Cataract Lens Replacement Eye Surgery

[NixieTube]

In the past year, until just over a month ago, one of the things that had really been making my life difficult was the fact that I was developing very cloudy cataracts in both of my eyes. It began with my nondominant (right) eye about 10 months ago and rapidly progressed to the point that I could barely see with it. In the meantime, another cataract began to develop in my left eye, which wasn't as severe but still not very much fun whatsoever.

During that time it was a daily exercise in hoping something would get better, that the cloudiness in my vision would turn itself around somehow, magically, and that I wouldn't have to "bite the bullet" and get the heavy work done. I tried all the usual "home remedies" and internet searching. Of course, none of that works at all and together my eyes reached a point that I could barely perform constructive work, couldn't have any fun shooting, and near the end I couldn't even drive safely - day or night.

In December, I had my right eye done by an expert surgical group and the morning after the operation I woke up to what is essentially a brand new eye. I cried, and I'm not afraid to admit it. I'm having my left eye done in about a month. My right eye is now better than 20/20 uncorrected.

I decided to share this so that if any of you have questions about lens replacement surgery you can feel free to ask any questions you'd like about how it is done and what's involved. This is speaking from my personal experience - I'm not a physician, obviously - but now that I've "BTDT" I have some insights into it (no pun intended.) Overall, it is a relatively minor procedure but there are some caveats. I think everyone can tell from my recent burst of posting that the results on just one of my eyes had a tremendous effect on my well-being and my general level of enthusiasm. I'm very glad I had it done.

So ask away!

P.S. - I am an anomaly in terms of the distribution of my "handedness" - I'm left handed in terms of writing and my left eye is dominant but I shoot right-handed and I almost *always* prefer to use my right eye for sighting, at least with rifles and shotguns. With handguns, I have no preference whatsoever and switch back and forth all the time. I don't have a perceptible "strong side" when it comes to handguns which is one of the reasons I bought an SR9 as my 2nd handgun purchase. I don't exactly know why and I'm not about to ask, but it was a major disruption in my ability to enjoy myself at the range when it was like looking through wax paper with my right eye.

 

[737tdi]

Quote Nixie-"P.S. - I am an anomaly in terms of the distribution of my "handedness" - I'm left handed in terms of writing and my left eye is dominant but I shoot right-handed and I almost *always* prefer to use my right eye for sighting, at least with rifles and shotguns. With handguns, I have no preference whatsoever and switch back and forth all the time. I don't have a perceptible "strong side" when it comes to handguns which is one of the reasons I bought an SR9 as my 2nd handgun purchase. I don't exactly know why and I'm not about to ask, but it was a major disruption in my ability to enjoy myself at the range when it was like looking through wax paper with my right eye."


Wow, there is another one out there. I am much the same. I write and do most things with my right hand but when it comes to shooting I prefer shooting lefty but can shoot equally well either lefty or righty. When I went to USMC basic they forced me to shoot right handed because I was identified as being right handed. I only shot marksman, the next year after I was allowed to shoot however I wished and I shot lefty and qualified expert for the next 9 years. I am curious, do you have parents that one is lefty and the other righty? I do and have always thought that this is the reason for the confusion.

Congrats on the surgery. Our eyesight is most important when it comes to shooting.


Semper Fi:

Karl

 

[Jimbo357mag]

Good luck with your next surgery. Sounds like you are in the best frame of mind.

When my dad got a pacemaker many years ago the surgeon asked which hand he used to shoot a gun, figuring that would be his dominate hand, so he puts the pacemaker on his right side. Problem was he was right handed and shooting a gun left handed was about the only thing he did with his left hand and he hadn't done that in decades. Oh well.

 

[Bear Paw Jack]

Nixie I agree. I had Cataract surgery several years ago, and it was a total blessing to be able to see again. Much of my life I wore glasses which I hated, then I went through a lot more years wearing contact lenses. After a point I had Lasik surgery and could see with out any help, (distance wise) and was good again. I went through a series of Retinal detachments (three) and finally had the Cataract surgery. With the exception of I still need reading glasses I was a blessing to be able to see again. Now after a few years I'm wondering if they can recorrect my eyes again. Not sure your eyes ever quit changing. Anyone know? I have a Drs appointment next month and hope to find out a little more. Seem to have a new cloud that floats around my right eye. But as Nixie said, it's all good.

 

[NixieTube]

I am curious, do you have parents that one is lefty and the other righty? I do and have always thought that this is the reason for the confusion.

Congrats on the surgery. Our eyesight is most important when it comes to shooting.

Semper Fi:

Karl

Thanks very much, I was truly relieved and even overjoyed when I took the surgical patches off the next morning. After I pass away, it would be interesting if someone dissected my brain and mapped out my corpus callosum (the bundle of nerve fibers that joins the two hemispheres.) I'm not going to do it right now. :lol:

My mother is right handed and really overpoweringly so and my father is left handed in the same completely dominant way. HIS father was also left handed, and for my Dad it is so powerful that he cannot even use most hand tools with his right hand. It's almost physically painful for him (and kind of comical to watch), and my mother is literally just the opposite.

When my Dad was young, his elementary school teachers literally tried to "beat it out of him." He was physically struck by teachers with rulers on dozens of occasions who tried to "convert" him to being right-handed. The only thing it did was make him so apprehensive and anxious that he became partially dyslexic and he regularly confuses left and right in conversation because he was HIT by people as a child trying to make him "switch." This was during the late '40s and early '50s and left-handedness was apparently thought of as being something conjured up by Marx or Lenin.

By the time I came around nobody professional tried to accomplish that impossibility any longer. The first time I picked up a pencil or pen I *knew* I wanted to write with my left hand and of course my handwriting is much better with that hand as a result of practice. But I can write backward in opposite directions with a pen in each hand if I concentrate a little.

With rifles, the first time I picked one up, it went on the right shoulder and I used my right eye for sighting and that has remained true to this day. I didn't buy my first handgun until 2009, when I discovered that it really didn't matter much to me which hand I held it with or which side I drew from. I don't like shooting rifles and shotguns lefty - it just feels "weird" to me, but with handguns for some reason I have no clear preference.

By the way, it's interesting to look at the anatomical diagrams and see how the optic nerves from both eyes travel...it's very interesting.

And it was really a relief to have the surgery done. My best advice is to find a really good doctor with a good practice. Makes it easy. You're really only "on the table" for about 25 minutes, all the rest is pre-op and post-op.

 

[NixieTube]

One really important thing post-op is to do *everything* your doctor tells you and I mean to the letter, like a religion. In fact - and this is kind of gross - I didn't even shower for a full week after the surgery. Instead I used washcloths to keep myself basically hygienic because I did not want to get *anything* in the eye. The 1-month post-op I think validated that strategy, my doctor says that I healed - in his words - "perfectly." And if you have any troubles at all you need to get in touch with them right away. Otherwise it's easy.

By the way I did *not* choose to have the very latest multifocal adaptive lenses installed. As a result I am slightly farsighted and once the left eye is done I will be buying a pair of mild prescription reading glasses for extreme closeup work. Not a big deal.

I chose the less expensive, nonadaptive lenses because they are *clearer*. They're super-proven, very clear, very sharp and that's what I wanted. I can still pick up the rear sights on my pistols and I've not had any trouble with the red dots on the rifles.

 

[NixieTube]

Nixie I agree. I had Cataract surgery several years ago, and it was a total blessing to be able to see again. Much of my life I wore glasses which I hated, then I went through a lot more years wearing contact lenses. After a point I had Lasik surgery and could see with out any help, (distance wise) and was good again. I went through a series of Retinal detachments (three) and finally had the Cataract surgery. With the exception of I still need reading glasses I was a blessing to be able to see again. Now after a few years I'm wondering if they can recorrect my eyes again. Not sure your eyes ever quit changing. Anyone know? I have a Drs appointment next month and hope to find out a little more. Seem to have a new cloud that floats around my right eye. But as Nixie said, it's all good.

Depending on what the "floater" is in your right eye, it may be something they can zap with a laser, maybe not. From what I understand, the worst possible condition you can have is diabetic retinopathy which is as close to untreatable as eye disorders get and if it is not arrested - full stop - you *will* go blind. So if you are a diabetic you really need to pay attention to the condition of your retinas. Don't avoid the treatment if you even suspect it, because once it starts it just gets worse and there is nothing doctors have to rebuild the destroyed areas of the retina as far as I know.

The lens of the eye we got relatively lucky with - we can make a new one that unfolds like a butterfly and it sits in there and works. We can also now do all kinds of intricate reshaping of the cornea to correct vision without glasses. But the retina is nothing to mess around with - because as far as I know there's very little that can be done once the rod and cone cells that actually fire in response to light get damaged or destroyed. The only stuff I've ever seen is still in the realm of science fiction.

I'm pretty sure they can do a repeat Lasix procedure to re-correct vision after an extended period of time. You should go and get tested and make sure.

 

[FastEd]

Yep, it works.
Had both my eyes done about 5 years ago.
The result was fantastic. No problems at all. It doesn't improve your close up or reading vision
but it perfects your distance focus.

I also had a great Doctor.

 

[NixieTube]

Yep, it works.
Had both my eyes done about 5 years ago.
The result was fantastic. No problems at all. It doesn't improve your close up or reading vision
but it perfects your distance focus.

I also had a great Doctor.

That sums it up. Find a great doctor and get it done. It's really an almost painless procedure. The only (very minor) pain I felt was during the block anesthesia of the right side of my face, for obvious reasons. If you can handle that, the rest is a cakewalk. I had a little bit of scratchiness for the first 24 hours, which the eye drops helped keep under control. Don't rub your eyes!!!!! Nothing in there except the drops!!!!

Later you can always buy a pair of stylish reading glasses that make you look ... however you want to look. There are good bifocal shooting glasses available now, too, with the magnified area in a different location than most reading glasses.

I haven't tried these yet but I'm interested in them:

http://www.hansenseagleeye.info/

 

[NixieTube]

Good luck with your next surgery. Sounds like you are in the best frame of mind.

When my dad got a pacemaker many years ago the surgeon asked which hand he used to shoot a gun, figuring that would be his dominate hand, so he puts the pacemaker on his right side. Problem was he was right handed and shooting a gun left handed was about the only thing he did with his left hand and he hadn't done that in decades. Oh well.

Sometimes it's hard to communicate with doctors. You run into the ones who don't ask the right questions :lol: And then you feel weird about volunteering the information.

 

[Pistolero]

I am not so worried now about the possibility of cataract surgery in the next few years.

 

[NixieTube]

I am not so worried now about the possibility of cataract surgery in the next few years.

I'm glad to hear that. I was a little worried at the beginning (I didn't know what to expect.) But if you check out medically and you have a good doctor it's an essentially painless procedure with a little minor discomfort afterward. Very, very, very much worth it and I am *doing it again* in a month without the slightest hesitation.

And nothing compares to the feeling the day after the surgery when you look through that eye again and really can see everything almost like it was new. Just amazing. Best wishes and God Bless.

 

[m657]

re: " Seem to have a new cloud that floats around my right eye. "

given my own cataract surgery 2 years years ago with complete success. By all means don't put it off as I did due to unrealistic fears.

The 'new cloud' developed in my own situation. Look up YAG procedure, if it's that condition, about 50% of the post cataract patients develop some degree of such.

It is easily and painlessly treated in a 2 minute procedure using a form of laser treatment.

Re: diabetic retinopathy
I suffered from this thru the 90s and into about 2010. Without yet another form laser I would have been blind 20 years ago. I was 20/400 for about 6 months. With excellent care currently that eye is at 20/20. Not bad eh!!!

For sure get in to your retinal and cataract specialistS at once. They are different problems and have different specialists to treat the problem.

100% satisfied despite my fears on the lens replacement.

 

[pisgah]

My 86-year-old Mom had the surgery 4 years ago -- absolutely zero complications, and an almost miraculous new lease on life when it comes to her vision. Very encouraging to me, as I have cataracts developing and will likely have the surgery within the next 5 years or so.

 

[Pat-inCO]

I had mine done about two years ago. My only "negative" comment is about
the eye-drops, and drops, and drops, and drops. VERY annoying, but since
they did their thing, I'm pleased with the end result.

I was diagnosed with macular degeneration a bit over five years ago. THAT
is scary! I did some research (one very nice byproduct of the internet) and
found that vitamins A, C, and E, when taken with fish-oil, . . can . . help. I
went to my doctor to see how much to take. She said 1,000mg of EPA and
DHA (the part you REALLY need for the eyes). I started that, splitting the
dosage into two portions (to avoid the over saturation then under saturation).
Went in to the eye doctor a year later and his comment was "WHAT ARE
YOU TAKING?!" I told him and his comment was "I don't have much faith in
those home remedies, BUT, I'll change my mind." SIGNIFICANT reduction,
and within another year, GONE, per a retinal specialist.

I also developed "floaters" and those have become MUCH less distinct, to
about one-third of what they were.

I use the "Nature's Blend" A, C, and E Complex from a place in FL. The cost
started at about $5.50/60 and has gone to $8/60. The fish-oil is $14/320.
I take 1 A,C, and E plus three fish-oil in the morning and one at dinner
(not the East Coast dinner - - the evening meal). That's seventy five cents
per day and I'm HAPPY to pay that much. - - - Will it work for you?
I really don't know, but it DOES work for me. Otherwise known as YMMV!

 

[FastEd]

During conversations I had with my Doctor, He told me that the Egyptians had their own form of cataract surgery 3,000 years ago.

 

[wwb]

I had mine done about 10 years ago.... best thing since sliced bread. The options may have changed since then, but when mine were done, these were the choices for the lens implants:

Correct for distance vision, and require reading glasses for close-up vision (arm's length or closer).

Correct for reading, and require corrective lenses for distance vision (contacts or glasses). Bifocals would have no correction on the lower part, and correct for distance on the upper.

Multi-focal lenses - concentric rings of close vision/distance vision. Supposedly, your brain can "choose" which one to use, but it doesn't work for everyone... "ghosting" is a common complaint - being able to see both images at once.

One eye close, one eye far... again, it relies on your brain to choose which image dominates, and let the fuzzy image play a support role. Some people are never able to adapt to this system.

Other info....

If you have severe astigmatism, the lens implants can not compensate, and you will require glasses.

The procedure is not reversible... it's near impossible to remove the implants without damaging the eye.

 

[Pat-inCO]

One eye close, one eye far... again, it relies on your brain to choose which image dominates, and let the fuzzy image play a support role.

My doctor was VERY happy when I refused that option.

I have HEAVY astigmatism and as such will need glasses until I start
counting roots on the grass. So I went with distance, and that has
proven to be an excellent choice. Presuming you like/want to drive.

The amazing part, to me, is that without glasses on, my near vision is
MUCH better now than my distance vision . . . was . . . prior to surgery.

 

[NixieTube]

The amazing part, to me, is that without glasses on, my near vision is
MUCH better now than my distance vision . . . was . . . prior to surgery.

Yes that's very true and it's awesome. I'm typing this right now looking at a monitor that is *exactly* arm's reach away and I can see everything with perfect sharpness. If I move in 8 to 10 inches that's when it begins to blur. At that point and beyond I need reading glasses. The important thing is the total absence of occlusion, opacity, fringe, cloudiness, whatever you call it. Those are very very low at almost any distance, and the color "cast" or "chromatic aberration" is zilch as far as I can tell. In fact I think I'm seeing colors more accurately.

At 75 yards I can see the teeny tiny tendrils on the towering tippy tops of trees. Clearly. So it makes me alliterative, because DANG! :lol:

I am very confident that with some nice reading and/or shooting glasses I'll be doing just fine from close up to the horizon.

Don't be afraid of it. Get checked out, get your pre-ops done, find a good surgeon, and enjoy seeing things again.

 

[toysoldier]

I had both eyes done last year. Having scrubbed cataract surgery since 1977, I can tell you that the surgery has made major advances. My results were excellent. After a lifetime of extreme nearsightedness, I opted for good distance vision, and was seeing 20/20 the day after surgery. I need reading glasses, which was a bit of a problem at work. I found inexpensive bifocal reading glasses online, including safety glasses. Check it out:
https://www.eyeneeds.com/bl-style-clear-bifocal-reader-unisex/

 

[Fox Mike]

This is all very interesting as I will need the surgery in the near future I feel. I have a cataract on my left eye that is not too bad YET but will need help in a year or two...IF I am still around.

 

[m657]

re: "I am very confident that with some nice reading and/or shooting glasses I'll be doing just fine from close up to the horizon."

BEWARE!!! I found that during recovery before my next range trip, somebody sneaked in and replaced my old traditional glob of 'fuzzy dice' style front sights, some kind of trendy new style metal-looking versions with sharply defined edges and clear spacing between the rear-sight ears!

 

[Colonialgirl]

Well, I had cataracts developing in both eyes to the point I couldn't read highway signs until almost right on them , headlights and traffic lights had "Halos" around them. The VA finally did cataract surgery on both eyes and restored me to my 1968 vision of 20/25. I've always had a slight astigmatism in the right eye, unfortunately it was "irregular" and they couldn't correct for that with the implants; SO I wear glasses to read for very long, but NOT for driving or TV watching.
PS: I'm right handed, but Left eyed and have now trained my self to shoot with both hands. Too bad I didn't know about being left eyed in the Army, no wonder I could qualify but NEVER achieve expert or sharpshooter level.

 

[Chief 101]

Had both of my eyes done last September, like turning the light on! 20/20 both eyes but need the reading glasses.
Quick recovery, still getting used to the eagle-eye sight tho. It's like a miracle.

 

[gramps]

Excellent discussion/review. Things like this are very helpful, and I have been in healthcare for 45 years! Thanks guys.
gramps

 

[Slyk Willy]

Had the same procedure, 2 years ago.New lens in both eyes. Did the laser thing 12 years ago, my eyes continued to deteriorate and yeah cataracts. Glaucoma was the only complicating factor but just need reading glasses now. Amazing what they can do isn't it?

 

[Pat-inCO]

BEWARE! I found that during recovery before my next range trip, somebody sneaked in and replaced my old traditional glob of 'fuzzy dice' style front sights, some kind of trendy new style metal-looking versions with sharply defined edges and clear spacing between the rear-sight ears!

You must have mentioned to your doctor that you were/are a shooter. :roll:

 

[Phoenix too]

So you are telling me that rather than spending $400 on new glasses, I should have just bought the bullet, so to speak, and got my eyeballs restored.

I did have my first eye surgery this year, got two new holes drilled in each eyeball as I had high pressure because of 'narrow angle syndrome' . Have cataracts, but not yet worthy of doing about, according to the docs.

Seriously, thank you for the commentary - I know that many have had this done - my Mum included, but hers didn't go so well (she also had macular degeneration). No sign of that in my case.

 

[m657]

"must have mentioned to your doctor "

yes, he helped sort thru the choices

Another BIG postOp benefit:

for way too long (decades!!!!) my night sky vision was trashed not just for the separate retinal issue, but all the points of light in the sky were variations of fuzzy globs, not discrete sharp edged images, even in telescope.

Pleasant surprise, night sky is proper again.

And COLORS are stronger/more real. No headlight halos. And on & on.

Somehow I missed the part about 'seeing good' was not the same as 'looking good'.

............

 

[4kdave]

I need to have my eyes done as my Dr. told me last year that they were bad. Due to finances I have put it off but will have an app. the end of Feb. to see how bad they have gotten. What are questions that I should ask during my visit? Some have been answered here but what others do I need to ask. The place I go has 5 Ophthalmologist so I have to pick one to do the work.

Thanks
Dave