An interesting journey ahead for me

[DangerBoy]

I'm 58 and up until a week or two ago, I had never been to an eye doctor or optometrist. I had great vision in all ranges and any kind of light up until somewhere in my 40s and never needed glasses for anything. Then, in my 40s, presbyopia started kicking in. That's where the lenses in your eyes start to harden and you start losing your near vision. Since then, I've been getting along with just cheap drug store magnifiers/reading glasses for closeup stuff.

 

For the last two or three years however, my vision has been getting much worse. I thought it was just presbyopia so I didn't do much about it because our health care system doesn't cover any eye surgery costs for that and I don't have the money to pay for eye surgery owing to not having had much work since oil prices tanked in 2015 (the economy here in Alberta is pretty dependent on the oil industry and oil prices).

 

Not too long ago, I finally decided I should look into these vision problems I'm having and looked into what the symptoms of presbyopia and cataracts are. I was stunned to see that most of my symptoms were consistent with cataracts and not presbyopia. That's actually good news because our health care system will pay for basic cataract surgery. So for the first time in my life, I actually went in to have my eyes checked by an optometrist. Turns out I do have cataracts in both eyes so now I can get cataract surgery to fix my vision problems.

 

Our health care system will only pay for the surgery and lens replacement with basic, simple monofocal lenses but I can get premium lenses if I don't mind paying the difference. I don't mind paying the difference and will opt for getting tri-focal or another type of premium lens if they'll work for me. My first appointment with an ophthalmologist is this Monday afternoon. Before then, I'm trying my best to learn as much as I can about the different alternative intra-occular lenses (IOLs) that are out there, their limitations. pros and cons. etc., so I can ask intelligent questions and can make sure whatever goes into my eyes is going to give me the best chance of having good vision at all ranges and not needing to wear glasses at all or at least not for most things other than maybe really close-up things.

 

It's going to be an interesting journey and the decisions I make with respect to my eyes in the next little while will have an important effect on my vision for the rest of my life. I know there are a lot of people on this forum that are in my age group or older so I suspect that a number of you have had IOL replacement surgery already. Any advice/insights you can give me would be most welcome. What type of IOLs did you get? Were there any negative or positive effects on your ability to ski that came from the lenses you chose or from getting your lenses replaced in general? How long did it take your brain to adjust to the new lenses in your eyes? I'm interested to hear what others' experience has been with IOL replacement surgery with respect to skiing and in general.

[dvskier]

I am 73 years old. Same as you in my mid 40’s I needed reading glasses, distance vision was 20-20. Prior to my retirement I investigated getting cataract surgery and learned a great deal. My optometrist recommended the RESTOR lenses. This required me to place several different prescription eye drops in my eye for 30 days prior to the lens insertion. I had one eye done, then 45 days later the next.

What an incredible difference, I no longer needed any glasses for reading and my vision is excellent at all distances. The process is simple and Medicare covered the basic lenses, I upgraded to include the near vision correction and wound up paying less than $5k, it was worth every penny. It’s made an unbelievable difference in my daily life. I highly recommend the RESTOR lenses. My optometrist specializes in this surgery and I recommend that you seek a professional who also specializes in this type of surgery. No down side at all.

[cougfan]

@DangerBoy I had the same problem as you. Great vision up until my my mid 50’s then all of a sudden it started to worsen. Used glasses then switched to contacts for a few years. Had all kinds of problems with the contacts many eye infections. Was getting fed up when my eye Dr told me I had cataracts.

My contacts were bifocal lenses. My Dr recommended the IOL’s. I wore special contacts for 2 weeks to see if the IOL’s would work for me left eye close vision right eye distance vision.

I choose to go with the IOL’s and couldn’t be happier. I had my left eye done for close vision then 2 weeks later my right eye done for distance vision.

Right after each surgery I could see GREAT out of that eye. No delay in the results. The only down side for me was the recovery limitations. I had to stay inside my house and basically either read, watch tv or search on the computer. Couldn’t be around any dusty or dirty environment or get any sweat in my eyes so no working out☹️

2 years post surgery I can’t say enough good things about my choice and the results! I can see so much better and was amazed at finally seeing colors as they were supposed to be.

Also I had the very best surgeon! He was fantastic. I am so thankful I made this choice!

And yes I can actually see the balls not just blurry blobs on the water.

Good luck with you surgery you won’t regret it!

[skialex]

@DangerBoy this thread interest me too I’m 50 but as you I had perfect 20 20 vision until mid 40’s and needed reading glasses, doesn’t mean I have the same condition but it worsen continually ever since.

Good luck with your surgery.

[Nando]

@DangerBoy, my wife had the double cataract surgery about a year ago (2 separate surgeries). She opted for the higher cost and quality lenses and had good results. There were some minor complications right after the surgery, but they cleared up and now she doesn't need glasses at all, except cheaters when her eyes are tired. She was pretty nearsighted before, but now all is good. There's a lot at stake when dealing with your sight, but today's methods are pretty unbelievable. Good luck with your situation.

[Cam]

I am 68 and had both lenses changed due to cararacts, left eye at 58 in a private clinic and right at 63 on the NHS (UK) results were the same from both.

I went for standard lenses which allow me to do most things including driving without glasses but need 1.5 for computer screens etc. and 2.0 for fine print.

The reason I got standard is I couldn't get on with varifocals as they made me dizzy so maybe worth trying what kind of lense suits you before any op, easy to change glasses but not so with lenses once they are in.

[swc5150]

I'm a young guy for cataracts, yet still had my first one removed at 46. I stuck with the standard lens. I don't mind readers for seeing close up, and didn't want to risk not being able to adjust to bifocals. With that said, my brother did a bifocal in one eye, and he's very satisfied. I'm having my other eye done this summer, and will again stick with a reg lens.

[DangerBoy]

Went for my first assessment today. Turns out my cataracts are quite bad. The Doc said it was surprising how bad they were for a guy my age. I always say, if you're going to do something, do it well and be the best at it. ;)

 

It seems none of the doctors around here install the accommodating Bausch & Laumb Chrystalens AO anymore so my choices will likely be limited to a monofocal or choosing between a couple brands of trifocals. Probably will do the trifocals. Looks like my choice there comes down to either the Alcon Panoptix Acrysof IQ or the Bausch & Laumb FineVision IOLs.

[DangerBoy]

First eye gets done tomorrow afternoon. I could have gotten the other one done on July 22nd but that date interferes with the beginning of my summer vacay and water skiing. Water skiing comes first. Getting it done on Aug 19th instead.

 

For those interested, I'll be blogging about the experience/journey on a blog I've set up at www.MySightStory.com. First post is already up. I'm very excited about what changes this will bring. Some images on my blog will give you an idea of what seeing through my eyes is like right now.

[dvskier]

You will be amazed at how well you can see after the surgery.

[swc5150]

This is what you'll look like after surgery. Your sight improvement will be immediate.

 

[Chef23]

Good luck.

[DangerBoy]

Update on the cataract surgery: I am doing quite well adapting to the new lens that was put in my right eye back on June 24th and today the same type of lens was implanted in my left eye. My vision is great at all distances in my right eye and things are starting off really well with the left. A few hours after I had the first (right) one put in, I could only see shapes and areas or blobs of light, dark and color. No detail at all. The eye test I had about an hour or so after the first surgery said my vision in the treated eye was 20/140 or so. Very poor. By the next day, things had improved quite a bit from that but my vision was not all that great.

 

This time, I can see much better through the new lens right off the bat. Things are still a bit hazy and of course I'm getting double imaging because my brain doesn't know what to look at and what to filter out so it looks at everything that's coming through that left lens but I can see much more detail and much clearer with that eye than I could right after the right eye was done. Proof of this was that I tested at 20/40 on the test they gave me 1.5 hours or so after the surgery today. That's way better than 20/140.

 

While I was in the testing room today, I had them retest my right eye to see where things were at. I read the 20/20 chart 100% and it was easy. I asked them to put up the 20/15 chart because I think I could've read it too but they don't have a chart for better vision than 20/20! So based on that, I can say that I have at least 20/20 in my right eye but there's a good chance it could be better than that. According to my Doctor, my vision should still continue to improve for up to a year after surgery. That makes me very optimistic. :)

 

As for the near vision in my right eye, I see very clearly and with great detail at about 20 cm or 8 inches. I'm told that's very unusual and that I'm a bit of an outlier in that regard. I'm told that normal for that lens is about a minimum of 30 - 40 cm (~12" - 16"). So it seems I'm very fortunate in that I may have picked the ideal lens for my eyes but we'll have to wait and see if things turn out as well with my left eye. It was always the weaker of the two but I don't know by how much or why. I had such good vision without glasses when I was young I never bothered to get tested so I don't know how good my vision actually was in either of my eyes at any point in my life prior to being tested at the cataract clinic earlier this year at age 58.5. By that time, my vision was pretty bad in both eyes due to the cataracts.

 

At the outset of this adventure, I set "my aim" (or what I wanted) at 20/15 in at least one eye and the other one no worse than 20/20 as a best case scenario and I had hoped that at worst I'd be at 20/20 in both eyes. I also wanted near field vision to 20 cm or less so I could thread needles or more importantly fly hooks without aid of magnifiers/reading glasses. Also, my goal was to not ever need glasses for anything - not even reading glasses/magnifiers. I set the bar for complete success very high.

 

We'll have to see how things go with this left eye but if it goes anywhere near as well as it has so far with the right, I just may achieve one of those targets. Wouldn't that be a splendid result! ??

[2Valve]

Sending prayers your way. I hope you're skiing again very soon.

[DangerBoy]

@2Valve Thanks. Doc says to stay off strenuous activity for 2 weeks after surgery. After that, 100% back to normal. I finished my summer vacation so I think my ski season is pretty much over already unless a friend of mine takes his boat out to a local reservoir and invites me to come along. I would really love to get another couple skis in this year!