What Was Your Experience After Cataract Surgery?

Remy

Remy

Well-known Member
Location
California, USA
Both eye surgeries are done and over with. So that's good. However, I was never informed how bad my eye sight would be AFTER the second surgery because my prescription progressive glasses were obsolete. They were still of use after one eye was done. I was told to just get readers. They did not work. I almost had to take a leave from work. They don't even do the eye exam for new prescriptions until a month after the second surgery.

Then I realized I could see distance with my prescription reading glasses. I could see distance very well and clear. But I couldn't read with them. What the... And what was I going to do to read. I went to the craft store and got a pair of those magnifying clip on for glasses. I never would have thought of this if it wasn't for a nice lady a couple years ago who talked to me while at a craft store and asked me if I had ever tried them.

I clipped those things on my readers in the store and I could see to read. Flip the lenses up and I could see distance. They looked ridiculous but I wore them for about 6 weeks. They were sight savers.

Also I had a good nurse my first surgery. IV in first try, I remember little of the surgery. The second surgery they stuck me 4 times and then were talking as if they were not sure if the IV was really in right. I got the sedating medication and I, to my recollection, was awake for the whole thing. Also they commented after the medication that my right nails were blue on my hand. I'm convinced some of that medication went into my tissue and not my blood stream. Also my carpel tunnel syndrome got worse after that. It bothered me some but not the throbbing, burning pain at night I get now. I have an ortho appointment next month for it, which I have no faith in.

Sorry this got long. Thanks for reading.
 

I've just gotten my second eye done yesterday, and am still putting in the eye drops they have you use during the ensuing post-operative weeks.

Cataract surgery is not eyeball replacement. They consulted with me to see where I would like my focus to be (not that I can't now see further or nearer). I chose about 3-5 feet away, as that's where my computer screen normally is. At any rate, I am really wowed with the difference. Colors are truer (cataracts, at least mine, are yellow, so that tinted everything I saw). I'm walking around our home without glasses; I'm reading online and posting here without glasses; I couldn't be more pleased.

They really took care of me prior to the operation, during, and after. Real pros (and sweethearts).

I will get glasses (with a new prescription) for seeing distances (for example, in the car) as well as sunglasses. At any rate, wow.
 

Lewkat said:
Mine was a success and since I had new lenses implanted, I do not need glasses except for reading to keep my eyes relaxed. However, I now have a film over my right eye and will have to have it lasered out.
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I had that too and was a bit nervous about having it lasered off. I shouldn't have worried. It was a very simple procedure that involved dilation of the iris followed by 4 clicks of the laser while I stared into an apparatus like the ones used to look inside the eye. "All gone now, and it won't come back" was what the ophthalmologist said. And it hasn't.
 
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Devi said:
I've just gotten my second eye done yesterday, and am still putting in the eye drops they have you use during the ensuing post-operative weeks.

Cataract surgery is not eyeball replacement. They consulted with me to see where I would like my focus to be (not that I can't now see further or nearer). I chose about 3-5 feet away, as that's where my computer screen normally is. At any rate, I am really wowed with the difference. Colors are truer (cataracts, at least mine, are yellow, so that tinted everything I saw). I'm walking around our home without glasses; I'm reading online and posting here without glasses; I couldn't be more pleased.

They really took care of me prior to the operation, during, and after. Real pros (and sweethearts).

I will get glasses (with a new prescription) for seeing distances (for example, in the car) as well as sunglasses. At any rate, wow.
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Things did start to look yellowed and driving at night, I didn't get the halos but more super fine star bursts around lights. I didn't get the lenses that correct because of the price. Insurance didn't cover those and they couldn't cure my astigmatism anyway. I know people have said they didn't need glasses after surgery. Perhaps they got the corrective lenses.

I wish though they had told me how bad my sight could have been after the surgery. I'm at about the average age for cataract surgery and they have to realize some people are still working and need their eye sight.

Most people at this office are nice but it's a group with about five eye doctors and I have read their online reviews with one of the main complaints is that you are treated like someone on an assembly line. This was my thoughts on the place also.
 
I will never do the laser surgery procedure after going on you tube years ago and seeing horror stories about earlier procedures resulting in permanent disabilities and suicides.
 
My experience was excellent, well almost. My doctor did cataract and glaucoma surgery at the same time in 2005. The right eye was done first. She let me listen to calming music on my iPod which I had disinfected. I was nervous because I had to be awake during the procedure. She didn't tell me she was going to correct my nearsightedness and astigmatism during the surgery, but she did. The subsequent events were the catalyst for the screen name I chose. Here's what happened:
The surgeries were approximately a year apart. After the first one my brain couldn't process the major differences in vision. I tried removing the right lens of my glasses...didn't work. I was having trouble wearing contacts, plus since I had to start putting so many drops in my eye that contacts weren't an option anyway. Finally I substituted brown contact paper for the right eyeglass lens. My frames were tortoise shell colored (brown). My husband and I went to the mall and supermarket one day and I could tell people were looking at me strangely as they approached me. I thought that from a distance it probably looked like I only had one eye since the glasses frame and contact paper were similar to the color of my skin. Fancying myself as a music Diva, I chose the name OneEyedDiva.

After I had the second eye done, I was seeing 20/20 and it was years before I needed glasses again. When I did, they were no where near as strong (and thick) as the ones I was wearing before the surgeries. I had worn glasses since I was 10 years old. I had about four laser surgeries afterward to help lower the eye pressures. The lasers were an easy process.
 
Remy, don’t be surprised if in about a year your vision seems dirty again. About 40% of people need a quick laser clean up. It’s easy.
 
jujube said:
I had good results for a while but developed problems in my right eye that resulted in two additional surgeries on the retina in that eye and a "dead spot" right in the center of my vision as well as poor peripheral vision. I cannot read with that eye. It's gone for good.
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That is what I feared might happen to me. I was given a probability of success of 70 percent, a probability of 15 percent that it would be worse and a probability of 15 percent that I would end up blind in that eye. The retina specialist still tried to talk me into it.
 
Jules said:
Remy, don’t be surprised if in about a year your vision seems dirty again. About 40% of people need a quick laser clean up. It’s ea
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That's what I'm going to be doing in a couple of wks. My right eye, which I had done 1st is getting kind of cloudy again....and my left eye he didn't clean it enough. So a little laser procedure should clear things up.

He said it should only take a matter of minutes.
 
Jules said:
Remy, don’t be surprised if in about a year your vision seems dirty again. About 40% of people need a quick laser clean up. It’s easy.
Click to expand...
Wow, I never knew this. I thought those lenses were permanently clear. I don't know. I have my final, I guess it's 6 month, follow up next month and I'll ask about that. I kind of think the doctor is a jerk. When I mentioned to him how bad my vision was after the second surgery (regarding my now obsolete prescription progressives) he just stated back that I didn't get the correcting lenses. I'm not stupid, I already knew that. But I didn't say anything.
 
If you just get one eye done, could you get around at home on your own afterwards?
I have mild cataracts and I'm just wondering.
 
Resurrecting an old thread. Why is no one using this forum? Anyway, here is my story.
Need cataract surgery in both eyes. I have astigmatism and am both presbyopic and myopic. So, automatically have to have a more expensive surgery to handle the astigmatism. Plus, doc said he only wants to do laser, which also rules out the 'basic' surgery & Medicare coverage.

Thinking of multi-focal lenses, in order to avoid readers. However, the doc said ideally I should have my dominate eye done first for the distance view, even if it isn't as bad as my other eye. Something to do with getting the best distance determined first before doing second eye for close up vision.

I now want to ask if I get both eyes done for distance vision, if I could then wear a contact lens in one eye to correct for close up. (I used to wear monovision contacts and adapted easily to that.) This way I could get both eyes done for 'best distance' enabling me to do the worst eye first - and, later get tested for a contact lens for just one eye to accommodate close up.

Has anyone taken this approach?

Second question - how many of you had to have a health work up beforehand? I don't have a primary doctor and have never been diagnosed with any particular health condition, and it doesn't seem like I need to have any sort of work up done in advance.

This whole thing is still freaking me out in terms of surgery in general.
Third question - how do you get over being freaked out before the surgery(ies)? I've read and read and read about eye cataract surgery and that has not helped one bit.

Thanks for reading this long post.
 
Had my cataracts removed in June 2008.
I did pay extra to have astigmatism corrected.

For reading I buy cheap glasses,, which are scattered all over the house.

If you doesn't get any answers here go over to General Discussions mention you have a long post over .

Good luck with your surgery,,follow the doctor's before surgery & follow up instructions.
 
bjp1201 said:
Resurrecting an old thread. Why is no one using this forum? Anyway, here is my story.
Need cataract surgery in both eyes. I have astigmatism and am both presbyopic and myopic. So, automatically have to have a more expensive surgery to handle the astigmatism. Plus, doc said he only wants to do laser, which also rules out the 'basic' surgery & Medicare coverage.

Thinking of multi-focal lenses, in order to avoid readers. However, the doc said ideally I should have my dominate eye done first for the distance view, even if it isn't as bad as my other eye. Something to do with getting the best distance determined first before doing second eye for close up vision.

I now want to ask if I get both eyes done for distance vision, if I could then wear a contact lens in one eye to correct for close up. (I used to wear monovision contacts and adapted easily to that.) This way I could get both eyes done for 'best distance' enabling me to do the worst eye first - and, later get tested for a contact lens for just one eye to accommodate close up.

Has anyone taken this approach?

Second question - how many of you had to have a health work up beforehand? I don't have a primary doctor and have never been diagnosed with any particular health condition, and it doesn't seem like I need to have any sort of work up done in advance.

This whole thing is still freaking me out in terms of surgery in general.
Third question - how do you get over being freaked out before the surgery(ies)? I've read and read and read about eye cataract surgery and that has not helped one bit.

Thanks for reading this long post.
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Many use the forum just not in old threads every day for years. Most would have just started a new thread. Hello and Welcome !!! :)

I had cataract surgery in both eyes 20yrs ago when I was 50. Doc offered distance in one lens and closeup in the other. He said my brain would adjust to using which ever eye I needed for a particular distance. I opted for distance in both and use off the shelf readers for close stuff. My thinking was, "What if my brain couldn't adjust to the different focal lengths ... (or constant adjustment gave me headaches)?" ... I'd have to get expensive prescription glasses ... but if both lens were set for distance, I could just use commercially available inexpensive readers for close stuff. And it has worked out very well for me.

I do have some astigmatism in both eyes and doc said (20yrs ago) that if the astigmatism was a problem for me, I could have it laser corrected. But it hasn't ever been a problem even though my vision isn't perfect.

As far as a health workup, I don't remember one specifically for pre-surgery on cataracts, but my doc did review my medical record which was easily available to him since I was in the military and he was a military doctor. Thing is though, I would have had any workup or check performed if he had felt it was necessary.

To your third question, the idea of poking around in my eyes did indeed freak me out a bit. I got over it by just going with the flow and getting it done and so very glad I did. Cataracts are not good, but being able to see again is.
 
I went for the distance in both eyes too. No more glasses for driving.
Don't remember anything about my health history being needed.
I'm sure they had enough to go on already in my files.
 
I have worn glasses since I was in third grade. I am now over 70 and have had both my eyes cleared of cataracts. I have 20/20 vision in both eyes and do not wear glasses. I consider this technology a wonderful thing that can correct our eye site with no pain or complications. I realize for some it is not 100% but for many it is...! And for most all I know that have had the surgery; they had a dramatic improvement in their site.
 
I had cataract surgery in May of 2023 on right eye. I paid extra for a lens that Medicare did not cover. I had the worst experience afterwards and my eye doctor that did my follow ups since I live on an island and have to go to the mainland to see the opthalmologist. He kept saying everything looked good and I should give it time. Nothing was wrong with my eye.

My sight got so bad and I found out why. The opthalmologist told me the wrong powered lens was implanted in my eye. I was livid. He said I was 1 of 5 that got this lens, why was I not notified? He did lasik surgery (free of charge) to correct my sight. The next day my sight was perfect until I got cataract surgery on the other eye in December. Now the right eye is blurry and I can't see words at all.

I went to another opthalmologist for 2nd opinion and was told I have a cloud behind the lens that needed to be removed. He performed a simple capsulotomy but that seemed to make it worse. Today I made an appointment with my original surgeon and I am praying for a better outcome. Talk about frustration!
 
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The practice I went to was an assembly line, cranking as many people through as possible.
The outcome was not satisfactory.
Since the surgeries, I have experienced terrible blurry floaters.
Maybe I just chose the wrong ophthalmologist.
 

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