Cataract surgery result is amazing

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Starfish77
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Cataract surgery result is amazing

Post by Starfish77 »

I had my second cataract surgery for the second eye one month after completing the first. I had been getting cataracts
for ten years. My eyes changed very little until this year. I could notice the change from week to week. The idea of
surgery on my eyes really creeped me out. It turned out quite easy and painless. I went for the multifocal lenses. They
are the ones that allow you to see both near and far. I had worn glasses for thirty years. Only after getting my
multifocals did I realize how bad my eyes were. The whole world had a vaguely tea stained tinge. Now whites are really white and not ivory. The most unusual thing is the improvement in distance perception. I feel as if i am in an IMAX
movie with everything in super 3D. I found out many people I know already have had cataract surgery. They never
spoke about it until I mentioned my surgery. I wanted to speak up in case any of you are facing cataract surgery and have questions.
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Julie G
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Re: Cataract surgery result is amazing

Post by Julie G »

This is something we'll all face if we're lucky enough to get there, Starfish :D . Thanks for sharing. Do you need to wear glasses at all now?

I have to say, my Mom made it sound pretty traumatic. She was quite disconcerted by the change in vision immediately following surgery and during healing. I had NO idea you could chose mutlifocal lenses- AMAZING...kind of like Lasik? I wear contacts now for distance and as my vision has deteriorated there, my near vision has been badly affected- but only when the contacts are in- without them I can see close-up perfectly. I've been stuck without my readers on more than one occasion- F>R>U>S>T>R>A>T>I>N>G! I feel like a little old lady at the grocery store when I have to find a sweet young person to read labels to me :lol:
Starfish77
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Re: Cataract surgery result is amazing

Post by Starfish77 »

@Julie
Medicare with my health insurance would cover single vision. I paid the difference for multifocals. I will be tested in a month just like you would have a normal eye test to see if I need glasses. I suspect I will not need them. I can read
everything I would have read with glasses previously. I had a lot of astigmatism. The doctor said he tilted the
lenses to compensate for my astigmatism. I think it must have worked. As I am looking at the computer screen all
the print looks the same intensity so I think I'm ok now. Everyone is different and your mom might have had some
problems with her eye surgery. Everyone I know says what an easy time they had with it. They do one eye at a time.
It is hard when you have one corrected eye and wear your glasses with one lens removed. It was almost like trying
to read in a moving car. With multifocals, they operate on your non dominant eye first. They can fine tune the second surgery of your dominant eye with the knowledge they gained on the first one.
J11
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Re: Cataract surgery result is amazing

Post by J11 »

Cataract surgery?

Could always try eye drops instead.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2 ... 143817.htm
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Teezer
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Re: Cataract surgery result is amazing

Post by Teezer »

J11 wrote:Could always try eye drops instead.
That actually sounds pretty interesting, but they still have to do clinical trials, so I don't expect any general availability until I'm already blind. :(

I am glad to hear that I can get multi-focal lenses, however. I've worn trifocal glasses for the last twenty years, and my optometrist tells me that my cataracts are right on the verge of requiring surgery.

My wife has had her lenses replaced in both eyes, and a side effect was the appearance of a number of large floaters. This distressed her quite a bit, until she found out about a procedure to clear the floaters. It involves removing the fluid from the eyeball, filtering out the floaters, and returning the clear fluid to the eye. This is done via two holes in the eyeball and a pump, so the pressure in the eye drops only a small amount. It left a visible air bubble in her eye, which was disconcerting, but it went away in 4 or 5 days.

It sounds worse than it is. She's had one eye done so far, and the most annoying part was the after-surgery eye drop cycle that lasts for a month. But she has clear vision in that eye now, and the other one will be done soon.
It's weird how I'm constantly surprised by the passage of time when it's literally the most predictable thing in the universe. -- xkcd
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ru442
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Re: Cataract surgery result is amazing

Post by ru442 »

Awesome starfish... didn't know that they had advanced the lenses that much. I suspect I will have cataract's at some point as my Mom had them (not sure about Dad). So happy I'll have options if/when I get there.

Julie... I had lasik 16 years ago... still have 20/20 distance vision but they couldn't do anything for reading myopia, so after I turned 40ish I had to start using cheaters. It was well worth the money... had not been to an optometrist since I had the lasik, I went 2 years ago for a glaucoma test and had perfect vision. He told me keep using the cheaters.... don't need prescription ones. I keep several pairs laying around and in vehicles so I always have them handy!
Male 4/4 56 yrs., "Live, Laugh, Love"
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Stavia
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Re: Cataract surgery result is amazing

Post by Stavia »

Love you Starfish. Great news.
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KatieS
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Re: Cataract surgery result is amazing

Post by KatieS »

Starfish, happy that your vision is restored after the uncomplicated surgery. My mom had cataract surgery in her 80s, which she coupled with lasik so she "would not have to wear glasses". Although at the time, I questioned adding on the latter procedure, more than a decade later, it turned out to be a good decision (no glasses for distance and non-prescription reading glasses).
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Re: Cataract surgery result is amazing

Post by Silverlining »

Starfish....happy dance...big virtual hug...so happy your vision improved! You continue to be inspiration to us all with your pluckiness and verve!

Julie, life long severe near-sightedness here and my Dr recently prescribed monovision contact lenses. My dominant eye wears the distance lens and my other eye the closeup lens. It took an adjustment period, but it actually works pretty darn well.
Starfish77
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Re: Cataract surgery result is amazing

Post by Starfish77 »

Hello everyone,
Thanks for the good wishes. Somehow my posts from December of 2013 reappeared. My surgery was three years ago and my eyes are still fine. I'll still join that happy dance because it is wonderful to have good vision without glasses.

I also got a strange benefit from not wearing glasses. My glasses always steamed up dreadfully when I ate soup. I didn't see that happen to other people. Perhaps they could see through the steam and didn't have to clean their glasses. My eyes are fairly deepset and perhaps that is the reason I was steaming up.
Starfish
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