Follow up to my "Walk in the park"

Eye care
1

I should clarify my post, and am sure sorry if I caused anyone undue concern. 

My procedure wasn't necessary. In fact, some insurances wouldn't have covered it. My doctor told me that the cataracts were so minimal I could go a number of years w/o surgery. He followed by saying that on the other hand, no need to wait til it was bad. 

It made perfect sense to me, in great part because the surgery is considered incredibly safe. 

A week before meeting with this doc, I'd seen an optometrist who had told me that cataracts were just forming. I asked why she would have said that, and he told me that she was in the business of selling glasses. What would these things add up to for you?

I most assuredly would never attempt to steer anyone away from surgery. My concern is for those who aren't in need of removal. My doc made it sound easy and great. Had I known then what I know now, I would have been far more careful!!

My gramma would have gone blind had her cataracts not been removed.  Totally different scenario!!

I do apologize if I caused anyone unnecessary fear or anxiousness!

2

Totally agree.  This is not a surgery anyone should have unless they have cataracts that are affecting vision that cannot be corrected by glasses or contact lenses

Maybe when they have perfected the lenses or power can be adjusted once already implanted but not as the procedure stands today.

3

Was this the first time an eye doctor mentioned you had an early stage cataract forming?

I recall the first time for me was about 2008, but it took almost 6 years until 2014 until the cataract progressed far enough to affect my vision at all.

At first it started making the eye a little more nearsighted that continued to get more nearsighted for the next couple years, then that stopped progressing but then even with a stronger eyeglasses prescription it could no longer correct to 20/20 distance vision. In the past year that eye's cataract prevents it from correcting to better than 20/40-50 which is where the doctors say is when you should consider cataract surgery and its considered "medically necessary"

I haven't encountered any eye doctor that suggests doing the surgery before the eye reaches that point.

4

I agree. In my case cataracts progressed rapidly.  Optometrist 18 months prior corrected my eyes to 20/20 and mentioned cloudy lens but that didn't register.  Next visit (Jan 2017) could correct beyond 20/70 and 20/60.   Not sure why they progressed so fast.  I am not typical age and no family history cataracts in early 50's

Guess everyone is different but I do think any eye specialist to suggest lens replacement before medically necessary is irresponsible.

5

My left eye has only been observed by eye doctors to have an early stage cataract formed starting about 3 years ago, so its at least 5 years behind my right eye. Might take several years for it to show any noticeable affects since it still corrects fine to 20/15 and has nice clear vision compared to my right eye that has the cataract that causes blurry vision, night vision halos, and won't correct to better than about 20/50 in the daytime (worse at night).

So I'm mostly relying on my good left eye for the past couple years. I can get the cataract surgery on my right eye, but that would leave my left eye to probably have to wait for several years until its cataract progresses far enough.  After the right eye surgery is done and if its successful for giving me good distance vision in that eye, I might go back to using an RGP contact in the left eye set for good intermediate vision (-1D or so) which is what I used to have several years ago before my right eye's cataract affected my vision - I wore RGP contacts in both eyes for many years that corrected my significant astigmatism (left:-2D cylinder, right:-2.74D cylinder)

6

Sounds like you have  good plan.  Maybe there will be improved multifocal lenses for your good eye down the road to choose from.

Both my eyes were/are worse than your cataract he so really couldn't wait.  

7

It sounds like what you had are ICL's (implantable contact lenses) which is the same procedure as cataract surgery, only it's not a necessary procedure (it's refractive eye surgery since all it's really doing is correcting your vision). I personally don't recommend anyone have any refractive eye surgery (like LASIK), even though I had LASIK myself.

8

I have never heard of implantable contact lenses.  Is that same as clear lens exchange ?

9

Actually, when someone's natural lens (with no cataract) is replaced by an IOL, then it's called refractive lens exchange (RLE). If a lens is inserted along with the natural lens, then it's called an implanted contact lens or implanted collamer lens (and if there's no cataract replacement, it's called a phakic IOL). So Janet had refractive lens exchange.

10

And both are considered alternatives to LASIK.

11

Thanks for explanation - not sure why a surgeon would promote that

12

 Night-Hawk-

My vision seemed like it was kind of foggy in mid summer, 2016 (appx). Some background: I had a lazy eye as a toddler, so until I had surgery to correct at age 13, I'd been taken to countless doctors, worn patches, and ultimately wore glasses from about age 5. It was this history that made me hyper aware of changes in my vision. In fact, I was so excited when LASIK first appeared and thought about doing it. Decided that potential side effects outweighed the possibility of being glasses free.

That visit was to an optician and it seemed the same as every other visit. Results were that there had been a slight change. Wrote a Rx for new glasses. Part of my problem with fuzzy vision may well have been due to the poor quality of lenses from Walmart. 

I questioned the optician about the presence of cataracts and glaucoma, just to make sure she had checked. She had me sit down again, even though she had indeed performed the tests. She saw no glaucoma and "a cataract just beginning to form". If I would have simply gotten a new pair of glasses, I would be fine today. 

But, I decided that it had been quite a while since a check by an actual eye doctor, and I still wasn't convinced there wasn't the optician missed. 

So, when the eye doctor said there were cataracts, my reaction was, "Yep...I just knew it!" That's all it took and my faith in him was established. His opinion was, as I've said",  no where needing them removed, but a lot of people aren't waiting to lose so much vision and are having the surgery earlier". For once in my life I was going to get ahead of something!

At this point, even if I could have a do -over, too many issues have cropped up and it would be impossible to determine whether I was seeing correctly. Retinal fluid is "seeping" over the top of eyeball, and I have black objects floating all over. Range in size from small to horsefly. There seem to be curtains that close when I blink. It has become such a problem to read, I get frustrated and would like to throw the laptop or whatever into the swamp. The letters jump and shift. The strabismus is back in all its glory. It takes a lot of conscious effort to pull it back. I wouldn't have thought this odd, in fact, I had specifically asked him about it because it sometimes felt like it was pulling more. He said the wandering was really insignificant. This was actually the same opinion of the optician and the ophthalmologist I'd seen 2 years prior.

 Same was true with astigmatism.  That was something that, for years, I'd been told was significant.  He said that it wasn't significant. 

When I started complaining, I remember his nurse specifically saying that he had corrected my astigmatism a bit, which seemed kind of stupid if it wasn't bad, and I was also beginning to wonder how much tweaking he tried to do with a scalpel. 

That's as much as I can think of right now, other than the off handed comments by the doctor who conducted the 2 week post surgical exam, and the optical fellow at the clinic I visited for a second opinion. 

13

Not sure I know what you mean. Mine were called IOL. 

14

If that's what I had, I don't recall ever having it explained to me. But, most things weren't explained very well. 

15

Janet have you seen a retina specialist?  Reason I ask is at my post op visit when I learned my opthamologist was taking vacation I asked him about who should I see if there were problems and what signs I should pay attention to.  The curtains when you blink could be detached or torn retina.  Doesn't sound like your opthamologist is motivated by money and very little regard to patient.  Given

Your vision history and what you have gone through sounds like you should seek another expert 

16

Do you live in a larger city.  I don't like sound of explanations (or lack there-of) of your eye doctor.  Really seek another one out for advice.  

17

I live in the suburbs of the Twin Cities in MN, so yes. I got a second opinion from another top clinic in the area. I asked that ophthalmologist specifically if my near vision is anywhere near what anyone would choose. She danced and danced around the issue, but ultimately agreed that it wasn't anything she'd suggest to her patients. 

For this reason, I honestly believe there  isn't one doc that would  be honest with me. I think they have each other's back when it comes to LASIK/laser procedures. 

It made sense to me when I read about the astronomical cost of these instruments for laser. So expensive that a lot of  clinics can't afford them so it's not unusual to share. 

If this is true, it would not be beneficial for anyone if people began questioning results. Just a thought. 

18

Our healthcare systems seem very different.  I can see pros and cons to both.  Due to our free healthcare for everyone we sometimes have enormous wait times for non emergency surgeries. you may need to see a 3rd or 4th specialist.  Maybe compile a list of questions.  In USA I know they are more concerned than Canada is over lawsuits so maybe tailor your questions around what the issues are with your eyes and there opinions on how to proceed with fixing them.  

19

They're called IOLs when used for cataract surgery or when used for refractive lens exchange.

20

Did your insurance cover your surgery?