Cataract Surgery

[Rod Sheridan]

Friday afternoon I had cataract surgery on my left eye.

This morning the world was bright, crisp and in 3D, something it hasn’t been in awhile.

Modern technology really is indistinguishable from magic.

Regards, Rod

[ChrisA Edwards]

Yes it was like going from 720 to ultra 4K resolution. Congrats

[Mike Henderson]

I had one eye done. Surgery is no problem. It did take quite a while for me to get good distance vision. I told the doc that I wanted good distance vision in that eye but right after surgery, I had good middle vision. Over time, my distance vision in that eye improved.

It's a lot better than cataracts but not as good as the vision I had at 20 years of age.

Mike

[Edit: I'll add that I came out of the surgery with some astigmatism in that eye, which I had never had before. Not bad, but I got glasses to correct it and wear the glasses while driving. I am a bit picky about vision, however.]

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I had one eye done. Surgery is no problem. It did take quite a while for me to get good distance vision. I told the doc that I wanted good distance vision in that eye but right after surgery, I had good middle vision. Over time, my distance vision in that eye improved.

It's a lot better than cataracts but not as good as the vision I had at 20 years of age.

Mike

I am planning on having cataract surgery mid-summer. I want one eye in distance and one eye close.

Like you Mike, I was 20 last century!

[Patty Hann]

I had both eyes done last year, 6 months apart.
Lenses are the same, both for distance (so, yes, I have to wear reading glasses which I never needed prior to the surgery)
Pros: Biggest one is no longer going blind (which is nothing to sneeze at)
Also distance vision is much better (I was myopic) ; I no longer have to wear glasses for myopia.
But I still have small astigmatisms in both eyes, which requires glasses for really crisp distance vision, say for shooting, and for night driving.

Cons: "artifacts" that affect night vision.
The medical term is dysphotopsia. Go here dysphotopsia

I hate what it's done to my "seeing" (astronomically speaking)
Left eye is useless for clear viewing ....see below. Thank heavens the right eye was not similarly affected. ***

Post cataract left eye.jpg

*** It's a crap shoot predicting how much your night vision will affected.
Most people don't care, but one in three cataract patients will have their night vision negatively affected by haloes, starbursts, streaks, spikes etc.
But there's no way to consistently predict who will get them or to what degree/severity.

[Rob Luter]

I am planning on having cataract surgery mid-summer. I want one eye in distance and one eye close.

That sounds like a recipe for vertigo. A friend had cataract surgery last summer and opted for distance vision in both. He wears readers for up close like most men of a certain age.

[Patty Hann]

That sounds like a recipe for vertigo. A friend had cataract surgery last summer and opted for distance vision in both. He wears readers for up close like most men of a certain age.

It depends on person's brain; some can adapt some can't.

My BF is an ophthalmological surgical nurse.
When a patient opts for a different lens in each eye, they do one eye, then wait several weeks if not months before doing the other eye, to see if the person's brain can adapt.
She said some don't and that the "imbalance" can cause headaches and eye strain.

I had the imbalance for 6 months (because I scheduled my surgeries 6 months apart) and it never bothered me.
And I wasn't even going to do the separate (different) lenses; both my lenses correct for distance only.

[Lee Schierer]

My wife had both eyes done recently and everything is going well. She is very pleased that she can see better in the dark and colors are much more vivid. She had distance vision lenses put in and will likely wear glasses for close vision. She is considering getting progressive lenses with clear for the distance and adjustment for reading.

[Ron Selzer]

Paid 6k for special progressive lenses for my wife when she had her cataract surgery. She could see close to far very easy after surgery, she could not drive after dark. After dark driving slowly got better with time. She now wears glasses to read three years later, distance still very good, she is happy with results.
Ron

[Jim Becker]

I had my right eye done as a follow-up to macular hole surgery. Holy color spectrum, Batman! We really don't realize just how our eyesight "yellows"/warms over time and with only one eye done, it's easy to compare. I honestly cannot wait to get the other one done to get the same color improvement. Unfortunately, that one isn't anywhere close to qualifying for the replacement. LOL

[Patty Hann]

Paid 6k for special progressive lenses for my wife when she had her cataract surgery. She could see close to far very easy after surgery, she could not drive after dark. After dark driving slowly got better with time. She now wears glasses to read three years later, distance still very good, she is happy with results.
Ron

Is her night vision good to where she's fine with driving at night, or is it a case of "I'll do it if I have to but I prefer not to"?
The reason I ask is that my nurse friend said (and I have read it many abstracts) that the progressive lenses have the highest rates of night vision problems (dysphotopsia)
This is due to the structure of the progressive lenses and not a person's eyes or brain (altho' the eyes and brain can make it better or worse.)

[Jim Becker]

I wear progressive lenses and so does Professor Dr. SWMBO. Even my computer glasses (that I have on as I type this) are progressive, but with the majority in the mid-range distance. I have no nighttime issues when driving etc. While The Professor is not driving anymore for medical reasons, she did have some night time issues, but it was largely attributed to the specific eye problems she has. She wore an overlay lens/glasses that specifically dealt with that if she had to drive at night.

[Stan Calow]

I am planning on having cataract surgery mid-summer. I want one eye in distance and one eye close. . . .

Ken I have had this situation naturally, my whole life. Not sure what I'm going to do when my turn for cataract surgery comes up.

[Jerry Bruette]

I am planning on having cataract surgery mid-summer. I want one eye in distance and one eye close.

This is the way my wife's eyes are naturally. She had an optometrist tell her that she's fortunate, some people pay big dollars to have their eyes "fixed" like this.

When I was in my 40's I was on of those people. I had a procedure done, radial something, so I had distance vision in one eye and close vision in the other. The doctor used radio waves to increase the curvature of one lens. The effect wore off after about six years and I had to start wearing cheater glasses for close up reading.

Your brain will adjust to the two different lenses, but your depth perception will be affected.

[Bill Howatt]

I opted for both eyes being setup for distance and I have cheap readers for reading. Dr. said "shouldn't tell you this, but it's all you need" regarding the readers. Even though the readers are necessary my closeup vision without them is much improved too so I don't always need to be putting them on depending on the task.
If I'm in a dark room I see halos around small light sources like the pilot light on the TV etc but zero effect for night driving. I guess it only happens when iris is wide-open in dark room; a little bit of light makes it go away.
Friend had her first one done and said she can't believe how bright and vivid the colors are in that eye - said before it was like looking through the nicotine stained windows in her mothers house.
Optometrist said lens replacement is really a modern miracle. Years ago such sight corrections would have resulted in very thick lens glasses and a limited field of vision.