My SO had double cataract replacement several years ago, around the age of 55. I believe he was under full anesthesia both times, or anyway unconscious. He was and still is thrilled with the results. He wore reading glasses before and he still does, he didn’t have any other correction done. But his cataracts were pretty bad, he described it as “permanently foggy”. So the new clear lenses were a great improvement.
I can ask him about what he remembers about recovery, etc. if you want, but I don’t remember him complaining about anything at all (and he can be a complainer).
Roddy
My mom had this done about 4 years ago. She had an undiagnosed macular pucker going in. The cataract and lens surgery has basically ruined her vision: she sees double, and straight lines now look bendy. She has been going from specialist to specialist since it happened and the consensus now is that she’s stuck with this for the rest of her life, as any attempt at more corrective surgery might make it even worse. She has had to give up several activities that she previously loved doing, and has lost confidence in her own abilities because she’s never sure if she’s “seeing right” and thus able to do something. I’m actually surprised she’s coping so well; I’d have gone flipping insane by now.
I’m 66, and had my surgery last year. Yes, you get local anesthetic, because you have to be conscious in order to keep your eye from moving. But you’re not completely alert; I remember starting to snore a few times, and the doctor had to tell me to focus. I did not get a lens that corrected my sight, just one without a cataract. But after the surgery, I was seeing a lot of rays when looking at any kind of lights. Evidently there was a little fold in the lens, so I had to go back for a very minor laser procedure to smooth out the lens.
Yes, I have a separate pre-op appointment 2 weeks before the scheduled operation and plan to ask a lot of questions. Were your mom’s poor results caused by “macular pucker” (sorry, don’t know what that is, can you explain)? Did she have just the lens replacement, or was there some cornea work as well (aka Lasik)?
Ok, had that surgery today in the morning. Not much to report (yet).
Came in, filled out a couple of forms, signed a few things, paid for the extra for the Toric lens they were putting in, waited a bit then they led me in. Didn’t have to put on the hospital gown (hate those), just laid back, they put IV in, the anesthesiologist (actually “nurse-anethesiologist”) came in, I asked what they were using, he said they will put in Versed and Propophol, I will go to sleep completely, he will use that time to inject Lidocaine in the left side of my face around the eye, then I will kinda wake up in time for the procedure.
I woke up on the table, in a bit of a fog. I could hear them working, feel some tugs at the eye, was fully calm, AFAIR, no anxiety at all, vision in that eye was all kinds of screwy, going in and out, they were chatting about some unrelated stuff while they worked, music was playing, etc. After a while they told me they were finished, taped a plastic shield to my face over the eye, moved me out of the OR. Took me a bit to return fully to normal.
It’s now been something like 8 hrs since the surgery. The eye is still covered with an opaque shield, they will take it off at the followup appointment tomorrow morning so I can’t tell you how I see out of it. It doesn’t hurt at all. The tape with which they attached the shield to my face itches a bit.
I guess I will post again tomorrow after they remove the shield.
I don’t think it was Lasik. It wasn’t just cataract surgery, though. They inserted something that was intended to improve her vision and reduce the strength of her prescription.
And yes, the complications were due to the macular pucker. It’s sort of scar tissue in the middle of the retina that can cause blurry central vision. Apparently complications with cataract surgery are not uncommon, but they didn’t find it until afterward. I don’t know what they would have done if they’d known about it beforehand.
Really appreciate the live action play-by-play. Looking (as it were) forward to hearing from you tomorrow.
That Versed is some good shit. They used it when they set my badly broken ankle. I just remember some activity waaaay in the background. No pain at all.
I had cataract surgery in my left eye in August a year ago. It went fine. I got to the hospital, they put drops in every 15 minutes for about an hour, I got into the OR and they immobilized my face and injected a local anesthetic into my cheek just below the eye. It was about like a dental injection. Then he cut, replaced the lens and sent me home with an eyepatch. 24 hours later the patch was removed and I could already see much better. I used some drops for a few weeks and then it was over. I still very well. I was always slightly nearsighted and still am. After about 6 weeks, I went in for the right eye. Same prep and same anesthetic. Since I still had the first experience fresh in my memory, I knew what to expect. So I was aware that the surgeon–the same one–was somehow struggling in a way that was different. Finally, he closed it up. I asked him why it was different. He explained that the old lens had disintegrated and there was one corner of it he couldn’t dislodge and he was afraid to do permanent damage to the eye. He said that if it didn’t move I would never notice it. Same thing, went back the next day and h took the patch off and it looked good.
The next day, I woke up and there was like a gray veil over the eye. It had moved! At first he hoped it would dissipate, but it didn’t. Finally he sent me to the chief of eye surgery at the hospital. He operated again. It was actually quite similar to the other two operations and at the end the veil was gone. But he mentioned that there was something else which I didn’t quite understand. Now I know. My regular ophthalmologist explained a couple weeks ago that there is a nearly (but not quite) invisible membrane that is covering the macula. It could be removed surgically, but would be a much more complicated procedure with no guarantee of success. He said that actually had nothing at all to do with the cataracts or the surgery, but was an independent problem. So my left eye vision is near perfect and right not that good.
One thing I forgot to mention. for about two weeks after surgery you have to cover the eye with a patch. This is apparently to prevent you from rubbing it while you are asleep. Of course, you are not supposed to rub it while awake. It is a minor nuisance.
I had one extremely bad cataract-surgery, easy peasy, nothing to it, no general, you could kind of “watch” it. Looked like a kaleidoscope. (sp?) Then I had a totally bionic wonderful eye. I had a tiny one on the other eye, and wondered how long I would have to wait. They said the business about waiting for it to “ripen” or whatever is old school, and they took it right off! Amazing. Now I have 2 bionic eyes!
I had cataract surgery on one eye about 7 or 8 years ago. My experience was almost exactlly as described by Terr. IV anesthetic put me to sleep long enough for them to numb the eyeball so I didn’t have to see or feel a needle anywhere near my eye. Then I woke into a bit of a twilight state while the procedure was going on but didn’t really feel anything.
I had previously had a small burst vein in that eye and when the blood failed to dissipate, I had a procedure known as a vitrectomy in which the vitreous was replaced with a saline gel solution. The procedure was much the same. After a few years, the lens became cloudy and my night vision became especially poor. Prior to the cataract surgery, I was very nearsighted in both eyes and wore contact lenses since the age of 19. After the surgery, I now have only one contact lens. The eye with the lens replacement is a tad farsighted, which is good for computer work, but I do need reading glasses. My night vision, while still not as good as when I was young, is much improved.
My overall experience was quite positive and I won’t hesitate to have cataract surgery on my other eye – probably in a few more years. I’d say go for it and don’t worry. And look forward to much improved vision!
Something I didn’t mention, because it’s kind of off-topic. In the couple of weeks following the surgery, my insurance company paid the doctor, the anesthesiologist, the nurses and everyone else involved. Then, a few weeks later, the hospital sent my insurance company a bill for $8,000, for the use of the little building where the surgery took place. And my insurance company paid it.
I’m curious about whether anyone else had anything like this. I never heard of a charge for the use of a building.
Update - went in the morning to get the shield removed from my left eye (the one that was operated on). Once it was removed, the world popped up, crisp, new and full-colored. Apparently for the last few (or more) years I have been seeing all colors washed out. Now what my right (still unworked-on) eye sees as yellow, my right eye sees as yellow-orange, all colors in “new” eye are much more saturated.
Gotta do all kind of drops in my left (“new”) eye - all together 7 times a day. Tomorrow I have to start doing drops in my right eye in preparation for the surgery on it.
I was (am) severely myopic - -13 diopters in left, -12 in right eye. Now left eye can see perfectly well, and right eye is still extremely nearsighted, and I can’t wear glasses with just one lens because the lens makes everything much smaller, so am walking without glasses, and the discrepancy gives me headaches. Reading is also a problem. Can’t wait to have the right eye match the left.
No pain in my left eye. A tiny bit of dryness, but since I am doing the drops etc. not much.
A bit of a followup - as I walk around and exercise the new eye - since I was nearsighted I got used to being able to see little things, like tiny writing etc, very well if I took off my glasses and looked at them close up, two inches or so from my eyes. With the new lens in the eye, that’s no longer possible. In fact, I will definitely need reading glasses, because reading fonts below certain size is impossible at any distance from the eye. Too close they are too blurry and far away they are sharper but too small to figure out. That’s a bother.
Thanks, Terr. I was wondering about that myself. I have always been nearsighted although it wasn’t diagnosed until I was about 7 or 8. My current progressive lenses are great. I find it hard to believe that there is a lens and/or surgery that can give me both near and far vision, and will definitely be questioning the doctor about this.
I wonder what I will do between the two surgeries? How will I drive and get around? Will they replace one of the lenses in my glasses with something different?
In my case, my brain pretty much ignored the bad eye, and I had no trouble at all driving with one good eye between surgeries. I also learned that binocular vision is not very important in driving – if you suddenly lost an eye, you wouldn’t have any new restrictions put on your driving by the DMV.
And no, generally, they will tell you to hold off buying any replacement glasses until the 2nd eye is healed and they could write a prescription for both with some confidence. My doc said that if I had trouble reading I might try a magnifying glass or one of those cheapo drugstore reading glasses. He would have written me a prescription if I insisted but said it was just a waste of money because in a few weeks I would need another.
