Have any of the "older" posters here dealt with cataracts?

[C.Ann]

What can you tell me about cataracts? Symptoms? Surgery? Recovery?

I'm thinking I might be on the slippery slope, but obviously won't know for sure until I see an eye doctor.. I have an appointment, but it's pretty far out and I'm hoping to have new health insurance by then - which happens to cover vision (thank goodness!)..

My mom had them probably at least 15 years ago, but I'm sure that procedures and such have changed since then..

Anyone care to share their experiences with me? Just wondering what might be down the road..

Thanks..

 

[Rora]

My Daddy just had one out today!!

As far as I heard from him... the process was fairly simple. They took him into the room, had him lay down, gave him drops and anesthesia in his eye (or next to it--he wasn't very clear), then did the surgery. The whole thing took about 1 1/2 hours. He felt fine after it was over and was wearing an eye patch. He has a follow up appointment tomorrow. He's now eating steak at Outback -- it can't be that harsh of a procedure!

His friend had one out and said that he felt fine and recovery was virtually painless. He also said that he could seem better almost immediately.

 

[pumba]

I had both of my eyes done a year and a half ago. I was a nervous wreck but asked for the drug that would make me not worry about it.....It was a piece of cake but I did have a black eye and part of my face on the second eye....the numbing shot in that area hit a blood vessel....It was pretty good looking one....
I saw clearer and read better almost immediately......I still wear glasses for my reading and close up stuff.....
I would not hesitate to have it done if needed......

I went back next morning to check my pressure in my eye and for the doctor to look it over and then two weeks and then I was good to go....I also have glacoma so I had to be checked every three weeks for a while..

the procedure itself is fast but the drops getting ready for the surgery takes the longest time

 

[C.Ann]

I had both of my eyes done a year and a half ago. I was a nervous wreck but asked for the drug that would make me not worry about it.....It was a piece of cake but I did have a black eye and part of my face on the second eye....the numbing shot in that area hit a blood vessel....It was pretty good looking one....
I saw clearer and read better almost immediately......I still wear glasses for my reading and close up stuff.....
I would not hesitate to have it done if needed......

I went back next morning to check my pressure in my eye and for the doctor to look it over and then two weeks and then I was good to go....I also have glacoma so I had to be checked every three weeks for a while..

the procedure itself is fast but the drops getting ready for the surgery takes the longest time

What were your primary symptoms? And I assume they did one eye at a time - separated by weeks? I also seem to recall my mom having to replace her glasses several times throughout this period - until the final surgery.. Is that common now?

 

[tinkerfan1]

My DH had both of his eyes done a few years ago, probably about a year apart, if I remember correctly. It was a very simple procedure and he had no problems! Of course, he whined to me just so I could give him sympathy but that is just part of the way we tease each other!! He said the difference in his vision was remarkable. I'm guessing he was about 50 when he had it done (give or take a couple years). Now, my mother, had cataract surgery on her eyes several years ago. She is almost 80 now so she was much older than he was at the time. She wore trifocal glasses before the surgery and had for as long as I can remember. After the surgery, all she needs to wear is reading glasses! It was amazing!! My husband only needed to wear reading glasses anyway...he just couldn't see. I guess what I'm getting at is that the results were fantastic for both of them and neither of them had any complaints. Good luck. I'm sure you will be pleased.

 

[jackemail]

I had a detached retina, and it seems that the trauma from it caused a cataract. Some of my symptoms were that colors were not as bright, rainbow-like rings seemed to be around lights at night (car headlights, streetlights), and it often seemed as if I was looking through a filmy substance. The surgery itself was nothing at all, and I am a medical scaredy cat (of course, I had already gone through several eye surgeries with the retina, so I was getting used to it). I now have a "baby cataract" growing on my other eye, but it hasn't changed sizes in 3 years and they don't want to do surgery on cataracts until they reach a certain size, in order to guarantee better results.

 

[pumba]

first off......age has nothing to do with cataracts. My sil had his eyes done because of injuries playing hockey. he was in his early 30's.....

I had no symptoms of having a cataract.....I put my glasses on and could see.....they did one eye one week and then two weeks later the second eye.....I had no glasses for three or four months and then I got new prescriptions.....I used my regular glasses for reading but I could see far away fantastic

 

[Buckalew11]

My mom had her first one done 2 weeks ago. The second done this week. The procedure took around 15 mins. It was quick and simple according to her. She had the new multi focal lens put in both eyes and no long has to wear glasses at all--for far away OR close up! She is very excited about that.
He said she could be back on the tennis court next week!! She went to the Lady vols game on Monday night after the surgery Monday morning. She had a patch on one eye until lunchtime then was to remove it and apply some drops for days. She slept with a patch for 5 nights.

She is really pleased with the ease of it all. When I was a kid my great grandmother had it done and it was major. Flat on your back (with sand bags, I think) and just a terrible ordeal. Boy has that surgery changed!!

 

[disneyhand]

I had 1 eye done 4 years ago, I was 50 at the time. It was quick and painless. No problems what so ever.

 

[smidgy]

I am subbin to this thread becuase, at age 53, I have cataracts. unfortunately, as a waitress, I have no health insurance,so we are making umpteen phone calls, trying to find the cheapest route, and/or drs., hospitals, etc, that take payment plans. ( we are finding that the anesthesiologist is the hardest to pinpoint as far as cost, working with you as far as payment, etc.)
oh, for the good old days, before the company hubby worked for went under, and we had health insurance.
i have never had surgery in my life. now, instead of caring about the actual process, I find myself ready to auction off my eye surgery to the lowest bidder!

anyway, thanks for this thread, I'm glad to hear it's apparently not that big a deal.... whew! (I haven't let myself think about that part of it). (you'd think it was a big deal, for the money they charge!)

 

[Otimon]

Had both cataracts taken out last year and "it was a piece of cake"! No pain or difficulty at all.

Worst part was going through all the drops put into your eyes and waiting for them to take effect. The actual removal took about 15 minutes or so and then returned to the recovery area. Blood pressure was taken and I was given a juice box to drink. Was there (in recovery) no more than 10 minutes and I was out the door and on my way home.

Best wishes.

 

[MUFFYCAT]

My DH had both done last year with no problem. They did the procedures a week apart. Both times we were out of the doctors office by 11:00 and even went for breakfast.

 

[teskak]

My 44 year old husband had surgery for one, yes 15 mins operation, 1hr of recovery then home.

The funniest bit is the replacement lens catches the light sometimes and he looks like the Arnie from Terminator 2

 

[daughtersrus]

If you need to have both removed, please wait at least 2 weeks between the surgeries! My DD had both removed about 13 years ago when she was 2yo. She was originally scheduled to have them done a month apart but the Ped Ophth (chief of staff at a major children's hospital in Chicago) insisted that it would be fine to do them 2 days apart. Sadly, DD developed an infection (medical negligence) in the second eye after surgery. Sadly, she ended up loosing that eye. The infection also spread to the other eye but after 10 days in ICU, they were able to save that eye.

I don't tell you this to scare you but to let you know that infections can happen. I know that her doctor kind of glossed over this part saying that in all of her years, she's never had a patient with any complications. Infections can happen and when they do, they can be very serious.

We later found out that it takes several weeks for the eye to completely heal and an infection can pop up anytime. Please give the first eye some time to heal before having the second surgery.

 

[agnes!]

This is the thread I started last year when I found out I had to have cataract surgery in both eyes.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=30762727#post30762727
It was a shock, as I am not at all the classic age to have them done and don't have the classic indicators of early-onset cataracts like diabetes.

My major symptom in the fall of 2008 was the glare from oncoming car headlights...they gave out a glare that obscured the cars, it was like a wall of light coming toward me. Went to the eye doctor and found out in December that I had bad cataracts in both eyes. I had not had them at all two years previous at my last appointment, so mine were very fast-growing and somewhat aggressive. When I went in for another appointment, kind of a pre-surgery thing in January(2009), I told my opthamologist/surgeon that 'my cataracts are worse', he said "You're right", I said "I know". That's how bad they were. The surgeon was telling me all the bad things that could happen and I said "Doctor, it doesn't matter. If I don't get them done I will be blind by the end of the year" and I would have been.

As other posters have said, the two surgeries need to be scheduled some time apart, to allow for recovery-time and to make sure the first eye doesn't get infected. You won't be cleared to drive for a week or so, until your dr. says ok. There aren't restrictions like there used to be, but you do kind of have to take it easy until that first post-surgery appointment and you will need someone to take you to surgery and to give you a ride home. My surgery was done on an out-patient basis in a surgery-suite at a healthplex. The only difference between this 'healthplex' and a hospital is that the healthplex doesn't have in-patient wards...they have an ER, a Radiology department, etc.

I had had glasses since I was in fourth grade with near-sightedness and astigmatism in one eye. I did not get the multi-focal lenses, I wasn't fond of my bi-focals when I had them plus there was an added cost. I did pay for and get the corrective/toric lenses to correct my astigmatism. The doctor told me that insurance wouldn't cover the cost and I told him I didn't care...my last 2 pairs of glasses cost at least $700 *each* and I would never have to pay for those expensive glasses again. Now you have to understand something...these were not really fancy frames, the cost was mostly in the lenses.

It was kind of a loss not having to have glasses, hard to explain, but I had had them soooooo long...there was definitely an adjustment. Plus the two surgeries were my first surgery ever, so I was scared.

Here's some of the good stuff!
Your cataracts as they age/get bigger give the world you see a brownish tinge. Colors are so much more vivid now.
I can, for the first time, see across the room when I get up.
Cataract surgery is one of the safest surgeries that can be done. There are always risks with any kind of surgery, but cataract surgery has a higher long-term success rate than lasix/etc....I will probably never have to get a tune-up like Lasix patients sometimes do. Also, here's something interesting...Some people, for instance airline pilots, even elect to get cataract surgery as a completely-elective procedure, mostly for their career.

good luck,
agnes!

 

[bushdianee]

I am 51 and just diagnosed with cataracts about a month ago. My Mom and younger brother have already had surgeries for catarcts. My Mom was in her early 40's when she had hers and my brother had one done last year at 49. He keeps putting off the other one.

 

[Straitlover]

My mother had both eyes done recently, one in Oct and one in Nov. The actaul surgery only takes 10-20 minutes. She sais the worst part to her was all the drops you have to use for weeks afterwards. She now has 20/20 vision but does need reading glasses.

C.Ann, are you on Medicare? I can't remember how old you are. My mother is (age 72), and she has a Medigap policy, so she has not had to pay anything at all for her surgery (well, other than her monthly Medigap premiums ). She got all the medicines at the doctor's office rather than a pharmacy, so they were covered w/ no co-pays. Medicare Part B also pays for a pair of glasses 100% after cataract surgery, too.

 

[DisneyMim]

My mother had one eye done last fall. She is legally blind, lives alone, and was very nervous. It wasn't nearly as bad as she was expecting. In fact the worse part was the eyedrops after the operation. She just couldn't remember what to do, which ones to use, what time, etc. I called 6-8 times a day for weeks to help her, and went to see her as often as I could. I think she can see a little better than before. Don't worry at all, it won't be as bad as you are thinking.

Best of Luck!

 

[manning]

Thank god it isn't 25-30 years ago or more. Back then they put you under took out the cateracts and gave you coke bottle glasses.

Today it is all local. They make a small incisson (sp?) take out the lens and put another one in. It is now done as an outpatient procedure.

And you see better than before.