Worried about cataract surgery?

Mark_B_Good

Glad it went well. My uncle had this surgery done, but he had an option to deal with far and near sightedness.  They were able to fix both for him ... it cost more, but apparently there's a lens that can do both???

lousubcap

Mark_B_Good said:

Glad it went well. My uncle had this surgery done, but he had an option to deal with far and near sightedness.  They were able to fix both for him ... it cost more, but apparently there's a lens that can do both???

I had the option to go with the lens to correct both.  I talked with a few who had that implant and the reviews were mixed.  Glad your uncle's deal went well but I passed.  As long as I don't need glasses to drive I am fine. 

And the lenses do have a substantial upcharge and you need to do both eyes.

Another option I passed on was to make one eye good for far sight and the other for near sight, relying on your brain to do the hard work of equalizing.

At my age I figure I don't need to put additional pressure on my brain to start a new project so skipped that as well.  FWIW-

RRP

lousubcap said:

Mark_B_Good said:

Glad it went well. My uncle had this surgery done, but he had an option to deal with far and near sightedness.  They were able to fix both for him ... it cost more, but apparently there's a lens that can do both???

I had the option to go with the lens to correct both.  I talked with a few who had that implant and the reviews were mixed.  Glad your uncle's deal went well but I passed.  As long as I don't need glasses to drive I am fine. 

And the lenses do have a substantial upcharge and you need to do both eyes.

Another option I passed on was to make one eye good for far sight and the other for near sight, relying on your brain to do the hard work of equalizing.

At my age I figure I don't need to put additional pressure on my brain to start a new project so skipped that as well.  FWIW-

 Thanks, Buddy for jumping in here as I was afraid my reply would be one of a kind - even though it was a NASTY opinion!

My 60 year old niece in The Netherlands opted to go with that same "this eye and that eye" procedure.

In HER case IT went EXTREMEMLY BAD!

She has had 2 more operations to try to hopefully correct that problem and STILL is not and PROBABLY NEVER will be capable of correction!!!!

It may very well just have been a bad surgeon blah blah blah  - BUT over there in The Netherlands you can't sue a doctor for malpractice! Take it or leave it - I guess...

Canugghead

I'm due, soaking it all in, thanks fellas.

alaskanassasin

RRP said:

lousubcap said:

Mark_B_Good said:

Glad it went well. My uncle had this surgery done, but he had an option to deal with far and near sightedness.  They were able to fix both for him ... it cost more, but apparently there's a lens that can do both???

I had the option to go with the lens to correct both.  I talked with a few who had that implant and the reviews were mixed.  Glad your uncle's deal went well but I passed.  As long as I don't need glasses to drive I am fine. 

And the lenses do have a substantial upcharge and you need to do both eyes.

Another option I passed on was to make one eye good for far sight and the other for near sight, relying on your brain to do the hard work of equalizing.

At my age I figure I don't need to put additional pressure on my brain to start a new project so skipped that as well.  FWIW-

 Thanks, Buddy for jumping in here as I was afraid my reply would be one of a kind - even though it was a NASTY opinion!

My 60 year old niece in The Netherlands opted to go with that same "this eye and that eye" procedure.

In HER case IT went EXTREMEMLY BAD!

She has had 2 more operations to try to hopefully correct that problem and STILL is not and PROBABLY NEVER will be capable of correction!!!!

It may very well just have been a bad surgeon blah blah blah  - BUT over there in The Netherlands you can't sue a doctor for malpractice! Take it or leave it - I guess...

Good luck suing a doctor here.

Ybabpmuts

My Dr talked me out of the corrective lenses too. I never understood why. Half of me thinks maybe he was ugly up close ... but the other half of me thinks maybe he was ugly from far away. I woke up thinking I couldn't see **** and he was wiggling on top of me in an unnatural way, especially for an eye doctor.

RRP

Ybabpmuts said:

My Dr talked me out of the corrective lenses too. I never understood why. Half of me thinks maybe he was ugly up close ... but the other half of me thinks maybe he was ugly from far away. I woke up thinking I couldn't see **** and he was wiggling on top of me in an unnatural way, especially for an eye doctor.

DAMNIT, PAUL - I just spit all over my screen and keyboard!

Legume

My mother in law adapted to contacts in her 70s that gave her one eye near focus and one eye distance. She had an easier time than I ever imagined it could be for anyone regardless of age.  I was given the same option recently and I passed, for now.

Surgeries don't always go the way they're planned and that's not always because bad doctor or malpractice. There's a reason you're informed of all of the risks and possible outcomes - you're making an informed decision, if you really read and listen to the info available.

People aren't cars.

(Hey @alaskanassasin ☝️)

Ybabpmuts

I wish some people were cars. For an example, if my soon to be ex wife were a classic car, I could keep her in the barn and never let her see the light of day until her interior smells like old grommets from a 1998 harbor freight catalog. We can all agree at that point she'd be harmless.


It's totally amicable...

alaskanassasin

Legume said:

My mother in law adapted to contacts in her 70s that gave her one eye near focus and one eye distance. She had an easier time than I ever imagined it could be for anyone regardless of age.  I was given the same option recently and I passed, for now.

Surgeries don't always go the way they're planned and that's not always because bad doctor or malpractice. There's a reason you're informed of all of the risks and possible outcomes - you're making an informed decision, if you really read and listen to the info available.

People aren't cars.

(Hey @alaskanassasin ☝️)

We had a life changing almost death in the family due to a negligent doctor. Luckily my family member survived though permanent damage was done.  My family is not into suing but when a doctor almost kills your loved one, and is indifferent/dismissive of the medical situation as it unfolds because they are so sure of themselves…
  Most of the few lawyers they spoke to would not touch it because they work with the hospital network in one fashion or another. The lawyer that would take the case spoke over them and had a this is how it’s going to be attitude. Basically they had a case but it was going to be a marathon, testifying, what is your life worth monetarily at your age etc.

 But yes generally I assume when you sign all that sheet for a regular surgery, well you should have read the fine print.

alaskanassasin

Based on one experience in this particular rabbit hole, sorry for the rant @Legume

Ybabpmuts

@alaskanassasin

Sorry to hear that. I kid around a lot obviously but I've also been through hell and thought I was going to die multiple times due to negligent Dr's. People assume Dr's know everything, but that's far from the truth. I have a team of specialists that I deal with but I have to be careful. I almost died getting a morphine pump put in. It got infected and blood pooled around it, pitch black.and steeped blood for days. My pain Dr got nervous and called in a wound care specialist, who would look at it every two days and decide if it needed some procedure. Everytime this happened, they reserved and or, just in case, costing me $200 each time. I finally looked at them both and sid "take it out now". They both said that was a good idea, and I was in OR withing 2 hours. I could go on and one about the stupid **** I've dealt with, for instance, I'm allergic to fentanyl,  I go into anaphylactic shock. It's in all my history, yet during three of my operations, even though I was on all the paperwork and I had the bright colored armband, they gave it to me anyway as an anesthesia. I got so damned sick all three times, for days, it was awful.

Legume

alaskanassasin said:

Based on one experience in this particular rabbit hole, sorry for the rant @Legume

yeah, that sucks. no worries on the justified rant, I was just trying to feed you another quote

alaskanassasin

Ybabpmuts said:

@alaskanassasin

Sorry to hear that. I kid around a lot obviously but I've also been through hell and thought I was going to die multiple times due to negligent Dr's. People assume Dr's know everything, but that's far from the truth. I have a team of specialists that I deal with but I have to be careful. I almost died getting a morphine pump put in. It got infected and blood pooled around it, pitch black.and steeped blood for days. My pain Dr got nervous and called in a wound care specialist, who would look at it every two days and decide if it needed some procedure. Everytime this happened, they reserved and or, just in case, costing me $200 each time. I finally looked at them both and sid "take it out now". They both said that was a good idea, and I was in OR withing 2 hours. I could go on and one about the stupid **** I've dealt with, for instance, I'm allergic to fentanyl,  I go into anaphylactic shock. It's in all my history, yet during three of my operations, even though I was on all the paperwork and I had the bright colored armband, they gave it to me anyway as an anesthesia. I got so damned sick all three times, for days, it was awful.

Sorry to hear that @Ybabpmuts. I hope you have a loved one to help you navigate when you’re at the hospital, it really makes a difference having someone speak for you in a lot of instances.

Ybabpmuts

I used to have the fuzzy little misses help me but I'm getting divorced so when I have my next round of joint replacements, I'll be on my own. I'm so used to all the hospitalizations at this point though, that it'll be fine. You don't go through 14 major operations and not learn how to navigate all the nonsense. 

Canugghead

Feel sorry for GWN families fighting CMPA's $5 Billion war chest. 
https://youtu.be/9Z35oDSnZ7g

HeavyG

In my email this morning the Harvard Medical Newsletter mentioned the release of their guide to cataract surgery:

Dear Reader,

You’ve noticed you’re not seeing as well as you used to. Your vision is blurry. Foggy. Cloudy.

So you go to your doctor for new eyeglasses. But guess what? She says you’ve got cataracts. And she recommends surgery.

Don’t worry! Cataract surgery is one of the oldest, safest, and most successful operations in medicine.

But you may still have some lingering questions and concerns. You’ve also got a few important decisions to make.

That’s why I’d like to give you some good news:

The vision experts at Harvard Medical School have just published a report called Clearing the Fog of Cataracts.

***********

I've bought a couple of their guides on various subjects and found them to be useful and more convenient than just googling around.

The link to their page in case anyone might be interested:

https://www.health.harvard.edu/promotions/harvard-health-publications/clearing-the-fog-of-cataracts-test/order

Mark_B_Good

lousubcap said:

Mark_B_Good said:

Glad it went well. My uncle had this surgery done, but he had an option to deal with far and near sightedness.  They were able to fix both for him ... it cost more, but apparently there's a lens that can do both???

I had the option to go with the lens to correct both.  I talked with a few who had that implant and the reviews were mixed.  Glad your uncle's deal went well but I passed.  As long as I don't need glasses to drive I am fine. 

And the lenses do have a substantial upcharge and you need to do both eyes.

Another option I passed on was to make one eye good for far sight and the other for near sight, relying on your brain to do the hard work of equalizing.

At my age I figure I don't need to put additional pressure on my brain to start a new project so skipped that as well.  FWIW-

I had laser surgery done on my eyes ... just before the operation, the doctor asks if I want one eye good for far, and one for near ... and in the 30 seconds I had to think about it ... I asked for his opinion, and because he thought it was a good idea ... I went with it.

BIG MISTAKE ... The reading eye is okay ... but I still need reading glasses for it, and now I kind of have this weird feeling of knowing one eye is "off" when looking long distance, and the other eye is off when I need to read ... it's a STUPID option in my opinion.  Fix both for distance, and deal with short sightedness with reading glasses, in my humble opinion.

Honestly, I might go back to the laser surgeon in a few years to get this "reading" eye corrected again, for long distance only.

Canugghead

Glad I followed this thread. I think I'm settled on fixing both eyes for distant and glasses for near, unless the surgeon can convince me otherwise. Question for those of you that took the distant option, what's the minimum distance you can see clearly without glasses? TIA

Ybabpmuts

My doctor told me that was an option, but advised against it for the very reasons you pointed out. He clearly slated that some people couldn't adjust to them at all, or that one them could be a little wonky, and then would have to be redone. I never needed reading glasses until after my cataract surgery, which confused me, but it's really a minor inconvenience considering how bad my eyes were. I couldn't even drive anymore. Those steroid induced cataracts came on fast. It was a matter of two weeks before I could no longer see to drive, or watch TV, or read. Steroids are the one thing I can take that makes my body feel halfway decent but they do so much damage to me. Still, on my worst days, I need to take them and just deal with the side effects. It's all evil.

Legume

IF you have any interest, try the contacts for a month or two before you let them start cutting on your eye.  It makes sense that it's going to be easier for some people to adjust and some people won't be able to.  Find out which you are.  Test drive.

Legume

And for what it's worth - I think that's totally irresponsible for a doc to present you with a huge option like that without all the info and time to consider.  Big red flag.

lousubcap

Canugghead said:

Glad I followed this thread. I think I'm settled on fixing both eyes for distant and glasses for near, unless the surgeon can convince me otherwise. Question for those of you that took the distant option, what's the minimum distance you can see clearly without glasses? TIA

Consider the source and this is offered after the worst eye was corrected (the other-under the knife Monday is rolling along at 20/25-that delayed this whole deal).

I can easily see any objects (paper clips, etc w/o any glasses).  My crude eye test (just performed) with Calibri 16 pitch type in caps, I can clearly read the old days eye chart letters "DEFPOTEC" at a distance of about 62 cms w/o glasses. 

I would take all above with several grains of salt and other medicinal inputs.

But for me, no turning back. 

My main objective was to not need glasses to drive as I mentioned prior and that ability has been sustained.  FWIW-

Mark_B_Good

Canugghead said:

Glad I followed this thread. I think I'm settled on fixing both eyes for distant and glasses for near, unless the surgeon can convince me otherwise. Question for those of you that took the distant option, what's the minimum distance you can see clearly without glasses? TIA

When I first had my surgery, both eyes were at 20/10 vision ... what I could see at 20 ft, the average person would have to stand 10 ft away to see. On the golf course, we could drive a ball 280 yards, and I saw it clearly all the way, where it landed, no issues ... where most of the other guys had no clue where the ball went. It was incredible how far I could see.

Over time (it's been 14 years) that has settling into 20/20 vision ... maybe 20/25 for that "reading" eye.

I get my eyes checked every year.

lousubcap

This thread has been sunk.  Hello?

Mark_B_Good

Legume said:

And for what it's worth - I think that's totally irresponsible for a doc to present you with a huge option like that without all the info and time to consider.  Big red flag.

In retrospect ... I am a bit upset about not having the time to think about it. They did do a good job though, my eye sight has been amazing ... just in the past 2 years they have changed where reading has become a bit of an issue.

lousubcap

I was fortunate in that at my initial assessment I was told all the options and this happened at around four weeks prior to surgery.  I then had the "decision time" review with the doctor 12 days prior.  No brainer for me.