anyone here had cataract surgery?

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Petunia

Petunia

Supporting Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2009
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6,126
Location
USA
I've had trouble seeing, well, pretty much all my life LOL I'm very near sighted, have astigmatism and of course presbyopia too now that I'm older.
Even with corrective lenses, my vision in my right eye can't be corrected to 20/20

but even taking that into account, I have a lot of trouble seeing things. OK I don't wear distance glasses any more, I only use computer distance lenses. This means I can't see the sign on the bus til it's close to the stop, but otherwise everything else I need to see, I can see.
In order to read, I just take my glasses off and hold things up to my eyes, or alternatively, hold things about computer distance away, which is what my eyeglass lens prescription is set for.

I've had a terrible time with seeing at night and have to keep adding more and more lights to see things inside.
I know colors are off, too.

Well, I saw the eye doctor today and as it turns out, I have cataracts, but I've had them (they were first seen) since 2004!
and no one ever told me.
Sheesh, you'd think they'd realize that was something I'd want to know!?!?!

anyway I don't know the grade, just the type (the most common age related one, nuclear)
I have an appt with a surgeon to see if I should have them removed.
I would very very much like to have the one in my right eye removed, because I can see so much better with my left eye, that I often want to only use the left eye (but have been warned not to do that, because the other eye will get lazy or some such thing)

I am hoping it will make it a lot easier for me to sew, which has been difficult for me to do for um, about 4 yrs now, I think.

if the cataracts are the same in both eyes, heck I want them both out!

now, does anyone know if this procedure hurts at all?
and is there any down side to having them removed earlier rather than later?

I would love to be able to see better. I know this won't correct my vision, and I surely can't afford to have the special lenses put in so that I don't need to wear glasses any more LOL
I just have to find out if medicaid will cover it, or if they are going to make me wait til I'm "bumping-into-things-blind" first
:p

wait, I already bump into things! :roll: :lol:
 
The Dr. decided when it was time to remove the cataracts, one eye (in November) needed to be done right away. It was actually the eye I thought of as my better eye. lol
The procedure doesn't hurt at all, there is a bit of pain after for a few weeks but nothing Tylenol can't handle.
 
thanks Joanne and thanks mamarat

do you know what criteria the doctor used to determine when they came out?

did you have any say in it at all?

I hope I don't have to wait too long, but then I just found out my eye glass prescription may change, so maybe it would be better if i had some time to save up for those (estimated cost $400)

I have severe (they called it "extreme") myopia plus with the astigmatism my lenses are very expensive, even just for single vision
:(
 
The Dr. told me if that one in November wasn't taken care of, it would be too late and I would be blind in that eye. The one I just got done could have waited for another while but I wanted to get new glasses with both eyes fixed. Mine are 500 bucks and my insurance only covers me every 3 years.
 
Just called my dad because he had cataract surgery. He said that his vision improved and he got weaker lenses the next time he had his glasses changed.

Ann
 
Hi there, I used to work at a Canadian optometrist's office, and we had a lot of cataract patients coming through. I didn't get to work with them as much because I was only part time, but I do know your eyes can get very dry after the surgery, so you will have to put this drop thing that's pretty thick like a gel put into your eye at night, and sort of regular drops throughout the day. Also, it's usually recommended to wear sunglasses out both before the surgery (if you know it runs in your family) and after to prevent it from happening again or something. There are these special glasses you can get that pretty much blocks out all the UV light, we sold them at the office, but I'm sure you can pick one up at the drug store.

Also, in regards to the one eye might become lazy. What happens is when one of your eyes sees much better than the other, your brain sort of start to ignore input coming from the other eye (that's why if you have slight nearsightedness - like me - and you cover up your good eye, suddenly it looks a lot blurrier than if you had both eyes). Basically, eventually your brain can start to think the other eye isn't really there, so it sorta loses control and your eye end up wandering around and not looking directly at the object you're "looking" at. Now this part I got because I'm studying neuroscience, I'm not so sure if it's what your optometrist is referring to, but I think it may be it. However, I've only seen young (like less than 25) people develop lazy eye at the office, not many people get them when they're older because their brain gets kinda stuck (which, I believe, is why it's so hard to learn a new language or something).

With respect to the procedure itself, it may be different, but once the specialist explained it in very simple terms for me (if you're interested to know :D). Basically, he said to imagine your lens in your eye like a grape. There's fluid/something inside to push it up. When you get cataracts (perhaps a specific type of it) the fluid gets cloudy, and you do the surgery to get rid of it. Now this part will sound silly, but he said they make a small incision on the edge of the black and white part of your eye, stick a needle in it and sorta suck out the fluid (like when you have a really ripe grape and you can suck out the inside and leave the skin), and they put a new lens/fluid/thing inside it that's clear, and that's how you see again :)

Sorry about the long message, and I apologize if this wasn't any new/useful info. I get so excited when I can finally contribute in some way on these discussion boards :p
 
thank you so much passionfruit for that detailed information!

I have to admit, the idea of my eyeball being cut into makes me queasy but if it means being able to see better, I'll suck it up and go ahead with it.

It will be up to the surgeon if it's time to get it done now or if I have to wait; part of me wants it to be done asap
the other part is a bit scared and also doesn't want to have any down time as I just started back sewing and making hammocks

so, I guess it's good it's not totally up to me!
thanks everyone!
 
There really is no down time at all since they only do one eye at a time. And they wait for that eye to be healed to do the other one. I do see much clearer now but still need my glasses to read.
 
mamarat said:
There really is no down time at all since they only do one eye at a time. And they wait for that eye to be healed to do the other one. I do see much clearer now but still need my glasses to read.
Click to expand...

were you near sighted before you had the surgery done, or did you/do you have astigmatism?
or do you only have presbyopia?

I have all three, plus a few other eye conditions. I can't afford the premium lenses they put in for some people when they have cataract surgery, they get the surgically implanted lens that corrects their vision
I'll just get a plain ol lens
and will still need glasses for everything else, distance, reading and to correct my astigmatism

I think the doc said that my vision could change from the surgery and that I should wait a bit afterward before I got new glasses but my glasses aren't covered by insurance at all, just the exam
and I don't know when I"ll be able to afford new ones.
I hope to be able to get reading glasses and distance glasses at some point, right now I just have computer distance glasses that I wear all the time.
 
I need glasses for far away and close up. I do have to wait a month after the surgery to get a new prescription. Even the drops I need to put in 4 times a day for a month can affect my vision. I only got the plain lens as well, the doc never mentioned I could get the other ones.
 
I don't' know much details, but my dad just had this done recently as well. He didn't have any problems. A few times he mentioned things were a little blurry but it went away after a few days of surgery. He didn't have a choice in the matter if he wanted it done or not, they made him do it. He had a special type of cataracts that actually rapidly grew, so the faster he got them off, the better he would be.

I hope it works out for you!
 
My grandma had both of hers done. I took her for the first eye. For someone who doesn't tolerate procedures well, she got through this with flying colors, and after both were done she sees better. Can't relate personally as I'm the only on in my fam who doesn't need glasses.

Are you saying they noted cataracts in '04 but didn't mention it to you 'til recently?? It wouldn't surprise me, the way some things tend to slip through the cracks.
 
My dad and grandmother just got them done, my dad is 72 and was told even with the plain lens their would be an improvement in vision but he opted for the special one and now has 20/20 vision he is pretty happy. My grandmother is 91 not sure what type she got but her vision is not improving very well and she can't get new glasses because her eyes won't stabilize now, shes rather upset. Apparently there is a small percentage of people who do not regain full vision and there are a number of factors, I would assume age would be one of them.
 
thanks everyone! well it turns out that they have decided that I do need the surgery apparently because I was sent to the surgeon for it, and not for a consult, which I thought was odd, but whatever.

So I'll let you know how it goes! they also said I have to wait to get my eye glass prescription til after the surgery, cuz my vision may change (or probably will change, at least a bit)

don't have the money for new glasses so I am not sure what I'll do about that.


one step at a time I guess
 

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