatic.

Suck it up and just do it. You'll be happy that you did, believe me.

Jim

My wife had it over the end of the year, one eye, then the other, ~$4500 per eye, after whatever insurance did. No pain, virtually no discomfort. She has had poor eyesight her entire life, has ditched her glasses, is essentially 20/20 now.

Not only is she happy about it, but astonished.

Optometrists do not do surgery, Opthamologists do. Cataract surgery is seldom an emergency. Get a second opinion. Typically this type of surgery is done when YOU decide it is necessary for quality of life.
PS Spell check your title.

What he said was that he went to see his optometrist for glasses and during the the exam, the cataract was discovered. He was then referred to an ophthalmologist for the procedure. This relationship between ODs and MDs is how I made a living in the last century.

Just had mine done 4 weeks and 6 weeks ago. Piece of cake. Keeping the post-op eye drop schedule was the hardest part

I do the anesthesia portion for cataract surgery for roughly 8 cases per week. Our Opthamologists use either topical localization of the eye to “numb” the eye or a small injection of local anesthetic around the eye (peribulbar block).

Before they do this, we give some medication to relax the patient. Usually all that is required is a bit of Versed (same family as ativan or valium) via the IV or some Propofol via the IV. Procedure averages 20 mins surgical time and 99.9% of patients do wonderful. I wouldn’t sweat it. Almost everyone says....”I was sooooo worried and that was a piece of cake.”

I had cataract surgery in both eyes last June.

I too was very worried about the procedure. Turns out it was as easy as others here have said.

No pain. Not even any discomfort. I never saw any part of the operation.

each eye was done on different days, about 3 weeks apart.

In pre-op, a nurse administered 21 drops in the eye to be operated on. I think that was mostly to numb the eye and combat infection.

In the operating room I was given a very mild anesthesia (standard procedure for this doctor). I was completely awake and aware.

A cloth was put over my face. I saw some bright colored lights for a little bit. But felt nothing. I mean nothing.

After 5 to 7 minutes it was done. There were a bunch of drops to use multiple times a day for a period of time to prevent infection.

I wear contacts. Will I have to change my prescription if I have it done (my eye doctor says I'm developing them, but no immediate need yet)?

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
Outpatient surgery. Nothing to it.

+1 I have had both eyes done, a year apart. Painless, easy, and the vision improvement is staggering.

It will have a really beneficial effect on your shooting, if you need another reason.

quote:

Will I have to change my prescription

I wear glasses. My prescription did change after the cataract surgery. The cataracts were causing some of my vision problems, so the new prescription is not as strong as the previous one.

I have light cataracts, but I’m waiting for accommodating-IOL technology to advance. I’ve heard that three-position accommodating-IOLs are the current state of the art.

Thanks all for the responses and links sounds like all positive experiences. I will call my health share provider next week and see what they will cover but I most likely will have it done based on what I'm hearing.

I've been using cheater glasses for a number of years. Came time to renew my license and I didn't do so well on the eye test so it was time for permanent prescription glasses.

I will be fully retired in a couple weeks so I guess I best get this done now. I have a lot of reading to catch up on!

quote:

Originally posted by Fusternc:
I do the anesthesia portion for cataract surgery for roughly 8 cases per week. Our Opthamologists use either topical localization of the eye to “numb” the eye or a small injection of local anesthetic around the eye (peribulbar block).

We always referred to it as "retrobulbar".

'course, we called cars "velocipedes" and the airport was called an "aerodrome", so...

I had both my eyes done about a year and a half ago. They offered valium, I declined as I don’t really do well with tranquilizers, sedatives, etc., so it was “cold turkey.”

They did use local anesthetic (xxxcaine?) drops to numb the eye.

Prep, including the drops, all the paperwork, and the endless questions that they asked me, took about an hour, maybe hour and a half. The questions: it seems that everybody who came in contact with me wanted to know my birthday. And none of them, nobody, got me anything. Not even a lousy card.

During the prep for the first eye, I did not know what to expect, so of course my anxiety level was really high. My BP hit 207 / 92. All unnecessary, of course, the procedure was really straightforward.

I was in the OR for less than ten minutes. No pain at all. I did feel some tugging, pushing, and pressure. Not bad, not really uncomfortable. The worst part for me was having to stare into a pretty bright light.

Ten minutes, over and done. Post-op care was a few weeks of eye drops. I think it was four times a day for the drops for the first week, three times a day for the second week, etc. They also gave me a shield to wear at night so that I would not inadvertently rub my eye in my sleep.

The improvement, which I saw within 24 hours, was dramatic! The cataract, which was a cloudy haze on the lens, had developed so gradually over the years that I did not notice the slow degradation in vision. Once this cloudy lens was removed and replaced with an implant, everything was brighter. Whites were really clean instead of yellowish gray. Colors were really bright. Everything I looked at was in much sharper focus.

Second eye was done two weeks later. Having been through it once, I knew what to expect and anxiety was much less. I did have a couple of rubber balls in my pocket the second time; I pulled them out at the start of the procedure and squeezed them to keep myself focused on something other than my eyes.

During the year and a half since the cataract procedure, a hazy film developed on the back (interior) side of the new lens. Not unusual, it happens to a fair number of cataract patients. This resulted in a slight but noticeable loss of focus and clarity. I went back to the clinic last week to have this corrected. The procedure is a YAG capsulotomy. It is nowhere near as invasive as the cataract removal. The typical hour and a half prep, waiting, and telling everyone my birthday, and then the actual procedure which probably took all of sixty seconds or so: the doc used a laser to clear the haze from the lens. No pain, no incision, no actual physical contact. This is a one-time thing, it does not come back. Left eye was done a couple days ago, and the clarity and focus returned within 24 hours. No post-op care, no drops, just get back to normal life within 24 hours with the admonition NOT to rub the eye, which might feel slightly irritated for a few hours. Easy-peasy. Left eye was a few days ago, right eye will get the same treatment this coming Tuesday.

The whole deal, cataract removal, etc., is nothing to be concerned about. Other than the post-op care for a few weeks, I would rate it as no more than going to the dentist for a filling. Do it, you’ll be glad. if you’re really anxious about it, take the valium that they will likely offer. I refused it, both for the first eye and the second, as I don’t like that stuff — to me, it’s worse that the medical procedure.

If you have specific questions, feel free to contact me through the email address in my profile.

Well, my work is done here.

Easiest thing around. I had a number of clients who were ophthalmologists and have watched their cataract surgeries. As I recall it took less than a minute to make the incision, remove the old lens and insert the new one.

quote:

Originally posted by BrianC:
I wear contacts. Will I have to change my prescription if I have it done (my eye doctor says I'm developing them, but no immediate need yet)?

Ask your doctor. My wife had a significant improvement in her vision, but not enough to go without glasses. I'd LASIK previously but went from 20/25 to 20/20 in one eye.

If they offer you valium, take it. All of your apprehension will be alleviated, and you'll hardly even remember much of the experience. I needed it for the first eye, but after "seeing" how easy it was, I didn't need it the second time.