OT: Cataract eye surgery yesterday.

[desertbluesman]

So far so good. They will give me a card to drive without glasses after the second eye is done, because my drivers license says I have to wear corrective lenses. The vision is clearing up in the done eye. That eye was cloudy when I removed the tape that had that eye sealed shut for 5 hours after the surgery. It was all I could do to not remove the tape early. But I persisted and so far so good. (Now to sneak over to Sam's club (about 1 half mile) and have the lens for the corrected eye removed. I typed this in without my glasses, something I could not do the day before yesterday.

[Scott Fraser]

Best wishes DBM. Everybody I know who has had the procedure absolutely loves it, & loves having good eyesight without glasses, & wishes they did it sooner. The worst complication is that it sometimes takes a while for everything to reach an optimal state, sometimes a few weeks or months for all the floaters & fuzziness to completely disappear. Good luck, with this & the next one.

[desertbluesman]

I just took the glass out of the done eye side from my prescription glasses, and both eyes work equally now. I have 14 days until the second eye is done. And a week of recovery after that. Then 3 weeks later, I go in for my last checkup and probably a new refractory test to see if I will still need glasses.

[Larryz]

That's great news DBM! Did you have your eye fixed to see clearly at a distance and wear glasses if needed for reading? That's what I'm planning to do when I have mine done. Maybe next year. My left eye is clear and my right eye is starting to get foggy with glasses. Glad your operation came out good so far and good luck on the next operation. The info you are giving on your recovery time is very helpful!

[Winston Psmith]

Good work, DBM!

 

I had it done a few years back, and it was the closest thing to a medical miracle I've experienced. Went from not being able to see the television screen two feet away, to 20/20 vision.

[desertbluesman]

That's great news DBM! Did you have your eye fixed to see clearly at a distance and wear glasses if needed for reading? That's what I'm planning to do when I have mine done. Maybe next year. My left eye is clear and my right eye is starting to get foggy with glasses. Glad your operation came out good so far and good luck on the next operation. The info you are giving on your recovery time is very helpful!

I did have them fix it so I could see far for driving, I will still need glasses for reading perhaps. I was not eligible for the corrective lenses that that would bring my vision to needing no glasses for either far or near. I can see far already with the left eye as I type, I took the lens out of my glasses for the left (operated on) eye and I can see as well as my right eye with the lens in the glass for the right eye.

[desertbluesman]

Good work, DBM!

 

I had it done a few years back, and it was the closest thing to a medical miracle I've experienced. Went from not being able to see the television screen two feet away, to 20/20 vision.

I can't get back to 20/20. My eyes were never 20/20 even as a child. I am super far sighted, and my eyes do not see in parallel lines. My eyes see in different directions slightly. As the distance gets greater, what I see becomes farther apart. Somehow my mind corrects it so I do see one thing at a distance. Strange but true.

[KuruPrionz]

Good work, DBM!

 

I had it done a few years back, and it was the closest thing to a medical miracle I've experienced. Went from not being able to see the television screen two feet away, to 20/20 vision.

I can't get back to 20/20. My eyes were never 20/20 even as a child. I am super far sighted, and my eyes do not see in parallel lines. My eyes see in different directions slightly. As the distance gets greater, what I see becomes farther apart. Somehow my mind corrects it so I do see one thing at a distance. Strange but true.

 

Congrats!!! Enjoy your new vision. I was super near-sighted and am now 20/30 in both eyes. I used to be able to see tiny things up close, clearly. That ability is gone now, I have glasses for reading.

 

You will need new habits, it takes time. You would never know you had those habits until you get your eyes fixed. I had mine done in May, the thing that lingered the longest was the "halo-ing". The first few days are the worst but then it subsides. It's mostly gone now.

 

My world is a different place, I like it!!!!!

[desertbluesman]

Congrats!!! Enjoy your new vision. I was super near-sighted and am now 20/30 in both eyes. I used to be able to see tiny things up close, clearly. That ability is gone now, I have glasses for reading.

 

You will need new habits, it takes time. You would never know you had those habits until you get your eyes fixed. I had mine done in May, the thing that lingered the longest was the "halo-ing". The first few days are the worst but then it subsides. It's mostly gone now.

 

My world is a different place, I like it!!!!!

 

Thanks for the info, so far so good here.

[Caevan O’Shite]

Fullest and fastest recovery!! Be well and good. Safe travels- safe driving out there!

[desertbluesman]

Fullest and fastest recovery!! Be well and good. Safe travels- safe driving out there!

 

Thanks for the well wishes amigo.

[Larryz]

Thanks for the info DBM! Heal well and keep us posted in the next 14 days. I think I'll have them do my bad eye 1st when I get mine done, so I can toss one of those eye glass lens!

[Paul K]

I'm an optometrist for the day gig.

 

So just thinking out loud....for the second eye: if you get it corrected so the second eye is still a little nearsighted, say, so that it focuses perfectly at 3 feet away then you'll still see good enough for distance vision to drive without glasses but will be able to see at the computer screen distance and music stand distance perfectly with the second eye without glasses. You'll be able to see your phone if you make the font a little bigger and hold the phone a bit farther away: good enough to check your messages. Then put on the appropriate power glasses to see small print and other really small stuff at your normal reading distance. And perhaps, if you're really finicky about distance vision, a light pair of glasses to make your near eye see great for distance to make driving at night or in the rain a little easier. Yes, I know: you'll still need glasses, but you'll need them a whole lot less often. And of course, YMMV. For instance, people with small pupils reach for their reading glasses much less often than people with large pupils. Anyway, that's my plan for when it's my turn.

 

And I'm happy for you that it's working out. Ain't that just the coolest sh*t on the planet? Stunning stuff. Right up there with my artificial hips. Life changing.

[KuruPrionz]

Another tip - stock up on non-preservative eye drops. I am using the Bausch and Lomb Soothe eyedrops primarily because they were on sale at our local Kroger's stores (Fred Meyer up here, I think maybe Ralph's in Cali?).

 

Anyway, shop around and buy a good amount of non preservative eye drops, you'll be glad you have them.

 

As Paul K says, consult with them regarding one close eye and one far eye. I do know people who have done that, some of them loved it and others found it "interesting" but not to their taste.

Maybe they can let you try a lens with that effect on one eye and see what you think.

 

Check with your coverage and see what they can do also.

[desertbluesman]

I'm an optometrist for the day gig.

 

So just thinking out loud....for the second eye: if you get it corrected so the second eye is still a little nearsighted, say, so that it focuses perfectly at 3 feet away then you'll still see good enough for distance vision to drive without glasses but will be able to see at the computer screen distance and music stand distance perfectly with the second eye without glasses. You'll be able to see your phone if you make the font a little bigger and hold the phone a bit farther away: good enough to check your messages. Then put on the appropriate power glasses to see small print and other really small stuff at your normal reading distance. And perhaps, if you're really finicky about distance vision, a light pair of glasses to make your near eye see great for distance to make driving at night or in the rain a little easier. Yes, I know: you'll still need glasses, but you'll need them a whole lot less often. And of course, YMMV. For instance, people with small pupils reach for their reading glasses much less often than people with large pupils. Anyway, that's my plan for when it's my turn.

 

And I'm happy for you that it's working out. Ain't that just the coolest sh*t on the planet? Stunning stuff. Right up there with my artificial hips. Life changing.

 

All those decisions are already made, Thanks for the input. Interesting thought, however I can not change the plan now as the insurance has already approved what we asked for.

[desertbluesman]

 

As Paul K says, consult with them regarding one close eye and one far eye. I do know people who have done that, some of them loved it and others found it "interesting" but not to their taste.

Maybe they can let you try a lens with that effect on one eye and see what you think.

 

Check with your coverage and see what they can do also.

I am using my one operated on eye with my glasses on. I took the lens out of the left side and now I am using the glass on the right side of the glasses and the two see equally. I can actually read at 20/25 with the left eye without the glass in my glasses, And I could read the line at 20/25 without any doubt and my eye was at 20/70 (I think) before the surgery. So far so good. Thanks for the heads up about the eye drops. I will look into it. So far I am suing what they gave me in the kit I bought for drops.

[Paul K]

 

As Paul K says, consult with them regarding one close eye and one far eye. I do know people who have done that, some of them loved it and others found it "interesting" but not to their taste.

Maybe they can let you try a lens with that effect on one eye and see what you think.

.

 

Indeed, the idea of trying it first with contact lenses works in theory but not in practice because when we try it out the patient usually already has some decent cataracts to start with, so the result is that....They All Suck.

I find that if a patient has a previous history of monovision contact lens wear before their cataracts got to be the limiting factor then it's a really easy clinical decision to make. No history of that in this case, so that is why I suggested that the near vision eye be not really all the way near vision but only 36" computer vision distance. It's much less of a difference Right vs left than a full-on 16" reading distance lens and is much more likely to be tolerated.....but also much more likely to need to put on reading glasses to see the fine print, yada yada. Avoiding a second surgery is clearly a worthy goal.

[Paul K]

 

All those decisions are already made, Thanks for the input. Interesting thought, however I can not change the plan now as the insurance has already approved what we asked for.

 

Ha! I certainly understand that changing horses mid-stream because of an internet doctor's advice would be...uh.....weird. But it shouldn't change the insurance claim and there's lots of lead time for the surgeon. Surgeon's office is very used to fielding questions about that stuff.

 

But yes....I get it. "But honey! Dr. K from the guitar forum said......"

[desertbluesman]

Thanks Doc K. I was also not really interested in the far/near thing truthfully. Both my eyes are different radically, and always have been since the late 1940's. I have had to have corrective lenses since first grade. So I opted for the far thingy in both eyes, and when done, I will have a card from my ophthalmologist that details the insertion of corrective lenses inside my eyes and I can drive with that card and no glasses. I am pretty sure that I will need a little more correction via wearing glasses as well, we shall see in 5 weeks or so when I go in for the refraction tests.

[RABid]

Congrats on the good results. Everyone I know who had the surgery dreaded it in advance and was happy with it afterward. Been wondering for years if I would need it. Started wearing glasses at the age of 4 when I started reading. Got new glasses every year either from prescription change or getting hit in the face with a basketball. My poor parents learned early on to keep some money set aside for new glasses. That finally changed and right now I am wearing glasses that are at least 10 years old. Always thought that I would be a candidate for cataract surgery but so far so good.

[KuruPrionz]

Congrats on the good results. Everyone I know who had the surgery dreaded it in advance and was happy with it afterward. Been wondering for years if I would need it. Started wearing glasses at the age of 4 when I started reading. Got new glasses every year either from prescription change or getting hit in the face with a basketball. My poor parents learned early on to keep some money set aside for new glasses. That finally changed and right now I am wearing glasses that are at least 10 years old. Always thought that I would be a candidate for cataract surgery but so far so good.

 

 

I would advise that you keep a regularly scheduled eye exam at the very least. It does creep up on you.

I went into Costco after a few years of not having eye exams and the optometrist told me I had cataracts, then referred me to a specialist. Medicare covered everything including the post surgery eye exam and even kicked in some $$ towards a pair of reading glasses. I got the progressives with the anti-scratch coating - those are not fully covered but were affordable with the Medicare payment.

 

Your eyes, keep an eye on them!!!

[Dannyalcatraz]

Late to the party, but great news on the successful eye surgery!

 

I"m due to have cataract surgery on both eyesâ¦in 5 or so years. My doc said she saw early signs that make me a likely candidate. Hearing about the successful results of others is understandably comforting.

 

As someone who has worn glasses since I was 8, I"m almost looking forward to it. Thing isâ¦I think I look better with glasses! ð

[desertbluesman]

As someone who has worn glasses since I was 8, I"m almost looking forward to it. Thing isâ¦I think I look better with glasses! ð

 

I will feel naked without my glasses. I have been wearing them since first grade, 73 or so years ago. I will probably need some form of vision correction besides the lenses in my eyes once this is done. I will definitely need reading glasses since I opted for distance over reading. I will however be able to drive without glasses if the second eye to be done in about 2 weeks is as good as the first one done Tuesday past.

[Paul K]

Congrats on the good results. Everyone I know who had the surgery dreaded it in advance and was happy with it afterward. Been wondering for years if I would need it. Started wearing glasses at the age of 4 when I started reading. Got new glasses every year either from prescription change or getting hit in the face with a basketball. My poor parents learned early on to keep some money set aside for new glasses. That finally changed and right now I am wearing glasses that are at least 10 years old. Always thought that I would be a candidate for cataract surgery but so far so good.

 

Presence or absence of glasses has nothing to do with when/if you get cataracts; the two are like a broken leg and pneumonia. They might both suck, but they have nothing to do with one another.

Bottom line is that if you get old enough, you will get cataracts. And gray hair. So I hope y'all live long enough to get cataracts.

 

"They" almost never do cataract surgery just to get rid of the need for glasses, even though ditching of the glasses is a wonderful bonus part of the procedure.

 

Dunno if that's good news or bad news?

[desertbluesman]

The eyes are doing fairly well so far. I can see way better than I have been able to see without glasses since the 1980's.

 

However the cataract surgery is a bit of a pain in the laziness, I have to put cheater glasses on to see print on the computer and small printing on labels. I also have to water my eyes about 10 times a day with preservative free eye drops ($10) weekly more or less. I also have to have sunglasses on unless it is very cloudy out, especially for driving. So when it is real sunny the brightness actually is very disturbing.

 

All in all it is nice to see without glasses, and a pain in the butt for a lot of other things and actually shocking when the eye doctor shines that bright light at yearly checkup time.

[Winston Psmith]

Cataracts tend to blur and dull vision, like smoky lenses, so one of the things you're running up against is that more light is getting through. After a while, you may not have to depend on sunglasses to go out.

[Larryz]

Thanks for the info DBM and WPS!  I'll be going in on the 14th of this month for cataract surgery on my right eye. Glad to hear your operation was a success DBM! 😎👍

[desertbluesman]

8 hours ago, Larryz said:

Thanks for the info DBM and WPS!  I'll be going in on the 14th of this month for cataract surgery on my right eye. Glad to hear your operation was a success DBM! 😎👍

Best wishes for a successful cataract surgery Larryz. I hope it works out well for you. Good luck.

[Dannyalcatraz]

Personally, I wear sunglasses 90%+ of the time I’m outside during daylight hours.  That includes cloudy days (UV penetrates cloud cover) and rainy days (polarization reduces scatter and glare, sharpening vision).  I even get my recreational sports/safety goggles made with transition lenses, just in case.
 

Also, I just love the way I look in mirror shades. 😎

 

If/when I get cataract surgery, that will not change.

[Larryz]

My prescription glasses turn dark every time I'm in the sun.  I love having my transition lenses tor driving, so I should be ready for the sunlight after the surgery...😎