Just got back from the eye doc Options

[gigem99]

I still can't see worth a dern...those drops are bad, but not as bad as they were 30-40 years ago. For some reason, my glasses 'script has changed A LOT over the past couple of years. The good news is that the optometrist told me I have 'stage 2 non-proliferative' retinopathy - nothing to really be concerned about, he said, and no need anytime soon to get lasered or even see a retina guy.

The bad news is that my cataracts have gotten really bad, and I'm gonna need surgery. He wrote out a new glasses 'script, but told me to wait to have it filled until I see the cataract surgeon. This has me kinda spooked, since I have POS Insurance Corp. of America. He thinks they will cover it, tho. I sure hope so. It's hard for me to drive because my eyes are so bad right now, and I have an 80 mile daily commute.

I'm curious to hear from others about catarct surgery and time to recuperate. Anyone?!?

Tom

[Dave1958]

I still can't see worth a dern...those drops are bad, but not as bad as they were 30-40 years ago. For some reason, my glasses 'script has changed A LOT over the past couple of years. The good news is that the optometrist told me I have 'stage 2 non-proliferative' retinopathy - nothing to really be concerned about, he said, and no need anytime soon to get lasered or even see a retina guy.

The bad news is that my cataracts have gotten really bad, and I'm gonna need surgery. He wrote out a new glasses 'script, but told me to wait to have it filled until I see the cataract surgeon. This has me kinda spooked, since I have POS Insurance Corp. of America. He thinks they will cover it, tho. I sure hope so. It's hard for me to drive because my eyes are so bad right now, and I have an 80 mile daily commute.

I'm curious to hear from others about catarct surgery and time to recuperate. Anyone?!?

Tom

Tom, I had a cataract develop quite slowly in one eye(so far), and finally decided it was time to get clear vision back a little over 3 years ago. Of course, it was scary to face, but everything went exactly as it should. My vision measured 20/20 right after the lens replacement and still does. I think it was worse than 20/40 just before. Also, I now have no astigmatism. It is possible to choose your preferred focal distance, but the standard seems to be about 15 feet. This gives quite clear distance vision and reading possibility in bright light without glasses. In normal light levels, glasses will be necessary for reading. Fine print will still require a magnifying glass, but you probably already use one of those for the really small print.
I get a little diagonal glare from bright lights at night(headlights) but it's not bad enough to be a problem. This comes from the attachment points at the edge of the lens, where the lens was held prior to being left in the sac. At least, that's what I was told.
Very likely, you will get one eye done, and wait for it to heal before getting the other eye done.
Overall, it's very much worthwhile, and not difficult. You may have a patch over the eye which has been operated on for a day or two, and a protector for the eye while you sleep, for a while. No rubbing allowed while the cornea heals, but that's just a few days. I had to use antibiotics and other things that I don't remember, as drops, to ensure no infection for about 30 days.
You MUST have someone else drive you home because of the anesthetic that's used. No driving for about 24 hours. Listen to your ophthalmologist and read everything carefully.
You'll be amazed at all the little critters you haven't noticed for a while.
The glasses you need after the lens replacement will probably just be reading glasses. I use glasses only for reading and viewing the computer monitor. The rest of the time, no glasses.
Dave

[Liz]

I still can't see worth a dern...those drops are bad, but not as bad as they were 30-40 years ago. For some reason, my glasses 'script has changed A LOT over the past couple of years. The good news is that the optometrist told me I have 'stage 2 non-proliferative' retinopathy - nothing to really be concerned about, he said, and no need anytime soon to get lasered or even see a retina guy.

The bad news is that my cataracts have gotten really bad, and I'm gonna need surgery. He wrote out a new glasses 'script, but told me to wait to have it filled until I see the cataract surgeon. This has me kinda spooked, since I have POS Insurance Corp. of America. He thinks they will cover it, tho. I sure hope so. It's hard for me to drive because my eyes are so bad right now, and I have an 80 mile daily commute.

I'm curious to hear from others about catarct surgery and time to recuperate. Anyone?!?

Tom

Sorry to hear about the bad news. I just saw my eye doctor two weeks ago and I also agree that whatever drops they use now to dilate pupils are much better than the stuff I used to get.

My mother had cataract surgery maybe 10-12 years ago. She had one eye done at a time. After having both eyes done she no longer needed to wear glasses all the time (and still doesn't). She now just has reading glasses. I can't remember how long it took her to heal each time but it wasn't too bad. She had a harder time after having the first eye done because she couldn't use it and her other eye was still bad.

[Arlene S.]

I still can't see worth a dern...those drops are bad, but not as bad as they were 30-40 years ago. For some reason, my glasses 'script has changed A LOT over the past couple of years. The good news is that the optometrist told me I have 'stage 2 non-proliferative' retinopathy - nothing to really be concerned about, he said, and no need anytime soon to get lasered or even see a retina guy.

The bad news is that my cataracts have gotten really bad, and I'm gonna need surgery. He wrote out a new glasses 'script, but told me to wait to have it filled until I see the cataract surgeon. This has me kinda spooked, since I have POS Insurance Corp. of America. He thinks they will cover it, tho. I sure hope so. It's hard for me to drive because my eyes are so bad right now, and I have an 80 mile daily commute.

I'm curious to hear from others about catarct surgery and time to recuperate. Anyone?!?

Tom

I had cataract surgery last year. The first was in January and the second in February with three weeks in between surgeries. I had to use three different kinds of eye drops and I believe I started one kind before the surgeries. I was in the hospital for about four hours. When they told me to be there at 7:30 I was led to believe the surgery was to take place earlier. My BG was going down and I had to have glucose in the IV because I was fasting but I kept my pump and CGM on throughout the surgery. I couldn't wear my regular glasses and because they were rimless I ended up finding an old pair and and I had to pop the right lens. My optician put it a clear lens. I only needed to wear the patch the first night. I was driving the next day and using CVS reading glasses for reading for the three weeks until my next surgery. For the second surgery I was in the hospital for three hours; my BGs were stable throughout. I just used the reading glasses because I no longer needed glasses for driving. After about 4 weeks I got new glasses but I wanted the progressive lenses. I have a very weak prescription for distance (I've worn glasses for a long time and I felt uncomfortable without them) and reading glasses.

My right eye has always been the dominant one but after the surgery I had 20/20 vision but my surgeon told me that eventually my brain would go back to my right eye as the dominant one and she was correct. I still need reading glasses and I wear distance glasses because I want them.

The surgery itself, except for the eye drops schedule, was pretty easy.

Getting a new prescription now isn't going to help you very much. Schedule the surgery. Good luck.

[tedm]

I had cataract surgery (lens replacement) in both eyes about 6 years ago. My major desire was actually refraction correction (I was extremely nearsighted) but afterwards, I realized just how much the cataracts were interfering with my vision. (At last then, my corneas were too thin to fully correct my vision with LASIC.)

My outcome was slightly less than ideal: although right after surgery, my refraction was correct, over the next year or so, my vision drifted about 1.5 diopters farsighted. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/badmood.gif) The funny thing is that I'd planned on using monovision (that's where you correct one eye near and one eye far so you have a better range of vision) and requested that my left eye be corrected to 1.5 diopters nearsighted. The net result is that my left eye now has perfect far vision and my right eye is a bit farsighted.

Being farsighted is a PIA but at least I no longer need thick glasses.

I agree that the surgery is very minor. In case you're not aware, they fully dilate the pupal and then go in with a small incision in the edge of the cornea and go right in through the open pupal to get to the lens. Very clever!

[Mike G]

I had cataract surgery (lens replacement) in both eyes about 6 years ago. My major desire was actually refraction correction (I was extremely nearsighted) but afterwards, I realized just how much the cataracts were interfering with my vision. (At last then, my corneas were too thin to fully correct my vision with LASIC.)

My outcome was slightly less than ideal: although right after surgery, my refraction was correct, over the next year or so, my vision drifted about 1.5 diopters farsighted. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/badmood.gif) The funny thing is that I'd planned on using monovision (that's where you correct one eye near and one eye far so you have a better range of vision) and requested that my left eye be corrected to 1.5 diopters nearsighted. The net result is that my left eye now has perfect far vision and my right eye is a bit farsighted.

Being farsighted is a PIA but at least I no longer need thick glasses.

I agree that the surgery is very minor. In case you're not aware, they fully dilate the pupal and then go in with a small incision in the edge of the cornea and go right in through the open pupal to get to the lens. Very clever!

My Dad has gone through the gamut on this - he has had every conceivable treatment out there - including experimental - contact me if you get frustrated and are looking for options.

[pratt431]

I still can't see worth a dern...those drops are bad, but not as bad as they were 30-40 years ago. For some reason, my glasses 'script has changed A LOT over the past couple of years. The good news is that the optometrist told me I have 'stage 2 non-proliferative' retinopathy - nothing to really be concerned about, he said, and no need anytime soon to get lasered or even see a retina guy.

The bad news is that my cataracts have gotten really bad, and I'm gonna need surgery. He wrote out a new glasses 'script, but told me to wait to have it filled until I see the cataract surgeon. This has me kinda spooked, since I have POS Insurance Corp. of America. He thinks they will cover it, tho. I sure hope so. It's hard for me to drive because my eyes are so bad right now, and I have an 80 mile daily commute.

I'm curious to hear from others about catarct surgery and time to recuperate. Anyone?!?

Tom

Hi Tom, I joined hoping to hear from others who have had catarac surgery. I am scheduled for surgery and they tell me you are very quickly able to go back to your routine. They do one eye at a time. They have told me about a new lense (Restor) that will take care of both distance and close vision. Since I haven't had the surgery yet, I can't answer other than what I have been told. I wish you well and hope that you get your questions answered. Grace

[Maureen H.]

I actually had retinopathy in my left eye that was detected Jan 2012. Since then I had three injections of avastin to control the swelling. They told me it was better than laser treatments. But I have lost some vision in that eye. I go back this week. I have a cloud on the retina (fatty deposits) that distort the vision. Cateracts too but not yet bad enough to treat.