I don't think you're whining... When it comes to your health and your eyes it pays to be concerned and ask all the questions you can think of and ask opinions of everyone you know before you have anything done.

I am also near-sighted with astigmatism ( no other complications or conditions ) and at my last appointment I was told to come back in 6 months to talk about cataract surgery ( sooner if I get tired of squinting... lol )

Anyway while I was there I asked about the lens implant and he said nope, he wouldn't do it... He more or less said it was a waste of time, money and had too many complications... Now this may be one mans opinion but he's one of the few doctors at Henry Ford Health System that I trust completely...

Rita

Rita, if I may ask, what did your doctor say you should do instead of the lens implant?

I always read that the cataract formation is a part of the lens and breaking up and removing the cataract also removes the lens because they have become one and the same thing.

Thanks for any more info!
Sooz

First, congrats on the successful vitrectomy. I have been told that it was common practice to use one lense in the good eye for far distance and one lense in the bad eye for near distance. That is what I plan on doing when the time comes.

DH had to have cataract surgery after only 5 weeks after his first vitrectomy. His decision was to go with the "daily living" option, but he couldn't read a book without glasses at that time anyway. Unfortunately, we will never know how the outcome would have been since he had bilateral complete retinal detachments 4 days later.

Good luck with whatever your decision is. It is amazing how cataract surgery has evolved in the past 20 years.

Linda

I had trauma induced cataracts in both eyes at an early age. After lengthy discussions with my doctors we decided mono-vision would be the best choice. I was young enough that my brain quickly adapted & I've not worn ANY glasses since (15+ years now). Yes, I could read a book easier with reading glasses but it's not that much of a problem & I've never had trouble with a driver's license eye exam except when I forgot to tell them I had mono-vision. :)

At first, I was walking into door frames & having trouble guaging distance such as going up steps. But, my brain figured it all out within 6 months & no trouble since. Frankly, I'm not even consciously aware of what eye sees distance & what eye sees close-up anymore. Because my brain balanced everything out I have no trouble with the mid-range stuff like computer use.

/tricia

First let me say - whine away! It helps. I have been doing some major whining about my carpal tunnel surgery. I am wimpy, I guess, because others here have had much larger procedures and hardly said a word.

I'm in the same boat with the rest of you. I am nearsighted and have an astigmatism. Right now I can read, use the computer, etc. best by taking off my glasses altogether.

I am going back to the ophthalmologist in November due to a cataract in my right eye. If I pay attention, I can see a cloudy spot in the center of my vision. The doctor says I am going to "love" my new vision. Well, we'll see about that. He says I won't need glasses at all. I'll have one eye for distance and one eye for near vision. I occasionally wear contact lenses, but I just wear one so I can see both close up and far. It's pretty good, not perfect.

I would hate having to wear readers every time I want to see close up. When I see friends digging for their readers to see the menu or the price tag, I'm glad that I can still see close up. Worse is when they forget their readers and have to ask someone to read to them. I am accustomed to having things in the distance be blurry and wearing glasses to correct that.

Anyway, my choice is one eye for reading and one eye for distance. Let us know what you decide and how it goes.

I would recommend one of each also (I think Ann T did this) for someone else, but I don't know if I would want it for myself. My work also requires that I be able to see very clearly close up, and for the past few years, I gave up on contacts and now have distance glasses (-3.5) and computer glasses that I wear much of the time. I can do most reading with computer glasses, but I can see detail even better with no glasses. Until recently, I could not read comfortably without glasses because I had to hold the book too close, but that is no longer a problem. I decided against surgery to see distance because I want always to be able to see close up. For surfing and snorkeling, I prefer to have distance vision, and for this reason, I was never a very good surfer. If I were much younger, I would opt for distance vision.

I went to my opthamalogist last week to get checked for glaucoma. I'm just barely borderline, but my brother who is 5 years younger has been on meds for that for some time. The doctor that I see for this is in Santa Monica and is somewhat like Dougie Howser. He's 28, a surfer with blond hair and blue eyes, and he rides a 10-speed bike to work. He irritates me a bit by the way he talks, and he chided me for cancelling the last appointment, but I had to remind him that he was the one who cancelled instead of me. As it turned out, that was the day that his first son was born. He's going to Hawaii the month after I'm going, and he told me that now that he is a father, he would not risk ziplining, but I have already made reservations for that, although not on the scariest one, which would have required too much stenuous hiking while carrying 10 pounds of trolley.

Glad to hear that your first surgery went well. By the way, you can get prescription goggles for swimming and snorkeling, in case you are nearsighted, and I believe that they also make prescription masks, but those would be expensive. You can get the swim goggles for under $30. I used to have some that I tried to use for surfing, but they don't work well for that, and so I gave them to my sister. Anyway, if you like to swim and are nearsighted, goggles are a good option.

Lars

Oops, I should have said vision correcting lens.... When he does my cataract surgery it will be with the plain lens... Sorry for the confusion...

Rita

Sooz, I had both eyes done 3 years ago. I opted for distant because I had always been near sighted. It has worked fine--I wear Walgreen glasses (single not bifocal) to read the paper or to work on the computer.

Now. About treating eyes differently. I have experienced that with one eye treated and the other eye waiting. The other eye, of course, was nearsighted. I successfully coped but couldn't wait until they were the same. According to my surgeon (he's my regular ophthalmologist), many, many people can't cope with eyes that focus differently. It requires a brain that is flexible to these issues.

Both surgeries went without a hitch. No pain. I did have a big lens type cover over my eye temporarily. Had to remove it to add eye drops multiple times a day. Amazingly, the first time I lifted the lens (maybe 3 hr after the operation), my eye operated exceptionally well even before I put drops in it. It was an easy recovery and nothing of note happened in the following 3 years.

Apparently those protective lenses are no longer used. I've seen patients with only a patch over the corrected eye.

I think my calmness during this time was due to the fact that my surgeon was also my ophthalmologist that I had known for 6 years prior to surgery.

Good luck with your procedure! Ask any question you have for the doctor before the procedure is done.

Sooz, I just want to wish you the best of luck.

My eyesight is abysmal, I'm nearsighted with astigmatism and I wear contact lenses with reading glasses over them. I can't see anything without the contacts or the glasses or both.

The good news is my doc says she can see "just the beginning" of cataracts and that I will have to worry about them when I'm "about 80 or so".

I've worn glasses since before I started kindergarten, so I don't know any other way, I guess, but it doesn't really bother me. People tease me about wearing both glasses and contacts at the same time, but that's OK.

Annie