OT: Cataract Surgery and gigging

[obxa]

Sucks getting old.     Eye doc says going to need Cataract surgery soon,  new glasses as temporary fix. 

 

Has anyone had the surgery?  Were you still able to read charts/sheet music during the healing  process, and/or did it affect eye-hand coordination at the keyboard?   

 

Couldn't quite explain concerns about spatial relationship of playing and reading (music ...or drawbars etc.) acuity to the doctor.   He just said there's recovery time with blurriness.   They suggest taking time off.  Easier said than done.  Plus they do one eye at a time- which I've read will skew things between the two while in the process.   Wondering what realistic recovery is when it comes to what we do.   

 

There's also the issue of what type of corrective lens they implant.  Again, thinking in terms of  mainly reading music & playing -  my  archery days are long over anyway. 

 

Anything you wish you had done differently, or strongly suggest?    Thanks so much in advance for any insight/experience you can share!!

[dodonnell]

I had the cataract surgery in April 2023 at age 74.  Great results. Right eye is 20/20, left is better than it was. Clear sight after 2 or 3 days. It's great being able to read again, especially without glasses.  And driving at night is a breeze. Went back in July for laser touch up to remove scar tissue.

 

Duane

[Dave Ferris]

It will be six years this June since I had it done at age 65. And yes he did one eye, and the other a week later. It was a little wonky because I did have  a patch over the operated eye, but it wasn't that big of a deal. The week went by pretty fast but I didn't do any gigs, just some light practicing.

 

Yes, reading two stave piano music, particularity classical music,  was a challenge at first. No blurriness but that spatial relationship (good way to put it) that you mentioned took a couple of weeks before everything felt normal again. I was making a lot of mistakes in the Bach WTC, pieces I'd been playing for decades because my whole sense of space was off. I was a bit scared at first. As the days went on, again, everything returned to normal.

 

I do remember my first gig reading chord charts subbing on the church gig-- they were very simple, just triads in a christian pop context and computer copied, but I didn't even need my glasses. What a revelation!

 

They did stress no lifting of any weight over 10 lbs. during the first two weeks as well. Luckily my gigs at that time were all on acoustic, except for one. I enlisted/$$ the help of a young kid in my neighborhood to be my cartage for the gig. He also said take two weeks off from running because of the impact.

 

The whole experience was life changing. I was better then 20/20. And this was coming off extreme nearsightedness at around a -15 and wearing thick glasses my whole life. It had gotten so bad, I wouldn't have been able to pass the DMV eye test to renew my license. He said he would no longer be able to correct me with glasses or contacts.

 

My eyes have gotten a little worse in the past two years. I don't think I'm at 20/20 anymore. At last year's check up he said because of the extreme near nearsightedness you will form particles, or scar tissue in the retina that will decrease the clarity. He said you'll know when it's time to have those particles removed. In this last year I can tell my vision has dropped off from what it was, so he said he could zap them with a laser in the office. Not at all a complicated procedure.

 

[Bill W]

I also had it done in both eyes. I had reading glasses for a few years before and my vision quickly got worse over the course of about a year due to the cataracts. I had Vivity lenses put in both eyes about two weeks apart and my vision is 20/20 again. I haven't needed the reading glasses since the surgery and should never need them again.  Best of luck!

[cassdad]

I had it, piece of cake, wonderful results.  I had “light adjustable” lens installed (they can adjust the vision prescription AFTER the lens is installed in your eyes) - thus I got to choose what strength / vision I wanted.  I chose to see from 19 inches to infinity so that I could read my iPad without glasses.  Turned out I can also read close up to some extent.  So was win/win all the way around.  As you have to wait a week or so between “adjustments”, each eye ended up taking me about a month.  But the vision improvement has been life-changing for me.  I have no stake in the game, just conveying my experience.  Here’s the web site that tells all about it if you want more info:  https://rxsight.com/patients/

 

Oh, P.S. - it’s expensive, and medicare or insurance likely won’t pay for it.  But, for me:  “What is my eyesight worth?”. I paid the money, no regrets.

 

[o0Ampy0o]

Just throwing this in the soup. Was lined up in Jan but could not swing the potential time before I could drive. This surgeon does one eye. You leave the room. They sterilize everything. Then they bring you back and do the other eye. The post op appt is that afternoon. Everything is done in one day.

 

He said there is no advantage to more time between eyes. You can see immediately just not ideally. I thought the in between time assured you would not be blind if something went wrong. But this is the most common surgery performed in the USA and it has a high success rate.

[obxa]

Awesome thank you all so much!!!    All of this is so encouraging to hear.

Glad to hear the whole thing isn't as terrifying as it sounded.    

 

Doc mentioned about those lenses that aren't covered.  Still digesting all the pamphlets. 

 

He told me I currently couldn't  pass a driving test, and the new prescription will only go so long.  I use 2.50  generics for gigs.  Could never get used to the progressives  prescribed last time.     Plus got all the usual issues:  sensitive to night driving, floaters, morning fog- and my distance is getting worse. 

 

Sounds like I'll need to plan on taking off a little bit. 

 

Really appreciate it guys, -thank you all again. 

[obxa]

18 minutes ago, o0Ampy0o said:

I thought the in between time assured you would not be blind if something went wrong.

That was my initial take as well.  I know it's a different kind of surgery, but was thinking of a friend that had complications with Lasik.  She never went back for the other eye.

[Jazz+]

I had a cataract in my right eye. So I chose a mono focal mid range toric for my left and a three way multi focal for my right. No more glasses.

[b3plyr]

5 hours ago, Dave Ferris said:

My eyes in that time have gotten a little worse. I don't think I'm at 20/20 anymore. At last year's check up he said because of the extreme near nearsightedness you will form particles, or scar tissue in the retina that will decrease the clarity. He said you'll know when it's time to have those particles removed. In this last year I can tell my vision has dropped off from what it was, so he said he could zap them with a laser in the office. Not at all a complicated procedure.

 

Slight correction. The scar tissue is actually on the back of the lens capsule (not the retina) and is called a Posterior Capsular Opacification. Almost everyone that has cataract surgery will develop this over time. Easy to fix - YAG laser opens a small hole in the back of the lens capsule and you are done. Over 95% success rate. Much better than if there was a retina issue. 

 

As to the original question, no problem with reading the music after about 3 days.

[Dave Ferris]

Thanks, yes I obviously got the details wrong. I thought I heard retina but  I'm not always the best listener, at least when it comes to those specifics. I should've written it down but normally my wife is in the room. So between the two of us, we get it right. In this case she was in the other room getting her eyes checked.

 

In any case I'm guessing he'll probably want to do the laser at our annual checkup in early March. And needless to say, choosing a Dr. who has performed literally hundreds , if not thousands, of these procedures, plus someone you have total confidence in, is most important.

 

Here was my guy.

https://www.drbeeve.com/

[elsongs]

I've had cataract surgery...twice. My first time was at age 45. I was diagnosed with it at age 36 and it got progressively worse over time. By early 2017 I was pretty much blind in my right eye for two months. I opted for the costly multi-focal lens, and had the operation in Spring 2017. It was the trippiest 15 minutes of my life. I recovered very well from that. 

Then suddenly last Summer my left eye vision went bad literally overnight. I went to the doctor ASAP thinking I might have retinal detachment. Fortunately it wasn't, but it was another cataract. I was also blind in that eye for around two months (though I could detect light/colors better than when the right eye went bad) but since I had mild glaucoma in the left eye, I had some complications which resulted in abnormal eye pressure. I had the 2nd operation in late Summer last year and though I have my vision back (it took a long time to see clearly compared to the right eye), the glaucoma attack permanently dilated my pupil, making my eye extremely light-sensitive (I have to wear sunglasses in broad daylight now). 

As for gigging, it varies of course. I was able to play music and read music during my last episode, relying on my right eye (The multifocal lens that I invested in paid off). The one disadvantage of the multifocal lens is that looking at bright lights at night results in concentric halos around that light. Not a huge deal but somewhat noticeable. I did not have the multifocal lens in the left eye because of the complications. 

[elif]

I got both done early in 2023. It was  surprising seeing things at their actual brightness and colors, with no haloes around street lights, and with a better vision correction, however...

I now have posterior vitreous detachment that I did not have (or did not notice) before the procedure. The symptom is that when scanning my eyes from side-to-side, like when driving, or reading on a monitor, there is a cloud that passes in front of my vision after the eye rests at the new position. This happens all the time and sometimes it is quite annoying and interrupting. It is most noticable in bright environments (bright sun light, while driving). Occasionally I've taken to driving with one eye closed. I understand there is surgery available.

It has been almost a year since the surgery and although hasn't gone away, I suppose I am starting to ignore it, kind of like tinnitus.

[KuruPrionz]

I had cataract surgery a few years ago. 

The thought of it is scary, the reality is wonderful. 

They measured my vision and put new lenses in, I went from 20/240 to 20/30 in both eyes. 

That is a profound improvement and I am grateful.

I do wear readers for close up work. I used to have very good close up vision but I traded that for being able to live life without glasses most of the time. 

[sherry]

The vast majority of people that have cataract surgery are thrilled with the results.  Sadly, I'm not in that group.  I had surgery six months ago, right eye only, had the upgraded lens Vivity, $3500 and $1500 for laser, and I have constant flickering or fluttering every time I move my right eye, halos and streaks of light.   It is very disturbing.  Doc says it should go away, but after six months I'm losing any hope.  I wish I'd gone with a basic monofocal lens because I don't believe I would be having these problems.  Plus I still need to wear readers.  Ugh.  Don't mean to be a debbie-downer, but warning to do your research carefully when picking a lens.

[El Lobo]

I had both eyes done several years ago. No problem. I don't remember much about it. I could see fine the next day. I wear glasses - progressives for reading, also to correct astigmatism in one eye, and also transitions so they darken in sunlight. I can function without the glasses if I need to but I'd rather have them. Vision is about 20/30 with glasses on.

[Old No7]

On 1/28/2024 at 4:49 PM, o0Ampy0o said:

This surgeon does one eye. You leave the room. They sterilize everything. Then they bring you back and do the other eye. The post op appt is that afternoon. Everything is done in one day.

 

He said there is no advantage to more time between eyes.

 

Well, our eye docs obviously disagree...

 

I wanted both eyes done on the same day, and they would not do it.  For me, the 1st cataract was great -- 20/15 vision on the checkup the next morning.  2 weeks later, I suffered a detached retina and was legally blind for 3 weeks while the surgery healed and the gas bubble they injected (to push the retina back and keep its shape) was absorbed.  That eye had a torn retina 12 years earlier, but I was told the FDA reports a <5% risk of detached retina following cataract surgery.  My risk was obviously higher -- year, like 100%!  Still, due to potential higher risk in the other eye, they made me wait 3 months to do the 2nd eye (which was the better of the two, luckily), so I just went without glasses for those months.

 

No problems with reading music charts, or anything -- as long as it's an arms-length on out; anything closer or with small print, and I do use cheaters.  But that's OK, as I wore glasses for 58 years anyway, and I'm enjoying being glasses-free for the most part of the day.

 

Lastly, everyone I know who got the multi-focal lenses complains about the hazards of driving at night, especially on a rainy night.  One of my best friends claims he lost 50% of his night vision due to those lenses, and he won't/can't drive at night any more.  A few folks get multi-focal in one eye and fixed in the other, and they say it works, but it took many months to train their brain & eyes to use that setup.  As a boater, hunter and target shooter, I wanted the sharpest distance vision I could get.

 

Old No7

 

[o0Ampy0o]

My friend in Australia said when she had hers done they did one on Friday and the other on Monday. My research up to that point had me prepared for weeks to months between eyes. Then I switched healthcare plans and this doc described how he does them same day. 
 

This surgeon warned of the artifacts related to multifocal options. He cited auras, prismatic glare and difficulty with night driving. I am going with standard distance and will wear reading glasses when necessary. 

[Old No7]

Gotta add another comment...

 

On 1/28/2024 at 2:38 PM, obxa said:

Sucks getting old...

 

My wife's younger brother died suddenly and way too young at age 50...

 

Ever since then, my motto is...

 

"Getting old" is better than NOT getting old!

 

Cheers!

 

Old No7

[obxa]

Thanks again everyone. Going to try to schedule soon. 

13 hours ago, elif said:

I suppose I am starting to ignore it, kind of like tinnitus.

 

 I also have vitreous detachment, first just one eye for the last year, as of last week now both.  

Causes full-time floaters and spider webs.  Not sure Cataract surgery will help that too.   It's now more annoying than anything else as I swat at imaginary gnats.  There have been some Japanese studies that Bromelain can minimize it.  It's basically pineapple.  You might want to give it shot,  as it has other benefits too.   I take it 4 weeks on and 2 weeks off- and it does seem to help.   The word from my Doc is that gravity will eventually help settle them too.   

 

Also started taking something called Preservision areds 2- which helps in the prevention of macular degeneration, and overall eye health. This (or the cheaper Lutien) has helped a little bit with night driving.  But I know now  that's more Cataract related. 

 

 

On 1/28/2024 at 4:19 PM, cassdad said:

I had “light adjustable” lens installed (they can adjust the vision prescription AFTER the lens is installed in your eyes)

Turns out one of the brochures eye doc gave me was for the  light adjustable lens Cassdad mentioned..   The strength apparently can be changed (by UV light)  but not sure if this is the same as a muli-focus?    I'd rather have a fixed strength,   but with option to change or tweak.

 As mentioned,  I'm one who hates progressives- tried hard to use them for several weeks.  Could never make  it work.  Be it walking, or driving.  When doing my church organ gig - trying to read a chart, work drawbars, and look at both manuals it was a failure.   

 

4 hours ago, Old No7 said:

 

"Getting old" is better than NOT getting old!

So sorry to hear about your brother in law.     I've recently also heard:  "everyone gets to be young,  but not everyone gets to be old"  and try to keep that in perspective. 

 

Been cathartic  hearing from you all. Thanks again!

[cassdad]

34 minutes ago, obxa said:

Thanks again everyone. Going to try to schedule soon. 

 

 I also have vitreous detachment, first just one eye for the last year, as of last week now both.  

Causes full-time floaters and spider webs.  Not sure Cataract surgery will help that too.   It's now more annoying than anything else as I swat at imaginary gnats.  There have been some Japanese studies that Bromelain can minimize it.  It's basically pineapple.  You might want to give it shot,  as it has other benefits too.   I take it 4 weeks on and 2 weeks off- and it does seem to help.   The word from my Doc is that gravity will eventually help settle them too.   

 

Also started taking something called Preservision areds 2- which helps in the prevention of macular degeneration, and overall eye health. This (or the cheaper Lutien) has helped a little bit with night driving.  But I know now  that's more Cataract related. 

 

 

Turns out one of the brochures eye doc gave me was for the  light adjustable lens Cassdad mentioned..   The strength apparently can be changed (by UV light)  but not sure if this is the same as a muli-focus?    I'd rather have a fixed strength,   but with option to change or tweak.

 As mentioned,  I'm one who hates progressives- tried hard to use them for several weeks.  Could never make  it work.  Be it walking, or driving.  When doing my church organ gig - trying to read a chart, work drawbars, and look at both manuals it was a failure.   

 

So sorry to hear about your brother in law.     I've recently also heard:  "everyone gets to be young,  but not everyone gets to be old"  and try to keep that in perspective. 

 

Been cathartic  hearing from you all. Thanks again!

 

The “light adjustable lens” is a fixed strength.  It is NOT multi-focus.

[o0Ampy0o]

15 hours ago, Old No7 said:

Well, our eye docs obviously disagree...

 

I think there are many factors considered, (i.e. statistics, the historical experiences of the surgeon, their immediate colleagues and those of the nationwide healthcare organization, the surgeon's confidence as well as the patient's individual circumstances). My greatest concern has been that if something were to go wrong and one eye was in jeopardy I would want that addressed before risking total blindness. Yet, if only a very small percentage encounter such close calls then it comes down to more practical considerations. It is more efficient for the surgeon to do both the same morning. If all goes well, as apparently most do, it is better for the patient to get it over with and moving on to recovery. In my case, getting to full function involves a new prescription and new eyeglasses. My driver's license currently states I must wear corrective lenses. That will need to be changed. More time between eyes extends all of the steps to full function from mere days to weeks or a month and longer.

[re Pete]

17 hours ago, o0Ampy0o said:

My friend in Australia said when she had hers done they did one on Friday and the other on Monday. My research up to that point had me prepared for weeks to months between eyes. Then I switched healthcare plans and this doc described how he does them same day. 
 

This surgeon warned of the artifacts related to multifocal options. He cited auras, prismatic glare and difficulty with night driving. I am going with standard distance and will wear reading glasses when necessary. 

I had both eyes done last year and the doctor said I'd be a good candidate for multi focus lens. Wasn't thrilled about the 6K price vs medicare free mono lens. 

But, I read about this too with possible halos and problems at night vision. I ride a motorcycle and didn't want to deal with those possibilities, so went mono and need readers. Only thing is the script readers I got made my hands way too big for piano playing. So, I use less strong store boughts and doesn't bother me playing. 

Only thing I may have changed is having mono distance lens at surgery, but whatever. Just glad to be able to drive at night without the cataract halos.    

[Old No7]

20 hours ago, obxa said:

I also have vitreous detachment, first just one eye for the last year, as of last week now both.  

Causes full-time floaters and spider webs.  Not sure Cataract surgery will help that too.

 

It won't -- they only open up a small pocket to put the new lens into.

 

When they fixed my detached retina -- by cutting into the eye, inserting the gas bubble, and then laser-welding the edge of the retina and welding the eye closed -- they also flushed out all the floaters that were in there (leftover from the partial tear I'd had many years earlier).  That surgery is risky (5% chance of total vision loss!), but in the end they saved 99% of my sight (with just a slight loss where the retina was welded and has some scar tissue) -- and I would have lost 100% if they did nothing, so it was a no-brainer for me to get it done.

 

But it's a good thing I never got pulled over by the cops afterwards, as the iris in that eye was >3/8" for 2 months and took another 4 months after that to gradually return to its normal operation, as the scarring and laser work were so close to the nerves that control the iris.

 

I'm told there is a procedure they do for the "eye flush", but except for injecting the gas bubble (which my retina needed to secure it), I believe it's pretty similar to the work they did on me -- but it is risky, as noted above.  I wouldn't recommend it (and neither do my docs), unless the floaters & webs are so bad you can't function.

 

Good luck to all!

 

Old -- and happy to be getting older -- No7

[ajstan]

After wearing glasses or contacts since I was 7 years old (myopia and astigmatism), I got the PanOptix trifocal lenses in 2020.  I can't say enough good things about them and would make the same decision today. Having the replacement done in my 50's (the surgery team jokingly referred to it as "pediatric cataract surgery") made the extra expense worth it, as I'll hopefully get to use them for a long time.  Even if you decide to go a different direction, the PanOptix lenses are worth investigating.

 

I notice only two drawbacks.  First, it's difficult to read small print materials in low-light without using my phone's flashlight.  Second, I lost the ability to focus on things very close to my face, but for anything beyond 7 or 8 inches away, I've had no need for glasses.  I've used cheaters for close-up repairs (ironically to repair sunglasses) probably 2-3 times in the almost 4 years since the surgery.

 

Street lights and oncoming headlights are not an issue.  No problem with driving. Initially halos were noticeable, but my brain learned to ignore them.  Sure, I can see halos if I try to find them, but I just don't look directly at the lights and it's not an issue.

 

One observation that I don't think I've seen in this thread yet is that in the two weeks between the surgery on the first eye and the second, it was remarkable how much of a yellowish cast my natural lenses were applying to incoming light.  I'm enjoying the improved, more vivid colors with the new lenses.  

 

Another observation is that I have higher visual acuity with both eyes than I do with either eye individually.  I started off with around 20/30 vision but got to 20/25 or better within 30 days. I am able to comfortably read this forum on my Surface Pro 7+ at normal (100%) zoom at either an 8" distance or more than arm's length.

[o0Ampy0o]

13 hours ago, re Pete said:

I had both eyes done last year and the doctor said I'd be a good candidate for multi focus lens. Wasn't thrilled about the 6K price vs medicare free mono lens. 

But, I read about this too with possible halos and problems at night vision. I ride a motorcycle and didn't want to deal with those possibilities, so went mono and need readers. Only thing is the script readers I got made my hands way too big for piano playing. So, I use less strong store boughts and doesn't bother me playing. 

Only thing I may have changed is having mono distance lens at surgery, but whatever. Just glad to be able to drive at night without the cataract halos.    

 

What would you change to? You chose mono distance, correct? You were concerned about halos and night vision problems and so you did not choose multi-focus, correct?

[ksoper]

5 hours ago, ajstan said:

... I got the PanOptix trifocal lenses in 2020.  I can't say enough good things about them and would make the same decision today. Having the replacement done in my 50's (the surgery team jokingly referred to it as "pediatric cataract surgery") made the extra expense worth it, as I'll hopefully get to use them for a long time.  Even if you decide to go a different direction, the PanOptix lenses are worth investigating.

 

I notice only two drawbacks.  First, it's difficult to read small print materials in low-light without using my phone's flashlight.  Second, I lost the ability to focus on things very close to my face, but for anything beyond 7 or 8 inches away, I've had no need for glasses.  I've used cheaters for close-up repairs (ironically to repair sunglasses) probably 2-3 times in the almost 4 years since the surgery.

 

Street lights and oncoming headlights are not an issue.  No problem with driving. Initially halos were noticeable, but my brain learned to ignore them.  Sure, I can see halos if I try to find them, but I just don't look directly at the lights and it's not an issue.

 

One observation that I don't think I've seen in this thread yet is that in the two weeks between the surgery on the first eye and the second, it was remarkable how much of a yellowish cast my natural lenses were applying to incoming light.  I'm enjoying the improved, more vivid colors with the new lenses.  

 

Another observation is that I have higher visual acuity with both eyes than I do with either eye individually.  I started off with around 20/30 vision but got to 20/25 or better within 30 days. I am able to comfortably read this forum on my Surface Pro 7+ at normal (100%) zoom at either an 8" distance or more than arm's length.

 

Same lenses, pretty much identical experience.  Our package included a YAG laser procedure that removes scar tissue. Well worth the upcharge.  The price was stunning, Like, phasers set on stun. Down you go and you shit yourself.  But like the famed "pennies a day" sales close, the longer I own them the cheaper they get. And it's one less damn thing I have to worry about in the next 20 or so years. 

[Hernán Vallejos]

I haven't had cataract surgery, but a buddy of mine did. He said the recovery was a bit blurry, took some time off work, but things got better.

[re Pete]

11 hours ago, o0Ampy0o said:

 

What would you change to? You chose mono distance, correct? You were concerned about halos and night vision problems and so you did not choose multi-focus, correct?

I went with mono distance. As a result, I can see close up momentarily if I try to focus but reading anything for a while I just use store bought readers. 

I was intrigued by the thought of not needing glasses at all with multi focus, which the doctor said I'd be a good candidate for. But read some problems people had adjusting to them could take a year so I passed. From what I read, Medicare won't pay for them because the manufacturers said they spent money developing them and should be getting paid for that. I did think maybe the eye doctor was pushing them and getting a kickback. Who knows. 

If anyone got multi focus, I'd like to know how it went with after effects and if they went away.

[Old No7]

Had to add this -- just saw it elsewhere...

 

Old No7