Well, it seems that I am now officially getting old. I will be having cataract surgery in November and December. Right eye first, then left eye. Happy happy, joy joy.
Having watched videos on YouTube (caution: not for the squeamish), I am much better educated about what to expect. In addition, my doc has been real good about educating me. But all I gotta say is that they better give me really good drugs.
Anyone else care to share experiences?
Mine was a non-event since I’d already had Lasik procedure years ago. I only needed it in one eye for some reason (possible trauma caused) so I didn’t need to go back. They put an acrylic lens in mine but I tell everyone that I got the silicone ones so that I can brag about my implants. 
Damn those nipples racing across my eyelids when I dream.
My second surgery was botched and had to be repeated two days later. So I am one of very few people with THREE cataract surgeries.
However, the ultimate outcome was entirely good. I’ve been very nearsighted since I was a kid, and after the surgery I could drive without any glasses for the first time EVER (and I got the vision restriction removed from my license).
Moved from MPSIMS to IMHO, where we put threads about people’s medical experiences.
I has them, but they’re not bad enough yet for my medical coverage to pay for the surgery. At some point I do need to start educating myself about it.
I’m going to need it, too, in the next few months. Unfortunately I know two people personally whose cataract surgeries did not go well. There’s a thread from a few months ago that followed a Doper’s surgery pretty closely and plenty of people chimed in with their experiences, good and bad (mostly good).
I just had cataract surgery 2 days ago on my left eye. I am only in my late 40s, but developed the cataracts young(ish) as another symptom of retinitis pigmentosa (RP). My doctor noticed the cataracts about 4 or 5 years ago, but they’d been stable until recently, when the left side deteriorated significantly. The right one is still not bad enough for removal.
The surgery was very easy. Checked in for prep at 7:30AM, surgery at 8:30, out by 9:30. The only thing that was a little disconcerting was the “lost time” from the anesthesia–three or four minutes when the doc administered the local under propofal, and perhaps 20 minutes in the middle of surgery lost to the versed (milk of amnesia, as one of my friends, a nurse, charmingly calls it).
The first day with the eye taped shut and patched was a little uncomfortable, mostly because of the occasional unscratchable itch under the bandage.
Yesterday morning I got the patch off, and it feels somewhat miraculous, frankly. I still have a severe loss of peripheral vision from the RP, and I’m still legally blind. But I just hadn’t realized how little light was passing through that lens. Everything is bright again. And clear. I was having a huge amount of trouble with seeing anything at all outside on a sunny day, and that seems to be much better due to the glare reduction in that eye. And indoors it feels like there are twice as many bulbs in my house and my office.
Just have to put a bunch of eyedrops in for the next month, then I can get some new glasses to correct the residual astigmatism and for distance (he put in a lens focused for reading distance).
So, so happy.
So happy 4 U Rick!
I had a Clear Lens Implant in August at Kraff in Chgo. V happy with it.
History: I had radial keratotomy at Gailey Eye Clinic years and years ago that was never fully healed (and frankly was a disaster from Day 1). 18 radial cuts in each cornea that made my vision a real challenge, esp at night. I still had to wear contact lenses to cover it all up just so I could have some semblance of vision. Glasses would never correct the irregular irregularity left by the terribly done RK surgery.
Kraff was my last hope. He suggested taking out the lens of the eye and replacing it “like a cataract operation” with a custom lens to refract the incoming light in a normal way and leave the cornea itself alone (Lasik was not an option at that point).
I am so FREAKIN HAPPY WITH IT! I can see again without contacts! 
I had no pain, but vision took a while to recover d/t the RK cuts. Slow improvement.
A “normal” cataract operation would only take 15-20 min but mine took 45 min. Now waiting for the second eye to be done as soon as the first eye heals fully.
What they don’t tell you is that you absolutely MUST stay awake during the procedure, in order to keep your eye still. I started to doze off a few times, and heard my doctor yell “Focus!” There’s no pain, and they’ll give you a mild sedative, but it shouldn’t put you to sleep.
Oh, and be very clear with your doctor ahead of time, whether you’ll be getting a generic lens or one that will improve your eye sight.
And I suggest having the procedures done well in advance of Christmas. With the cataracts, it was hell driving at night, with all the holiday lights.
What? Kraff injected the muscles surrounding the eye (after I was well into LaLaLand) so that they couldnt move. There was no warning to stay awake. The only thing they told me I must not do is talk since it would move the operating field. It wasnt hard to do, since they gave me plenty of Cocktail Juice in my IV.
I am astigmatic, so we discussed the type of lens that will correct for that. It looks like, when I’m done, I won’t need glasses any more except for reading. Well, I’ll probably need a fake pair to keep SWMBO happy. She likes the way I look in glasses. Although I think I’ll get at least one pair of these just to jerk her chain. 
That was not true in my case. I had an option of general anaesthesia, or what they called “conscious sedation.”
They will. Trust me.
I was concerned for the first eye, but after massive doses of something or other, they could have told me they were going in thru the back of my head and I would have said “Fine”. And those eye surgeons are incredible. Fine motor control like you wouldn’t believe (although my eye surgeon was, or at least appeared to be, a good deal younger than I am).
But they implanted lenses, and now, for the first time in fifty one years, I am 20/40 without glasses. Still need them to read, but holy cow! I can see!
The only complication I had was some kind of tissue or something forming in my “capsule” (IIRC). Not to fear - a couple zaps with the laser from Goldfinger aimed at my eye instead of my crotch, and I could see almost perfectly within a couple hours. That I didn’t need any prep or anesthesia. They examined me, determined what was up (“I have never seen such a dense capsule!” “Err - thanks”) and ushered me into the Laser Chamber. They made my wife wearing these welding goggle things, to abide by EPA rules, but sat me down and fried my capsule and restored my vision.
Really, it is nothing.
Regards,
Shodan
