Get this checked out with the insurance company. A few years ago, I had a procedure approved in December that was postponed to January due to an emergency the doc had to deal with. It still came out of the previous year’s budget for OOP because that’s when it was approved for. I admit, it may have been a mistake and it could be something that is handled differently by each state, but it’s worth checking out.
Looks like I’m having my surgery sooner than expected. Doctor had a cancellation and scheduled me for the last week of November and the first week of December for the other eye. That works well for already having met deductibles since I had a skin graft for skin cancer earlier this year.
She phoned in prescriptions for three kinds of eye drops to use before the surgery. She also gave me a sheet to take to the pharmacy listing two or three alternatives for each in case my insurance didn’t cover one. They ended up costing me $140 but would have been over $700 without the insurance … for three tiny little bottles of eye drops.
The thing that really bugs me is that I have to have a physical by a doctor of my choosing before the surgery. My last physical was my Army separation physical in 1967. I must not be the only one who doesn’t like this because she had a hand-out sheet that explains this requirement “is the law and we cannot change it.” Damn insurance company lawyers in cahoots with government bureaucrats taking away my personal freedom to live or die as I choose (for my own good… BAH.)
On the ride home from the eye surgeon appointment (my brother drove) my eyes were dilated. While stopped at a red light I counted the number of lights I was seeing surrounding the “real” light; I saw 17. I guess it really is time to get this done.
I doubt it would apply here - since we’re talking two different procedures. It’ll just get me through the 2019 deductible that much faster! I will let the surgical coordinator know that if they have a cancellation in December, let me know!!
Turble, I doubt it’s the law that you have to have a pre-op physical - but it’s many doctors’ policy. For my wrist surgery, they didn’t require anything (except in my case an EKG because of the type 2 diabetes). I had to scramble for that EKG, too - the whole thing happened on a Thursday, I was scheduled for the following Tuesday, my primary care office was closed that Friday due to a nasty windstorm that knocked power out.
I don’t think it’s a bad idea, either - if you’ve got underlying health issues, any surgery is riskier. And of course the doctors and hospitals are protecting themselves as well. Imagine starting a “minor” surgery and finding out you had some condition that made that particular surgery especially risky.
My wife goes in Tuesday for her left eye, with the right one being done a month later. She’s been semi-freaked out about it, even going so far as to tell me what to do if she somehow doesn’t survive the experience. :rolleyes: I keep trying to reassure her.
Would that have been this week (2 days ago)? How did it go?
I had a second measurement visit today - doc wanted to repeat one of them, because apparently my eyelashes were in the way of the image. They called back after he’d reviewed the results, and I’m good to go for the multifical.
I was surprised at having to start eyedrops 3 days before surgery (triple-whammy - an NSAID, steroid, and antibiotic) - and also that I’ll need to stop the pressure-reducing drops a week beforehand. The triple-whammy eyedrops evidently aren’t available at a pharmacy: I had to pay 50 bucks for them at the visit. I could have insisted on the 3 different drops, as I’ve hit my out of pocket for my insurance. It was pretty annoying, all in all.
The kit they gave me (that has the eyedrops and an eye shield that I’m supposed to bring with me) also has dilating drops - I’m supposed to administer them myself an hour beforehand. Bizarre. I guess that lets them get right to it more quickly without waiting for ones done there to take effect.
The Big Day is a week from tomorrow, and while I’m nervous, I’m also VERY eager to get this done.
I have had to do a lot of driving this past week. From the DC area to Vermont, then a “day trip” from Vermont to New Hampshire.
Due to my poor night vision, and short daylight hours, I had to break up the drive into 2 days; in fact I had to stop much earlier than planned the first day, as heavy fog forced me to travel at a snail’s pace. So I barely made it into the hotel in Vermont before sundown the second day.
And yesterday I had to take my daughter to an appointment at Dartmouth in NH. It’s a bit over an hour drive… but her appointment was late in the afternoon. And it had snowed that day, quite heavily. No way in HELL was I attempting that return trip on snowy, winding, unfamiliar roads, at night.
A friend just had hers done, two weeks apart and is very pleased with the results. I’m working on getting a dental implant right now, but know I must face the cataract surgery within the next year or two. I’m really beginning to hate night driving and I used to love it.
Good luck MZ!
My first cataract surgery is in a few hours – second one in two weeks. My current earworm in now alternating between I can see clearly now and The man who never returned.
See you if I get back. 
Sorry, didn’t see this until now. It all went just fine, and she’s now had the second eye done. The only problem with the first one is that her vision was so bad that she had to keep one eye covered for the three weeks between surgeries so as not to get disoriented. She’d watch TV through the repaired eye and read through the other one. She also used audio books for entertainment. Now that both are fixed, she doesn’t need glasses at all other than for reading.
I can see clearly now – kinda – out of one eye.
Those who said there’s nothing to it were right. The anticipation is the only bad part; the surgery itself was a snap, over before I knew it.
ChefGuy: glad to hear all went well for your wife. Interesting about the two eyes being that different that she had to be one-eyed for a few weeks. I have trouble walking while wearing my driving glasses: they are single-distance, set for distance only, and a very big difference between the two eyes. I left them on by mistake once when I hopped out of the car to go into a store - and wound up taking them off and doing my shopping with no glasses at all.
Turble: glad you’re enjoying the results of the first one.
I’m in the countdown phase to my surgery. I’ve already quit using the pressure-reducing eyedrops - a prostaglandin analogue; there’s a possible, though unproven so far, correlation between those and a complication called cystoid macular edema when they’re used around the time of cataract surgery.
Tomorrow I start the triple-whammy eyedrops (steroid, antibiotic, and an NSAID) that I’m to use 3x/day beforehand and then for several weeks afterward.
Well here are a couple of pre-op annoyances.
The paperwork confirming the surgery date said “must have medical clearance by 11/30 or we might cancel”. I saw my doc in late October and got the bloodwork done a few days later.
So I called them one day last week and left a message asking “have you gotten it???”.
They called yesterday and told me they had to bump me from 7:45 to 7:00. Oh well. My poor husband will be exhausted (he flies in from Ohio tomorrow night) but the sooner it’s done, the better - and the second eye will be that early anyway.
When I was on the phone, I asked “have you gotten the paperwork” and she said that if they hadn’t, the surgical coordinator would have called me already. So I assumed it was ok.
This morning, they called me about the fee for the extra lens and would I like to pay it over the phone. I said I’d stop by the office, as I needed time to dig out the right credit card. AND, they said “by the way, we haven’t gotten your medical clearance yet”. ARGH!!!
So I called the primary care doc’s office. They had it - they just hadn’t bothered to fax it. ::::shriek::::
And I got a couple calls from the surgery center. One, to go over all the medical history stuff… the other, to discuss the payment I needed to make.
Now, I’m supposed to pay the doctor about 2600 for the premium (multifocal and toric) lens, and the surgery center about 800 for the laser.
But the surgery center is asking for 500 dollars to cover the cost of the toric lens.
So I don’t know what the hell is going on. Why are two places trying to bill me for the premium lens. Does the surgery center think I’m just getting toric? Did the doctor’s office write it up wrong? Is it a cash grab by the surgery center??? Am I going to wake up with the wrong damn lens??? Or is it just an extra fee nobody thought I needed to know about until the last minute?
If this isn’t cleared up by tomorrow noon, I may have to call the whole thing off :(.
Panic partly abated. The doc’s office called back and verified that I’m to get the multifocal toric lens. The person I spoke to wasn’t sure if it was the “low add” version - “It’s whatever you discussed with the doctor”. She had called the hospital to make sure they double-checked.
Someone from the hospital called and verified the lens: apparently the description just said “toric”, so the call I got yesterday was as if I were just getting a toric lens (500 vs 790), but the part number does indeed refer to the low-add one - he looked it up while on the phone with me.
I’m surprised the lens portion of the cost is relatively low; I’m paying about 3400 out of pocket total, and 2600 of that is for the doctor; I’m surprised there’s that much extra cost (maybe for the extra screenings or something).
I forgot to ask this morning whether they had gotten the paperwork from my primary care doctor. I need to call back at 1:00 to check - because otherwise I need to drive to the primary care doc and get it myself.
All’s set. About to use my first dilating drop, then heading out.
Aaaand, back!
The trip over was festive in a weird way: because the dilating drops were kicking in, all the traffic lights (red and green) appeared as huge bursts of what looked like fireworks.
They had trouble getting the IV started. As the nurse was failing her second attempt with my left hand I told her flat out “you are done with that hand”. I’ve learned not to let them rummage around too long - they’ll happily to so. They always inject a numbing medication beforehand which does fuck-all to stop the sting.
Luckily the third attempt, in the right hand, was successful or I’d have told her to find someone else.
They gave me more dilating drops - phenylephrine and something else, as well as numbing drops. The doc actually used something to mark my eyeball - which the numbing drop did nothing to stop :mad:
Step 1 was the laser. I had to lie on a gurney with a head brace. And NO DRUGS which is just baffling as hell. Next time, I’ll have to ask WTF. It was very uncomfortable until they brought a pillow to put under my knees. They held my eye open and stuck this suctiony cylinder on top and poured water (sterile saline, probably) into it - which was consistent with what I’d seen. The pressure was very uncomfortable. I was tense as a board during that whole process. It was, as advertised, very fast. I could hear the doctor and a tech talking about “It’s going GREAT!” to each other - I wouldn’t have been surprised to learn they’d high-fived each other. At one point, someone said (to me) “10 more seconds” and you’d better believe I counted down! This all was festive too… lots of red sparkly lights while aiming the thing, then when it went to work, green.
Then I had to move to another gurney. Maybe that’s why “no drugs” but it still seems bizarre. I’ll have to ask the doctor why - and maybe demand the happy juice before the laser part.
They let me have my iPod on, in one ear, which probably helped relax me (as I was in the recovery area, “Blinded By The Light” started up :D.
They started the happy juice (Versed and Fenanyl) and went at it. The meds made me not care - and also gave my interesting “dreams” about what I was seeing. Then it was done. They gave me a dose of something called Diamox to help reduce eye pressure - it can be elevated after such surgery.
I went back just after 7 AM; I was walking out right at 8. They wouldn’t let me walk out with my husband - made him go fetch the car then walked me down to wait at the door until he arrived - which was very quick… that normally-crowded parking lot is empty as hell at 6 AM. Home, a snack, put on the eye shield, and snoozed for 4 hours or so. At one point, I woke up a little, looked through the “new” eye, saw nothing but bright white haze, and thought vaguely “Must be because it’s still dilated” (No, it was because I had the tape right over the middle of the shielf!). The vision was actually a little hazy, but that’s cleared up. Some food, my eye drops, and some more sleep - and I watched TV without glasses!
I had my followup visit today. Eye pressure (which had been high before, hence the drops) was good. That might be a long-term improvement but we’ll see. I’m scheduled for the right eye in 4 weeks, though if they have a cancellation it might be sooner. I had someone there pop the lens out of my driving glasses and a spare pair of reading glasses… only, I brought in the spare driving glasses instead - so I can’t see the computer terribly well right now!
Supposedly my near visiion will work, when all is settled down, at roughly arm’s length. It hasn’t yet - I’m squinting right now to type this.
So, current status: distance vision good. Near vision sucks. But I can read, mostly using my right eye - the computer seems to be just beyond where the right eye works though I can see better with the right than the left. I saw some definite round sparkles around the night light in the bathroom last night, if I opened my left eye wide enough; the dilation has largely faded now and I think that’s gone now but won’t know until tonight.
The dilation is almost gone - last night I looked like I’d had a traumatic brain injury, the pupil was so huge. I’m officially cleared to drive - will probably attempt it in a parking lot over the weekend.
My wife had her final post-op on Wednesday for the second eye. She ordered progressives at Costco because she doesn’t want to screw around with OTC reading glasses, which are never really right. Turns out that with the minor corrective upper part, she will end up with 20/15 in both eyes instead of 20/20. Amazing.
Nice!
I may well get prescription glasses as well - but it’d be nice to get by with drugstore readers in a pinch.
I can legally drive with one eye at 20/25 and the other at 20/20 (the threshold is 20/40), but it’s just much clearer to wear the corrective lens for the poor street signs in this city.
Had my ‘day after the surgery’ check on my second eye yesterday. Doc gave me a pair of reading glasses but they turned out to be much stronger than I actually need (250+) so I went to the drug store and bought a pair at 125+. I got the multi-focus kind so I can use them for the computer, too. I don’t really seem to need any magnification, just the focal distance.
Surgeon told me to make an appointment with the optician in about two weeks to see if any further correction might be beneficial. I can’t imagine seeing even better than I do now. My right eye is still a tiny bit blurry but the first one is now crystal clear two weeks after the surgery.
I’ve been messing with people who ask about my vision now. I’ll point to a tree or something very far in the distance and say “You see that sparrow in that tree over there … the one with the bent tail feather?” Always gets a good groan.