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Cataract Surgery

sirhrmechanic

sirhrmechanic

Command Sgt. Major
Full Member
Minuteman
Feb 23, 2010
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The Snobbiest Town in The Snobbiest State in the N
So yesterday had cataract surgery in my left eye. Unusual for someone in my age group... but had a tiny cataract directly over the optic nerve, which was totally FUBARing the vision in my left eye. Anywhere else in the lens and it would have been fine for 20 years without addressing.

They took the patch off this morning (it's like a pirate convention in the waiting room when I got there this morning) and OMFG... what a difference! Not just in how I could see before/after... but left to right! Good god... Right eye, things that are supposed to be white... are tan or sepia. New left eyeball, pure white. Though my right eye visual acuity is still 20/20... it's faded and not crisp. Left eye is now 20/20 (almost 20/15... which both eyes used to be)... and just brilliantly clear!

The upshot is that the right eye is now getting done... I can't live with the contrast between eyes. And there was enough of a cataract on the right to justify it...

So the upshot/lesson here is: First... the only reason the left-eye cataract got found is that I thought my reading glasses prescription had changed... so decided to go into get a checkup after... almost 6 years. Waited way too long! Get your eyes checked!

Second, at the eye doctor, they had some kind of scanning technology (can't believe how far the technology at eye doctors has come in 6 years!!!!) that cost an extra $20 or so per eye to have done... not covered by insurance. That was the scan that found the cataracts... very early. Get yourself checked! Don't ignore eye doctor because you think your vision is ok. I put it off... I shouldn't have.

Third, the surgery is super simple. Zero pain, you are awake for it... and it's very cool to 'watch' them working on your eye. Through your eye!

Last, if you have it done for cataracts in one eye... get both done. Will be two appointments. But you will never live with one eye being good... and one being old.

I learned that cataracts are almost inevitable with age. By 50, almost everyone has them, but not usually in places that require surgery in the short term. But a sudden prescription change (or even a slow one) and you can't find readers at WalMart that work... flaring at night. Feeling one eye is irritated (you are rubbing it because you think it's dry or you can't see out of it as well... get checked.

Anyway... Super easy and, wow, I've wondered why my iron sights shooting has deteriorated. It is readily apparent now... Can't wait to have both eyes finished. Will be like being back to my old 'fighter pilot' vision!

Cheers,

Sirhr

P.S. Occurs to me that this might belong in the Health thread.. but who reads that anyway???
 
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Funny coincidence, I had my right eye cataract removed Friday by the VA. Simply amazing. Had my final followup yesterday and the eye's vision is 20/20. It's like seeing HD and Technicolor for the first time, same time, everything I look at.

Already slotted for getting the left done two weeks from yesterday. By Christmas I expect all healing to be done and no distance glasses, then also drugstore readers. Reviewing good shooting glasses this week.

The VA eye clinic is doing this like making popcorn. There is a Pirate convention here (in Tucson, actually) every Tuesday and Friday. It's phenomenal.

I haven't gone without glasses, until now, for over 50 years. The improvement is enough to change my entire way of looking at things. I'm gonna need a whole lot more time in my life now, to do all those new things I can finally do again.

I will not be passing up opportunities to go shooting, either, anymore. It had been getting like, why bother, I can't even really see the target anyway. I was beginning to despair about shooting my Garand ever again.

No such issues now.

Congrats, Dude, from someone who actually knows what you're talking about, man.

Like, WOW!

Greg
 
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BT, DT, on both eyes, years ago. My dipshit ophthalmologist used lenses with different UV protection factors, so now my chromatic acuity is off, which is great for someone who gets dragged into graphics (now kicking and screaming). As it is, I went through three months of diplopia, and still have residual effects over pistol sights: being left-eye dominant, I ignore the "mirage" to the left and focus on the one to the right when aiming with both eyes open. It gets funner and funner as we age, Sirhr.
 
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sirhrmechanic said:
Anyway... Super easy and, wow, I've wondered why my iron sights shooting has deteriorated. It is readily apparent now... Can't wait to have both eyes finished. Will be like being back to my old 'fighter pilot' vision!

Cheers,

Sirhr

P.S. Occurs to me that this might belong in the Health thread.. but who reads that anyway???
Click to expand...


So, what you're saying is, now you'll be "able to hit the barn again!!!" right? :D (I just read that book "how to make friends and influence people".... )
 
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Hit it better..., actually.

Lately I'd been wondering how much of my groups size was about the rifle, and how much was about my vision. There was a lot of stuff very similar to checking for parallax going on with each sight picture. Now there's no sense of apprehension, and I can shoot with better confidence.

Confidence may not improve your scores; but without it, things tend to go South.

Really, I'm still just trying to get a handle on how this has changed my outlook on life, and the new width on my realm of possibilities.

It almost sorta feels like I'm a whole buncha years younger. Should have done this much sooner.

Greg
 
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i just had my preop for lasik. they found a retinal vein that had exploded, and needs addressed before my my lasik. a few weeks ago my bp was way high i mean high like 190/130. i had my meds adjusted, and it’s back down, but if i had not gone in for the lasik evaluation i would have never known until it deteriorated more. definitely a firm believer in getting your eyes check often as well as blood work. now i have to get laser surgery this week to stop the bleeding in the eye.

funny thing is all i wanted lasik was to address my astigmatism so i can enjoy shooting a red dot rather than a star
 
Oneshot86, I think you're really going to like it.

I'm putting a whole new slant on my own personal fitness and health. This is an opportunity of which I plan to take full advantage. Seeing better makes me want to do other things, and they will require that I get up off my skinny butt and get healthy enough to do them again.

Padron, lucky getting that diagnosis.

Greg
 
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One of the downsides of being, well, healthy... is that one does not thing about some of the periodic maintenance. Other than a cold every now and then... and a flu every couple of years... No BP issues. Reasonable (not low... but reasonable) cholesterol. No major orthopedic issues. No lung problems, liver problems (surprising given my IPA fetish)... allergies... Nothing. Eye guys said "Bring in all your prescriptions." I didn't bring anything. I have none. I take nothing but Aspirin and Aleve. There were people in the waiting room with steamer trunks of their 'meds. Looked like a pill-buying Bernie Bus from Canada...

That, I am sure, will change with greater age... but heading towards mid-50's and still 'old farmer healthy' surprises me. I didn't think I'd make it past 25... Then again, all my grandparents lived into their 90's and 100's. From the deep part of the gene pool I guess. The sad part is that at that age, all they wanted to do was die. I don't plan on getting to that point, either!

Cheers,

Sirhr
 
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1542233869025.png
 
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Had both done 6 or 7 years ago, it is absolutely life changing. Afterward, I had to wear sunglasses all the time because everything was so clear and bright. First one, they didn't knock me out. It was a little on the uncomfortable side, but I'm not wild about surgical procedures, particularly on my eyes. The first surgeon was not really someone I cared much for. Very arrogant and not really in touch with his patients. I switched surgeons for the second one. He and his team were great. They knocked me out and started working, just as I was coming out of the anathesia. I said "when are you guys going to get started ?". I heard them chuckle a little bit and they said "and.....we're done". Both eyes took 5 minutes or so, each. I would rather get cataract surgery than my teeth clened. It is that easy. I kicked myself for waiting as long as I did.

You will probably experience some clouding behind each lens with time. Mine were at about 3 years after each cataract surgery. It's normal and the solution is simple/quick/painless. The solution is a "YAG" laser procedure where they dialate your eye and microscopically blast the cloudy areas, restoring that annoying "brilliant light" vision.

I tell people to not hesitate, just go get it done. It's super simple, painless and the results are stunning. Congratulations to all of you that have had it done. :cool::cool::cool:
 
Hmmm...

@sirhrmechanic I'm getting close to the half century mark, and some of those symptoms you described make me think I may have to go get my eyes checked (it's been like 15yrs). I appreciate the post (a good PSA), it's made me stop and think about somethings I have just brushed off as getting older.
 
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pick up your viagra too you old bastage


MarinePMI said:
Hmmm...

@sirhrmechanic I'm getting close to the half century mark, and some of those symptoms you described make me think I may have to go get my eyes checked (it's been like 15yrs). I appreciate the post (a good PSA), it's made me stop and think about somethings I have just brushed off as getting older.
Click to expand...
 
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Not to hi-jack this thread, but WTH I will:). To expound on Sir 's original post, get yourself checked out. On another thread, I had carotid artery surgery on September 18th and have done well. Quit smoking those damn cigarettes with the help of Chantix (pure hell by the way) and am walking and working out every day. I will be 68 on New Year's eve and in otherwise good health (6-1", 170Lbs) good cholesterol and other numbers. But I could have stroked out in a year or two if I had not been diagnosed with mini TIA's by my eye doctor. Get your self checked and for God's sake if you smoke, STOP NOW!!.
There are many of you guys on here that have much to offer in good advice, great constitutional observations, "sick" humor;) and great smoker recipes. Oh, and not to mention the resident ruling Sikh's treasury of alliterative thread titles. Be well ya'll and have a great upcoming holiday season.
Preaching now off.:cool:MAGA!
 
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Glad you're better! Be careful with the big boom, that can detach retinas you know!

Seriously, this scares the piss out of me. Forgot how many feet surgeries, knee blown, back screwed, other shit and comorbidities, the eyes, uh-uh. I just started seeing blurring I have to blink away and a bright flash at the bottom of my left. Just went to the VA eye doc (she was hot!) and she said nothing was wrong but that as we age the eyes degrade and it could be something to do with something detaching from the retina (not the retina itself, that's what I was afraid of). She said it should come loose then go away. Also had floaters. Gotta go back next month and she'll look at it again.

But when I looked at the eye chart, I can still read the lowest line no problem and she said if she had a better chart that I'd still do better than 20/20, which has always been the case, I've always had sharp eyes. Except that one night when I opened up on a witch on a broomstick with a SAW, but that's another story...
 
I did cold turkey without being aware. Five days in a coma following Emergency CABGx4 surgery, by the time I was fully awake, I was fully quit, too.

Helluva way to got 'er done.

Greg
 
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Strykervet said:
Glad you're better! Be careful with the big boom, that can detach retinas you know!

Seriously, this scares the piss out of me. Forgot how many feet surgeries, knee blown, back screwed, other shit and comorbidities, the eyes, uh-uh. I just started seeing blurring I have to blink away and a bright flash at the bottom of my left. Just went to the VA eye doc (she was hot!) and she said nothing was wrong but that as we age the eyes degrade and it could be something to do with something detaching from the retina (not the retina itself, that's what I was afraid of). She said it should come loose then go away. Also had floaters. Gotta go back next month and she'll look at it again.

But when I looked at the eye chart, I can still read the lowest line no problem and she said if she had a better chart that I'd still do better than 20/20, which has always been the case, I've always had sharp eyes. Except that one night when I opened up on a witch on a broomstick with a SAW, but that's another story...
Click to expand...

Stryker, I've had both eyes up on the rack for cataract surgery. That part is a piece of cake. I've also had a detached retina. That is a horse of a different color. I had floaters prior to it letting loose. Once it detached, it was like there was a sepia colored curtain hanging vertically across half of my FOV. It was very obvious there was something seriously wrong. It's been stated there is a statistical possibility that a detached retina "may" follow cataract surgery, but the odds are very low. I did suffer from a weld flash from an auto-darkening welding helmet (that didn't), numerous years before my surgery. But, it could have been the odds, the flash, the surgeon, my body or some combination thereof that ganged up on me.

My point being is that I think you ought to seek out another eye specialist for a second opinion. Floaters can be an indication of impending problems and it would be better to catch them now, as opposed to the possibility of you actually having a detached retina and having to deal with it under emergency surgery conditions.
 
sirhrmechanic said:
So yesterday had cataract surgery in my left eye. Unusual for someone in my age group... but had a tiny cataract directly over the optic nerve, which was totally FUBARing the vision in my left eye. Anywhere else in the lens and it would have been fine for 20 years without addressing.

They took the patch off this morning (it's like a pirate convention in the waiting room when I got there this morning) and OMFG... what a difference! Not just in how I could see before/after... but left to right! Good god... Right eye, things that are supposed to be white... are tan or sepia. New left eyeball, pure white. Though my right eye visual acuity is still 20/20... it's faded and not crisp. Left eye is now 20/20 (almost 20/15... which both eyes used to be)... and just brilliantly clear!

The upshot is that the right eye is now getting done... I can't live with the contrast between eyes. And there was enough of a cataract on the right to justify it...

So the upshot/lesson here is: First... the only reason the left-eye cataract got found is that I thought my reading glasses prescription had changed... so decided to go into get a checkup after... almost 6 years. Waited way too long! Get your eyes checked!

Second, at the eye doctor, they had some kind of scanning technology (can't believe how far the technology at eye doctors has come in 6 years!!!!) that cost an extra $20 or so per eye to have done... not covered by insurance. That was the scan that found the cataracts... very early. Get yourself checked! Don't ignore eye doctor because you think your vision is ok. I put it off... I shouldn't have.

Third, the surgery is super simple. Zero pain, you are awake for it... and it's very cool to 'watch' them working on your eye. Through your eye!

Last, if you have it done for cataracts in one eye... get both done. Will be two appointments. But you will never live with one eye being good... and one being old.

I learned that cataracts are almost inevitable with age. By 50, almost everyone has them, but not usually in places that require surgery in the short term. But a sudden prescription change (or even a slow one) and you can't find readers at WalMart that work... flaring at night. Feeling one eye is irritated (you are rubbing it because you think it's dry or you can't see out of it as well... get checked.

Anyway... Super easy and, wow, I've wondered why my iron sights shooting has deteriorated. It is readily apparent now... Can't wait to have both eyes finished. Will be like being back to my old 'fighter pilot' vision!

Cheers,

Sirhr

P.S. Occurs to me that this might belong in the Health thread.. but who reads that anyway???
Click to expand...
Had the left eye done 6 months ago. Doc asked if I wanted vision correction lens inserted. May be what you alluded to here. I had to pay the delta on the correction lens but vision is crystal clear.
 
sirhrmechanic said:
So yesterday had cataract surgery in my left eye. Unusual for someone in my age group... but had a tiny cataract directly over the optic nerve, which was totally FUBARing the vision in my left eye. Anywhere else in the lens and it would have been fine for 20 years without addressing.

They took the patch off this morning (it's like a pirate convention in the waiting room when I got there this morning) and OMFG... what a difference! Not just in how I could see before/after... but left to right! Good god... Right eye, things that are supposed to be white... are tan or sepia. New left eyeball, pure white. Though my right eye visual acuity is still 20/20... it's faded and not crisp. Left eye is now 20/20 (almost 20/15... which both eyes used to be)... and just brilliantly clear!

The upshot is that the right eye is now getting done... I can't live with the contrast between eyes. And there was enough of a cataract on the right to justify it...

So the upshot/lesson here is: First... the only reason the left-eye cataract got found is that I thought my reading glasses prescription had changed... so decided to go into get a checkup after... almost 6 years. Waited way too long! Get your eyes checked!

Second, at the eye doctor, they had some kind of scanning technology (can't believe how far the technology at eye doctors has come in 6 years!!!!) that cost an extra $20 or so per eye to have done... not covered by insurance. That was the scan that found the cataracts... very early. Get yourself checked! Don't ignore eye doctor because you think your vision is ok. I put it off... I shouldn't have.

Third, the surgery is super simple. Zero pain, you are awake for it... and it's very cool to 'watch' them working on your eye. Through your eye!

Last, if you have it done for cataracts in one eye... get both done. Will be two appointments. But you will never live with one eye being good... and one being old.

I learned that cataracts are almost inevitable with age. By 50, almost everyone has them, but not usually in places that require surgery in the short term. But a sudden prescription change (or even a slow one) and you can't find readers at WalMart that work... flaring at night. Feeling one eye is irritated (you are rubbing it because you think it's dry or you can't see out of it as well... get checked.

Anyway... Super easy and, wow, I've wondered why my iron sights shooting has deteriorated. It is readily apparent now... Can't wait to have both eyes finished. Will be like being back to my old 'fighter pilot' vision!

Cheers,

Sirhr

P.S. Occurs to me that this might belong in the Health thread.. but who reads that anyway???
Click to expand...
Makes one appreciate 5,000 degrees Kelvin lighting on the visible wavelength band, doesn’t it ?
Dunno about you, but I can’t stand looking at things illuminated by 4K incandescant lights at night anymore. Way too yellow/grungy for me......but, what do I know, I’m colorblind......
Anyway, it (the positive results of the surgery) are pretty spectacular, aren’t they ?:cool::cool::cool:
 
After Op Report, as of the afternoon of the operation (yesterday), everything went great. Less discomfort this time, but this morning, vision was not yet crystal clear as the last one was. That was really a fluke, and vision should be getting clearer over the next 3-7 days. Even so, it's much better than my prior vision.

Right now, I'm glasses free for distance, and using a temp pair of +3.75 drugstore readers. They focus a bit short so I'll be investigating +3.00's or even less in days to come.

Greg
 
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Greg Langelius * said:
Tomorrow, I go in to get the other eye done.

I'm stoked...!

Greg
Click to expand...

Just got back from getting my shooting (ie. Dominant) eye done!

Can't wait for the bandaids to come off in the AM!

Right now, no depth perception. So no skydiving until tomorrow. Also hard to reach keys at back of keyboard. So excuse for controversial remarks.

Cheers,

Sirhr
 
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Bingo! Assuming all went well, you will be amazed at the clarity and the vivid brightness of colors. Stay with the drops!

I am down to one application a day on the second eye.

Greg
 
congrats. i go in on fri to get my eyes done. hopefully i will see a red dot now rather than a red star. i won’t lie, having an optional surgery like lasiks scares the crap out of me considering it’s your vision.... and i opted to go for the most reputable not cheap place, no radio ad $199 special for me
 
padronanniversary said:
congrats. i go in on fri to get my eyes done. hopefully i will see a red dot now rather than a red star. i won’t lie, having an optional surgery like lasiks scares the crap out of me considering it’s your vision.... and i opted to go for the most reputable not cheap place, no radio ad $199 special for me
Click to expand...
I would much rather get cataract surgery than my teeth cleaned. Cataract surgery takes 5 minutes and is painless. Had my teeth cleaned on Monday and I can still feel a little pain.....
I was nervous before I had the surgery, but I would do it again with zero hesitation.
 
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There was no correction, as I had 20/20 vision when I went in. So the new 'lenses' were for clarity, not acuity. I don't know this for sure, but I think that they can put in corrective lenses that will return vision to 20/20, but if you are already near-sighted, there is an extra 'fee' for the corrective lenses that insurance will not cover. But don't quote me on this. Before I had the surgery, I had 20/20 in one eye and 20/15 in the other. But cataract in one eye right over the optic nerve that messed up some clarity (had to go 'peripheral' to see 20/20.) The other eye had cataracts off to the side enough to justify the surgery.... and enough haze/yellowing that I could see 20/20 but after the first eye was done, it was like looking at color photos with one eye, sepia-toned civil war photos with the other. But there was no acuity problem.

So for the Lasik... I had that done in 2001. I am sure it's changed a lot since then. But this was much less invasive. Using ultrasound, not razors.

The results are startling! Funny thing is that I keep reaching for glasses (muscle memory) and putting them on, only to find that they just mess up my vision, except at very close (book-reading) distances.

It is a great time to be alive! 30 years ago.... I'd have been screwed.

Cheers,

Sirhr
 
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sirhrmechanic said:
There was no correction, as I had 20/20 vision when I went in. So the new 'lenses' were for clarity, not acuity. I don't know this for sure, but I think that they can put in corrective lenses that will return vision to 20/20, but if you are already near-sighted, there is an extra 'fee' for the corrective lenses that insurance will not cover. But don't quote me on this. Before I had the surgery, I had 20/20 in one eye and 20/15 in the other. But cataract in one eye right over the optic nerve that messed up some clarity (had to go 'peripheral' to see 20/20.) The other eye had cataracts off to the side enough to justify the surgery.... and enough haze/yellowing that I could see 20/20 but after the first eye was done, it was like looking at color photos with one eye, sepia-toned civil war photos with the other. But there was no acuity problem.

So for the Lasik... I had that done in 2001. I am sure it's changed a lot since then. But this was much less invasive. Using ultrasound, not razors.

The results are startling! Funny thing is that I keep reaching for glasses (muscle memory) and putting them on, only to find that they just mess up my vision, except at very close (book-reading) distances.

It is a great time to be alive! 30 years ago.... I'd have been screwed.

Cheers,

Sirhr
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info.
I looked into lasik for correction a while back.
They told me my prescription was to strong for lasik.
The alternative was a version with lens implant similar to the your surgery.
I guess it might be time for me to look into it again.

R
 
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sirhrmechanic said:
There was no correction, as I had 20/20 vision when I went in. So the new 'lenses' were for clarity, not acuity. I don't know this for sure, but I think that they can put in corrective lenses that will return vision to 20/20, but if you are already near-sighted, there is an extra 'fee' for the corrective lenses that insurance will not cover. But don't quote me on this. Before I had the surgery, I had 20/20 in one eye and 20/15 in the other. But cataract in one eye right over the optic nerve that messed up some clarity (had to go 'peripheral' to see 20/20.) The other eye had cataracts off to the side enough to justify the surgery.... and enough haze/yellowing that I could see 20/20 but after the first eye was done, it was like looking at color photos with one eye, sepia-toned civil war photos with the other. But there was no acuity problem.

So for the Lasik... I had that done in 2001. I am sure it's changed a lot since then. But this was much less invasive. Using ultrasound, not razors.

The results are startling! Funny thing is that I keep reaching for glasses (muscle memory) and putting them on, only to find that they just mess up my vision, except at very close (book-reading) distances.

It is a great time to be alive! 30 years ago.... I'd have been screwed.

Cheers,

Sirhr
Click to expand...
Exactly, everything! You will probably get some yellowing/sepia behind the lens implant over the next 3 years or so, completely normal. They have “YAG” lasers to fix that. You think the cataract surgery was easy ? The YAG is dead simple and a lot of Doctor’s offices have them. It may have taken 3 minutes when they “YAG’d” me. Another amazing, pain free improvement.
 
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