surgtech1956

At my eye exam yesterday was informed that I have a small cataract in both eyes. My vision is still 20-20. I turn 54 in April. Going to make an appt with an eye doctor. I wore contact lenses for about 30 years and started wearing glasses about 4 years ago - with progressive lenses. I work in surgery and I need to be able to see if close and far away, so the glasses work, 'cheaters' would be OK but I would need to leave them on, I'm going to check into some safety glasses with the little bifocal. I've wanted to go back to contacts especially on the bike. What sunglasses do you wear for riding? Also, anyone else with cataracts???

Fat Tire

Grumpy Alert! What follows is an example of extreme grumpiness. I figure I am entitled.

I have a cataract growing in my right eye, which is actually my GOOD eye, not sure what to do about it. Just been ignoring it, getting on with things. Been wearing progressive addition lenses for years, very nice. I wear clip on sunglasses over the lens, so I have the cataract growing over the lens of my eye, the glasses over the cataract, sun glasses over the corrective lenses. I am expecting the ocular version of that famous '80s affliction, Shoulder Pad Buildup.

Is this the standard time for the hearty good humored 'joke/saying', "Blind in one eye, can't see out of the other?" 'Cause I don't see the "humor" in it. Been blind in one eye my whole life, figured I had sacrificed enough. When it gets bad enough that I can't read, THEN it will be an "emergency". Medicare, anyone?

End Grumpy!

DougG

I had a cataract removed several years ago, and I now actually see better out of that eye (uncorrected) than I ever did in my life since they put in a replacement lens that was spec'd to correct my vision. The only problem is that it's a fixed-focus lens, so I still need glasses (now bifocals) to see well at all distances. But with my glasses off, I'm at least not functionally blind in that eye!

If you have the money (and I think they're not cheap!), I believe that they now have lenses available that can vary focus pretty much like your natural lenses do, and you can come out of cataract surgery not needing corrective lenses at all. In my opinion, if this really works like they say, it would be better than having lasik, which again doesn't give you a wide range of vision focus.

DnvrFox

My wife (72) just had her 2nd cataract IOL this last week. The first was 3 weeks ago.

We chose the Technics multi-focal "progressive" type lens (another is the Restor).

They ARE expensive - $1,500 above the cost of the regular single strength.

She has not worn them long enough to know if she is satisfied. However, she could read the print on a book, etc., without any glasses - no more "Do you know where my reading glasses are?"

At the rate she goes through reading glasses - I figure that, over 10 years, I made out like a bandit $$ wise, even with the $1,500 per eye. I get a pair of Rx glasses every few years, and NEVER lose or misplace them. She has reading glasses all over the place, and they break and she loses them regularly!!

I have a cataract in my left eye which is growing, and likely this year I will need it fixed?? I have an appt in June with the opthalmologist for a cataract workup.

Interestingly, last Wed, when we were prepping for the operation in the day surgery place, we were told that her lens had NOT arrived yet, it was still in shipment. She had the IV in and everything. Someone at the factory had made an error in not marking the shipment to expedite delivery. It was like an Abbott and Costello movie as they could track the delivery truck - it was in Commerce City, now it was somewhere else, etc.

Finally the Technics rep met the truck somewhere and brought the lens to the hospital. They did give us a $500 discount for our 5 hour wait!!

rdmjr

Hey, Dnvr,
You need to keep an eye out for sales Walgreens. When I went to Walgreens to get a pair of reading glasses, I found that the style I liked was $9.99/pair, on sale at 3 apirs for $10.00. I've now got a pair at work, a pair at home and the third pair in my truck. Now I can finally read almost all I want to again, if the library could just keep up with my requests!
- Bob

DnvrFox

You are writing to the wrong person. Tell that to my wife, if you dare!!

laplander

I went in to have my eyes checked a year and a half ago, and they found a macular pucker in my left eye,( tissue growing over the macular, and then wrinkles, causing distortion and blurred vision) I had surgery, now I have to have a cataract removed from that eye. I was told that this would happen, i'm not looking forward to having it done, but I was told this is the easy part. I waited five years to have my vision checked, when they found the macular pucker, I would not wait that long again, you don't know it's value till you loose it.

Wogster

Get it fixed, don't wait. This kind of surgery is a lot easier then it was in the 1970's, when aunt Mabel had it done, and it didn't work so well, and she couldn't move her head for a week, and was confined to bed for a month. I think it's pretty much day surgery now, you go in in the morning, and your home the same day. You need to remember though, there is often a waiting list for surgery, so if you wait until your functionally blind, you could have months where your unable to read, and worse unable to ride, before the surgery.