I’m replying to myself as I can’t quote myself. I saw a different eye doc several weeks ago and she confirmed that the guy who did my first cataract did a poor job. According to her he should’ve gone back and done something to fix the visual disturbances I was having. She also found I now have, due to the cataract surgery, vision problems that won’t be easy to correct with glasses and the treatment of choice (contacts in one eye only) is not an option because I have dry eye syndrome. So . . . at least I feel vindicated. I knew something was wrong but no one would listen.
If anyone in New England is ever considering cataract surgery, message me and I will tell you who NOT to go to.
So sorry. That is infuriating.
Rebecca
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It is infuriating! Plus the other doc kept telling me I had “borderline” glaucoma and had me going back every 3-4 months for tests and my eye pressure is fine, absolutely fine! I’m so mad though about the dry eye/contact thing, why does our arthritis have to complicate everything??? 
I’m right there with you. I’ve had Sjogren’s since I developed RA. Contacts were a definite no. I use eye drops during the day and ointment at night. The ointment was always challenging when I was still working; if I got a call and had to log in shortly after going to bed, I couldn’t read the screen. Of course it’s not a problem since I retired.
Rebecca
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my sisters have dollar store readers littered all over the house for this exact reason
I cannot wait to get mine done.
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I have a few of them scattered around, too. But I just can’t seem to remember to take a pair with me when I go to a doctor’s appointment. Most of the time, it’s not a problem, but occasionally I’ll have to sign something that has teeny tiny print.
I’d like to put a pair in each car, but we already have my sunglasses, DH’s sunglasses, DH’s readers in both cars. Neither car has a ton of storage, and DH absolutely can’t be without his readers. So I don’t keep my readers in the cars. The things I sacrifice for that man! 
Rebecca
Time to move on to librarian lanyard. 
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Nope, not happening. I don’t mind the look–I just can’t tolerate anything on the back of my neck. I have some lovely necklaces that I can no longer wear. sigh
If I remember to take the darned things with me, I just stick them in my shirt. But it would drive me nuts to have them there all the time. DH does, and he has lost his glasses in some fun places. Several pairs are in the Intracoastal Waterway in South Carolina, some in Cherry Creek Reservoir in Colorado, and one pair got dropped in the well vault at our horse property. It was his last pair, but he said there was no way he was going down there after them as the vault was full of black widow spiders.
Rebecca
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I don’t need to wear reading glasses, but I do virtually always need sunglasses for my light-sensitive eyes. When I enter into an interior and take them off, I have found that folding them up, and inserting an earpiece at the neckline of my top up to the hinge – where it is held by the center of the band of my bra – works great. The lenses are hanging on the outside of my shirt.
This even works for me at the barn (let’s say that twilight is falling, and I need someplace safe to keep my sunglasses), and when I’m being fairly active. There’s just enough tension in the elasticity of the band to safely hold my sunglasses in this position (which I expect are heavier than typical readers, as the lens are so much larger). And it’s not uncomfortable for me, either.
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I got very lucky in that my eyes didn’t become extremely sensitive to sunlight after my cataract surgery. I nearly always wear sunglasses when I bike, but I can do without them a lot of times when I’m driving, unless I need to drive directly into the sun when it’s low in the sky. We don’t have a lot of tint on our car windshields, but it’s just enough for me. DH is a whole other story. He is very sensitive to glare (so I glare at him, ha ha). What’s kind of weird is that it’s usually people with light eye color who are most light sensitive. My eyes are hazel, and his are very dark brown, yet he’s the sensitive one. Go figure.
Rebecca
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I just got my glasses to try and fix my vision. OMG is this going to be interesting 
. I see two lines of text when I read, one on top of the other, the same line. Not double vision exactly, the only way I can describe it is stacked vision. I was warned there would be an adjustment period and to only wear them for short periods of time to let my brain adjust to what my eyes think they’re seeing. I lasted about 2 minutes before I thought I was going to hurl. Wish me well!
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I sounds like the last time I had new glasses made. They only focused perfectly, as they’re supposed to, if I held them an inch above my nose. Otherwise, I had double vision. They made the focus point too low. I don’t know if it was a bad measurement, or I wasn’t looking at the right spot when they measured. I never have a problem with changing to a new prescription, but this time I did.
The biggest issue was the manager said I should wear them for a day or two to get used to them. It would have been unsafe to drive with the glasses, so they had to redo them. They remeasured, and remade them with the correct focus point on the second try. .
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Jingles that the adjustment period goes well!!
That would probably make me nauseous too.
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What a pain! I hope you can get through the adjustment period. This seems rather extreme. Keep a bucket handy! ugh
Rebecca
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I picked up a new pair of progressive glasses a few years back, and immediately told the optician that there was a ripple when I looked to the side. They said I just needed to get used to wearing progressives. Well, I’d been wearing progressives for 15 years at that point. I couldn’t get them to fix it. I was so relieved once I had my cataract surgery and no longer had to worry about glasses.
Rebecca
I’m an optometrist so I’ll chime in on a few comments here.
The two main options for premium lens options are ones that can correct astigmatism and ones that have bifocals in them (it’s more complicated than that, but that’s the easiest way to describe the implants).
So without knowing your prescription, it’s really impossible to answer your question of “Will I need glasses to drive at night?” You have to ask your surgeon (or your optometrist who referred you)
For monovision, I usually offer this option to patients who have already been successfully doing monovision in contact lenses for years. Either your brain is wired to like monovision, or it is NOT. If your brain is not wired for monovision, you will not like it. So I normally do a trial in a contact lens FIRST if they are considering monovision and then they can test it out.
Yes, typically monovision patients are able to see the computer screen with the “near” eye in most cases.
I have plenty of dry eye patients in contact lenses, and sometimes I do contact lenses (such as scleral lenses) to treat dry eye. So that would be something I would ask more questions about.
Dry eye can also cause visual disturbances too…
There is more to glaucoma than eye pressure. You can have a low eye pressure and still get glaucoma. So don’t be fooled by looking at only one data point. It’s pretty standard practice to follow a glaucoma suspect (that’s the verbage for someone you are observing for glaucoma) every 3 or 4 or 6 months, alternating various testing, and depending on the level of concern. Glaucoma is “silent” and the goal is to catch it and start treating it before the patient notices any problems.
It’s also important to have baseline data. Glaucoma is a disease of CHANGE. You need to have at least 3 or more baseline tests to know what is normal for a patient, in order to observe for change over time. You diagnose glaucoma when there is a decrease in the measurements, over time. So it’s critical to know what the starting point is.
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There were a few issues that made my cataract surgery a little riskier. My ophthalmologist recommended I wait until I couldn’t stand it then finally had to literally hold my hand to suggest I go ahead with the worst eye and wait 5 months before we proceed with the second one to make sure everything was ok. I did. My rules were no bending over (I could squat) for two weeks and no riding for I forget 4-6 weeks maybe. Then Covid happened and I had one good eye and one not. They were too far apart to wear one lens over the eye that was not done as they could not be coordinated. Driving at night was not good. Months and months later I had the other eye done. There is a little glare and if the glare is just right, I can see the little concentric rings on the new artificial lens. He set the distance for a computer but I can read a whole lot of stuff which is great because I love to read. I don’t usually wear glasses at all. I have a couple of pair of cheap readers, a non glare and a pair with little headlights. It took a couple of weeks or a little more for my eyes to fully adjust but the significant difference was amazingly fast. Seeing colors without a muddy tan curtain was great. I can still see some double on lights and with glare. I can read street signs clearly.
I am thrilled with the results. I’ve worn corrective lens since I was eight. This is super. Most of my friends all wonder why we waited so long to have the surgery. One is not happy with hers. She had a lot of complications.
The pain was insignificant. There is a patch you have to wear for a few days that I couldn’t keep in place so I had some giant wrap around sun glasses and I wore those and slept in the easy chair.
To me, it was amazing that the brain and nerves could adjust so quickly. It’s incredible.
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Thank you! You have been more than helpful, especially in explaining about the dry eye/contact issue. I may have to try this route if possible as I’m really having issues trying to adjust to the glasses.
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Well, I never had cataract surgery but, recently, I underwent LASIK surgery. My experience was like, at first, I was really nervous and anxious among other things. I was recommended the surgery because it became too difficult for my eyes to focus on nearby things. The surgery was actually without much pain. And it was over pretty soon. I’d dry eyes and kind of blurry vision for a while, though that didn’t last much longer. And my vision has considerably improved since then. Now that I don’t find myself depending too much on glasses and more than anything else, I could see things with clarity. An important thing to consider while undergoing LASIK or cataract is, you should find a reputable place to have the procedure. I’d LASIK surgery at Clearview.
The majority of patients that are needing cataract surgery are usually over the age of 40 in most cases. And when you are over the age of 40, sometimes LASIK surgery is no longer a good option due to the accommodative system “wearing out”. (Also known as needing bifocals.) The only exception is a monovision correction with LASIK which does have the aforementioned considerations, in a prior reply, but is only an option if your prescription is right to do it.
It is best to do LASIK when you are younger, if you are a candidate. Simply because you’ll get more years out of your investment before the near changes happen. Doesn’t mean you can’t do it later in life but there’s a lot more to consider at that point to ensure a happy outcome.
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