quote:

Originally posted by ridewv:
Bald, just Following up as to how the procedure went for you?

Sorry to disappoint you and everyone but I cancelled the procedure. Won't go into why but it was the right decision then. I see my ophthalmologist again next week and may very well schedule the procedure yet again.

It's not disappointing to me in fact I've been back and forth making the decision myself.
I had decided to hold off until November after riding and mowing season but I'm at the point now that come July I'll barely pass the eye exam. So I decided to just suck it up and get it done.

quote:

Went to schedule things today. Getting the dropless procedure. This is more complicated than a colonoscopy procedure.

Bald1
There is one hell of a difference this procedure you really don’t have to give a shit!

I had cataract surgery in dec of 2022 (childhood injury that finally was 'medically necessary' at 46). While they did use sedation - it was LIGHT. I've felt more getting gas at the dentist. The procedure was amazingly easy. I did do the 1 week prior - 4 weeks after eye drop plan.

Good to hear screding, thanks.

I had both eyes done a few years ago, two weeks apart. My wife just had both her eyes done, one three weeks ago and the other one this past week.

Both of us were at the same place -- Filutowski Eye Clinic, a huge place with a few locations in Central Florida, that only does cataracts and LASIK.

My wife and I both chose the same options: No anesthesia (other than the numbing drops), no valium or any other tranquilizer / sedative. With the numbing drops, the procedures were absolutely pain-free. A bit uncomfortable and un-nerving to feel a bit of pressure and tugging, but no pain. Less than ten minutes in the OR for each eye.

We also passed on the high-price upgrade for the replacement lenses; we both opted for the simple, single-vision distance correction. I was able to pass the distant vision test for both driver license and flight physical without glasses, for the first time in my life! We do use glasses for desk work and reading, but are able to walk around, drive, etc. without glasses.

A couple of follow-up exams were scheduled after each eye was done, and drops (antibiotic, steroid, and NSAID) several times a day for a couple weeks.

The improved vision is amazing!

Take the time you have created before making several very important decisions.

You do not need the anesthesia, its almost always your choice.
I made a poor decision and opted for the "premium lenses" and paid an extra $3000 out of pocket.
I was up sold by the Dr. for this and to have a eye resurfacing done, a VERY painful procedure ( after the pain meds fade). Make sure you have a prescription for pain in hand before the stuff they give you at time of surgery wears off. You would need that for about 3 days.

The multi-focal lens that was installed was a disaster. I was not told of the down side of the lenses. Permanently a 10%-15% permanent darkening of the view out of that eye. I also saw halo's around any light, headlights and bright Sun were a horror to deal with.
I waited a year. I went back to the surgeon several times to complain about the eye.I was told every time that "I was too picky".

I had enough and went to the Cole Eye Institute at the Cleveland Clinic.They ran a bunch of tests. When I saw the Dr. he said he knew exactly what was wrong. The previous surgeon removed too much eye material when doing the resurfacing. My right ( dominant eye) would never be right. He explained the "premium lenses have rings that some patients can see, especially in bright light. He advised I would never be happy with that lens and suggested he remove it and replace with the regular lens.
I agreed and had the lens removed and replaced. A month later I went back and had my left eye done.The Dr.at the Cleveland Clinic was fantastic. When he was told that I was there alone with no driver he rescheduled my surgery till the last of the day so he would have more time if needed to address the lens removal. He was going to try and do the surgery without anesthesia but if he needed to he would personally drive me to my Hotel. It turned out he was able to do it with out anesthesia.

I saw through all this, that eye cataract surgery is like going to a Car dealer. Its now a cash cow for the Dr's and the surgery clinics.
When I told the Dr. at the Cleveland Clinic that the first Dr. resurfaced my eye he asked me "why". I had no answer except that I was told I needed it. According to him I did not. It was done because the "premium lens" would work better with the re-surfacing.
Had I known any of this I would have gladly asked for the basic lenses and just put on readers when I need them.

Its a money machine you are stepping into, buyer be ware!

quote:

Originally posted by armored:
Take the time you have created before making several very important decisions.

You do not need the anesthesia, its almost always your choice.
I made a poor decision and opted for the "premium lenses" and paid an extra $3000 out of pocket....


....The multi-focal lens that was installed was a disaster. I was not told of the down side of the lenses. Permanently a 10%-15% permanent darkening of the view out of that eye. I also saw halo's around any light, headlights and bright Sun were a horror to deal with....

When my doc showed me their display of enlarged lens to illustrate how the different lens worked he said "one thing about the premium multi-focal lens is the way they are made notice the very slight circular lines in it, under certain conditions like looking into bright headlights those lines can create halos". I said then I don't want them. He then showed me the latest version multi focal lens which has no lines therefore no halos. He said he was never fond of the previous ones but last year when he removed the cataracts on his sister's eyes he suggested these new "lineless ones" which she went with and now she can see distance, her computer monitor, and read, all w/o glasses. He said she will occasionally put on readers for reading something with very fine print. And she told him unlike before when she had cataracts and saw a lot of glare from headlights that's all gone now. After his sister's positive experience and a few others he did early on when they came out, he feels very comfortable recommending them.

I'm scheduled for the 2nd and 3rd weeks in June for both eyes. A friend of mine had his done at the end of last year and got multifocal lenses and couldn't be happier. He no longer needs glasses for anything. I'm using his eye surgeon and he's done over 55,000 surgeries. It's a cash cow for sure but if I can dump the glasses I'll gladly have it done. My wife's girlfriend had hers done a month ago and is equally thrilled, she's worn glasses for the past 60 years and is loving not needing them for anything. I never thought I'd look forward to any type of surgery let alone eye surgery but I can't wait. It'll be a twilight sleep and I'm planning on having my wife take me back to work when I'm done.

I had my right eye done in 2020 and my left eye in 2022. I am very happy with the result. I am in my early 50's so my surgeon would not consider the multi-focal lenses. My eyes are still flexible enough to manage these lenses. Eventually I may need glasses in 20 or so years. At that point I likely won't care.

I was clear that I wanted to be able to see at a distance to read street signs and see things but also wanted to be able to see the dashboard while driving. I don't need to see two flies humping at 500 yds or read 2pt font 4" away. He understood and absolutely nailed it.

At 12" I can see the wrinkles in my hand clearly and I can see the wings on the little birds flapping at the top of the cell tower 800ft away.

My uncle asked for the same thing but his Doctor made his own decision, or crossed him with another patient, and gave him close in vision. So he can read and watch TV no problem but needs glasses to drive.

Be VERY clear what you want and verify before you go in for the surgery.

I will caution you. The first eye will go like there is no issue at all. The second eye will be a bit different. I remember very little about the first eye, I remember everything about the second procedure. I was told that is quite common. Typically they do your eyes 2 weeks apart. I was 2 years, my uncle was 2 weeks and we had the same experience.

Just had both of mine done this February a week apart. My eyesight had gotten so bad they could not correct it with eyeglasses anymore. The change was so slight I had gotten use to it. But I was almost not able to drive anymore.

I had a consult with the cataract surgeon. He offered 3 options.
1 remove the cataracts. still wear glasses( though with a better Rx)...covered by insurance
2.remove cataracts and put in a lenses to see everything far away but use cheaters to read up close 1500$
3.remove cataracts and put in the mutlifocal lenses. never wear glasses again.But see halo's around lights.$3000

As a life long eyeglass wearer I chose number 2. My personality trait would not allow myself to be able to deal with halo's around lights...

Surgery went great with anesthesia. During the operations I experienced different things with each eye. This was due to which half of the brain the operated eye was dominate on... Sights, colors, shadows, etc..

No issues with getting knocked out. I was not allowed to drive home... but I was fine. for the day... just took a nap each time. I saw my regular eye doctor the next day and went to work the following day. 20/20 vision. 1 week and 1 month follow up per eye. Best decision i every made.

I literally just got off the phone with the surgical center, I get my right eye done on Thursday. The doc thinks my cataract was caused by getting smacked with an air bag during a head on collision. No symptoms my last eye exam but within the last 3 months it formed very rapidly and severe, can see very little, nothing is clear even with glasses. He called it an impact cataract. I picked option 2 as well, actually he won't do option 3 says he has had too many problems with the multi-focal. They never gave me an option for sedation, you get it. Sounds a lot like the same drug as for a colonoscopy. Your awake during the procedure but you don't remember it afterwards. This is fine for me.

quote:

Originally posted by RiCoShea:
Just had both of mine done this February a week apart. My eyesight had gotten so bad they could not correct it with eyeglasses anymore. The change was so slight I had gotten use to it. But I was almost not able to drive anymore.

I had a consult with the cataract surgeon. He offered 3 options.
1 remove the cataracts. still wear glasses( though with a better Rx)...covered by insurance
2.remove cataracts and put in a lenses to see everything far away but use cheaters to read up close 1500$
3.remove cataracts and put in the mutlifocal lenses. never wear glasses again.But see halo's around lights.$3000

As a life long eyeglass wearer I chose number 2. My personality trait would not allow myself to be able to deal with halo's around lights...

Surgery went great with anesthesia. During the operations I experienced different things with each eye. This was due to which half of the brain the operated eye was dominate on... Sights, colors, shadows, etc..

No issues with getting knocked out. I was not allowed to drive home... but I was fine. for the day... just took a nap each time. I saw my regular eye doctor the next day and went to work the following day. 20/20 vision. 1 week and 1 month follow up per eye. Best decision i every made.

My right eye was first. I had an exam at the end of of 2019 before Covid. Slight adjustment to contacts and glasses. By February 2020 I needed another adjustment. By June it was significantly worse and my right lense was 3x thicker than the left. That lasted about 3 weeks and it was getting blurry again.

I was finally diagnosed with rapidly developing leopard spot cataracts. There is no medical understanding for why they develop in younger people or why they develop so rapidly. By end of September the glasses and contacts were useless and I was using my left eye (dominant) only.

Post surgery they were concerned about the disparity with Right eye being 20/20 and left eye still uncorrected but I didn't have issues. I did notice my eye dominance shifted from life long left to right. An advantage as I am right handed.

The left eye started down that path in July of 2022 but a slower progression. I elected to wait on surgery until after the summer season was over due to the restrictions and many vacation trips planned.

Just had my right eye done at 11:00 this morning, since I can type this it went well but it was a rocky start. The nurse tried to put the IV in my left forearm and missed, "shoot" is what she said. Then she went to my hand and said "oops" missed again, tried a 2nd time in my hand and she said "we sure are making a mess", missed a 3rd time, my left hand looked like I was in a knife fight, blood everywhere, literally dripping on the floor. After her mess comment the head nurse came flying in my room, (open pre-op) and excused the nurse. Now I'm no Arnold but I've lifted just about my entire life, you cans see the veins in my arms and hands from across the room, no reason to miss. They got the bleeding stopped then the head nurse went to my right arm, I told her to stop, no more IV's, they already had 3 chances. She said the IV is required to sedate during the procedure, no IV no surgery. I told her fine and told her to unhook me so that I could leave. Finally she talked to the doc and he agreed to do it without sedation. Kind of bizarre but it went okay. They used tape to cover my eyebrows put my head in basically a clamp then wrapped tape around my head and the clamp to hold it secure. Them wrapping the tape around my head reminded me of how I would use duct tape to secure something. Glad to be home.

Also my wrist bracelet said I was female. I asked why and she said they had new patient software and where you enter the sex there is 2 entries that have to be made, one is actual sex and the 2nd is what sex you identify as. If you leave it blank it defaults to female.

quote:

Originally posted by 08 Cayenne:

the IV is required to sedate during the procedure, no IV no surgery.

Wow! That is a surgeon who I personally would avoid. Did they state why they thought sedations was necessary?

I had both eyes done a few years ago and my wife had both of hers done within the past month. Neither of us had any kind of sedation, we both declined the valium that was offered. There was no physical restraint, nothing holding our heads in place.

The only drug that was used was the numbing eye drops, and with those, there was absolutely no pain at all. Zero. There was some discomfort, it's not natural to feel tugging and pulling at your eyes, but there was zero pain. Into and out of the OR in less than ten minutes for each of our eyes, after a couple of hours of waiting around after check-in.

Situation has now cleared for me to get the procedure done after having had to cancel last year. But now with the addition of stents for my glaucoma.
Also going dropless post op instead of the regimented eye drop business.
Hoping my resulting vision will be 20/20 or darned close with only "cheaters" needed for close up stuff.


15 May - pre surgery physical exam
24 May - left eye surgery
25 May - surgery follow up
31 May - surgery second follow up
7 May - right eye surgery
8 May - surgery follow up
14 May - surgery second follow up

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:
Situation has now cleared for me to get the procedure done after having had to cancel last year. But now with the addition of stents for my glaucoma.
Also going dropless post op instead of the regimented eye drop business.
Hoping my resulting vision will be 20/20 or darned close with only "cheaters" needed for close up stuff.


15 May - pre surgery physical exam
24 May - left eye surgery
25 May - surgery follow up
31 May - surgery second follow up
7 May - right eye surgery
8 May - surgery follow up
14 May - surgery second follow up

My girlfriend and I both had the dropless post op and did great. About the only way we knew we had surgery was we could see great.

I had both eyes done over 10 years ago and it was a miracle. For the first time in 50 years, I am not wearing thick glasses and I can see!

I think there was a mild anesthesia, but I was awake and walked out. My wife did drive me home. The procedure took less than a minute or so.

Find someone that does a lot of these procedures and you will have the best luck.

I had cataract surgery along with a glaucoma stent for my left eye on the 24th of May. Yesterday we did the right eye. My son took off work both days to keep an eye on me.

I didn't remember much of the first surgery which the anesthesiologist said was normal. He also said I'd remember quite a bit about the follow on procedure. He was right. I was awake and very aware throughout. It allowed me to talk to my ophthalmologist while "under" before he started.

I told him that I was still experiencing a shimmering of vision way off to the far left peripheral view which looked to be light reflecting off the edge of the IOL (inner ocular lens) he installed. He said this should go away as the eye heals and swelling diminishes. I told him although I expected I might need "cheaters" for reading, I didn't expect a lack of clarity at the 3 to 8 foot "intermediate" range. It was decided to install a slightly different IOL diopter than initially planned to address this. I would end up with my dominant eye (left) given clear crisp vibrant distant vision and the right eye with much better intermediate vision. For the technically minded that meant a 20.5+ IOL in the left and a 21.0+ IOL in the right eye.

24 hour follow up with the ophthalmologist this morning was unremarkable.

Preparation involves no eating past the prior evening and no liquids a couple hours before. I was both parched (despite the nurses giving me a couple apple juice drinks after the procedure) and very hungry. My son swung by Marco's Pizza after picking me up at the Regional Eye Institute where we picked up a Chicken Hawaiian pie. First time for me at a Marco's. The pie was great! Crashed and slept for 3 ½ hours. Was up for awhile and crashed again for 2 more hours. Slept soundly through the night too which, for me, is unusual. Chalk it up to the effects of the anesthesia.

Anyhow the outlook following all this looks bright and I am very appreciative for both the pre-surgery counsel, advice, and wisdom, as well as all the best wishes from everyone.

Next Monday June 12 I am getting my left IOL zapped by a laser. Some people can develop a slight cloudy haze on the lens. My wife did as well. Takes about 5 minutes.