daniell

Monday I am scheduled for cataract surgery. I don't know what to expect. I get nervous when dealing with my eyes. I never did adjust to wearing contact lenses.

freeranger

Just had mine done last May. I was nervous also. Glad to be ride of glasses after wearing them for 69 years! My experience was great! After the first eye was done, couldn't wait to have the second one done also! I was given anesthesia so wouldn't feel any pain (and I didn't). Then a "cup" which had a tube attached (I think) was put over my eye and it felt like cool water was filling it. They I saw swirling colors and I guess after that was when the lense was implanted. The anesthesia causes you to forget much of it. I was told there were 2 different rooms which were used, I don't remember the second room. I only need glasses for reading now and have 20/20 vision in one and 20/30 in the other. Colors are brighter and clearer. Didn't realize how much I was missing until after the surgeries were done. A woman at the gym had the same doc do hers and had excellent results also. So long as you have a good doc and his support people are good, it's a cake walk. The lenses I and the doc chose not only fixed the cataracts but also an astigmatism. He also did something to relieve pressure in an eye, which could have caused glaucoma.

daniell

Thanks for your kind and informative reply. For how long will that eye be bandaged? My other eye is a lazy eye. I can see enough with it to walk around or read, but it is not ideal. Something else I am wondering. What kind of glasses would I need for cycling. The operated eye won't need prescription lenses but the other one will.
Also, I elected to pay extra for laser surgery. The doctor said that would be the better choice for me.

fishboat

I (66yo) just had an eye exam and the doc said I had the very beginning of cataracts, He said .."in a few years ("and it can't happen soon enough") you'll be ready to have them removed. It'll take about 5 minutes per eye, you'll see better, have 20/20 vison and they'll correct any astigmatism while they're at it. What you're getting today may well be your last set of glasses" (I got glasses in the third grade, they go on when I wake up and are taken off when I go to bed)

This was all news to me as I didn't realize they could do the equivalent of Lasik while they cleaned up cataracts. Go figure..

freeranger

Many questions may be specific to your specific doc and how they do things. I did not have a bandage. Had a clear plastic cover so wouldn't touch my eye and wore it full time (night also) for a short time. . ALso had drops to use and eyelid wipes and a heat mask. Lots to do after the surgery(s) to ensure no problems after. My doc had a printout and went over everything with me before the operation. I was still nervous but turned out there was no reason to be. Your doc should have gone over everything, if not, ask. Noone better to explain it.

DiabloScott

As far as surgeries go, this is about the least invasive, least painful, least complicated type you can imagine. Do some prep, look into the kaleidoscope for a couple minutes, boom - you're done.

First few days are kind of weird but not a problem.
I had a problem with the steroid drops causing very high eye pressure (broken blood vessel and freaky eyeball), but they found it right away.
There are a bunch of choices when it comes to the type of lenses you get and their costs.
You probably won't have perfect vision at the end of all this, but it will certainly be better than whatever you have now.
It's certainly nice not to need glasses for driving and cycling - but my close up vision for reading got worse so I need readers all the time now.

freeranger

BTW--I don't need glasses for distance at all, but do need for reading. I found some very inexpensive glasses on Amazon that are clear on the top but have a diopter for reading on the bottom. I went to a big box store and checked out their "readers" so I'd know what strength I would need. I wear them most of the time now. After 69 yrs. of wearing glasses, felt weird without them! Nice not to need them,, tho!! And I can still use clip-on sunglasses that I can flip up if going in and out of sun to shade.

fat biker

daniell,



Relax, take a deep breath..



I had my left eye cataract removed on July 10. It was very nearly a non-event.



You could say I am a special case, as I have Amblyopia in my right eye. Meaning, in my right eye, I have been practically speaking, blind from birth. 20-650 on a good day. Having someone cut on the one eye that I have relied on my entire life to see caused a fair amount of stress and worry. As I told my doctor during the first followup visit, I wish I could get all that grief and worry back from the universe.



Drumroll, please. My shiny new left eye is 20-20.

I needed reading glasses before and need them still.



You will be fine.
Take care,

fat biker

daniell

Yesterday I had the cataract surgery and a followup today. All went well. The doctor said that I can be back on the bike in one week. I won't require glasses for that eye. The other eye is a lazy eye. I do have some useful vision from that eye. I don't know what type of glasses to purchase.

Chuck Naill

On a recent eye exam, mine are "not ripe enough to pick", the doctor said.

freeranger

If you need a prescription eyeglass lense for the lazy eye, the doc can advise what you may need for that eye as well as the surgically repaired eye. May just be a clear lense in the eyeglass frame (for the good eye), or he might prescribe a clear top with diopter for reading if necessary. He'll know what you need.

daniell

Thanks for your reply.
I am now looking for a temporary solution. The doctor said that it is too early for a permanent solution. He will be testing my lazy eye to see how much correction is possible. Too much correction of the lazy eye will lead to double vision. I am thinking of taking my glasses to an optician and have a non prescription lens put into the frame.

Carbonfiberboy 

My wife is getting new lenses, too. She's always done mono-vision, so that's what her new lenses will be. Left one distance, right one reading. She says it's quite quick to get used to. She's had the left one done, tomorrow it's the right one. She says the new left lens is amazing. She can see true colors again! Looking forward to getting mine done in October She's 74, I'm 78. I'll get a pair of distance lenses and use graduated glasses. I need glasses on the bike anyway.

daniell

It has been one week since the cataract surgery. Today the doctor gave me the OK to get back on the bike. Surprisingly I had no pain from the procedure. I don't like having to put drops into my eyes. I can now see 20/20 in that eye. The other eye is problematic. A lazy eye. After extensive testing by an optometrist, I may be able to get 20/50 to 20/40 in that eye. Here is the problem. The doctor cannot tell me with certainty that I won't develop double vision. My old brain may not accept the improved vision from the improved eye.

lex further

How are you doing now? How was the recovery process for you? Did you start to ride regularly again?
My dad will have the same operation in two weeks and i am trying to prepare him for this process as much as possible.
I was thinking also to order all the medications he will need from canada drugs website in advance and have peace with that.
Did you use all the meds after the operation actually or wasn't it necessary anymore.

daniell

I am doing fine and riding as usual. I need to take eye drops for another week. Monday I see (no pun intended) eye doctor. I have to decide whether I want to do the other eye.

daniell

Today I saw the eye doctor. My treated eye went from 20/70 to 20/20. The lazy eye is 20/300. That eye is very near sided with a great deal of astigmatism and has a large cataract. I have to make a decision about that eye. The doctor thinks that with cataract surgery, a special lens for $1,700, he can bring it up to 20/50. What concerns me is the possibility of seeing double. The optometrist tested my eyes with different lenses and reported to the doctor. The doctor believes that the vision in that eye will be improved, but not perfectly and I won't see double. He did admit that nothing in medicine has 100 percent certainty. I was always told that these corrections had be done as a child, not a 76 year old man.

VegasTriker

I can't see why you would have double vision. The brain is a remarkable organ capable of learning things even at your age. What the doctor proposes is to replace the lens with a lens that both works the same as your existing lens but corrects for astigmatism. $1,700 is cheap for such a lens. I was quoted $7K to correct astigmatism in both eyes and went for it as it meant that I would no longer need the glasses I wore since about age 12. My reason for getting the surgery is that the best glasses would do is correct my vision to 20/40 and I was coming up on drivers license renewal where that was pushing the minimum. When I went for renewal the clerk remarked that my current vision was better than what she could read on the eye chart as she removed the corrective vision requirement from my driver's license. The only somewhat annoying side effect is the halo that appears around light sources at night. Think of anything like car headlights to traffic signals. I still would do the same procedure today if I hadn't already done it. BTW, I'm slightly older than you and put off cataract surgery for nearly a decade. Wish I had done it as soon as I was eligible based on how bad the cataracts were.