Cataract surgery ?

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Mad Professor

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From the time my optometrist first told me I had cataracts starting, until I decided I had to do something about it, was about a year or eighteen months. Seemed to me like they progressed rather rapidly. I don't know if that time frame is typical or not.



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I’m at either 2.5 years or 3.5 years from mine telling me I was showing signs in my dominant eye. Both eyes now based on my January exam. Hopefully I’m still a year or two off as the lenses and procedures keep improving.
 

Hangfire

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Because of diabetes I go for a eye exam every six months (Medicare hasn't squawked at the frequency) and I probably put my surgery off for about two years or so after the doc first told me that I should consider having cataract surgery done and naturally during that two year period they just kept getting worse and worse.

I could probably come up with some manly knuckle dragging excuses for not having it done sooner but when it comes right down to it I was chicken.....even tho I've already had one eye done and the surgery apparently seems to have gone well so far just the thought of someone messing around with my eyes scares the living crap out of me.

Finally admitting I need to fix my eyes is kinda like my hearing prior to going to the VA for hearing aids, because both my hearing and eyes have went south gradually I guess I got used to the changes and it didn't really bother me but after finally getting hearing aids I could immediately tell that I'd been missing out on a lot and the same holds true now for my right eye now that's it's been worked on......things are a lot sharper, crisper and defined compared to my left eye.

It's another ten days (July 6th) till my left eye gets worked on and the doc said another four weeks after that till both eyes are completely healed up and then she'll give me a eye exam for new glasses (mainly for reading and to correct a slight astigmatism) which will probably take a week or so to come in so by mid August I should be good to go and this will all be behind me.
 
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DRC458

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Because of diabetes I go for a eye exam every six months (Medicare hasn't squawked at the frequency) and I probably put my surgery off for about two years or so after the doc first told me that I should consider having cataract surgery done and naturally during that two year period they just kept getting worse and worse.

I could probably come up with some manly knuckle dragging excuses for not having it done sooner but when it comes right down to it I was chicken.....just the thought of someone messing around with my eyes (even tho I've already had one eye done) scares the living crap out of me.

Finally admitting I need to fix my eyes is kinda like my hearing prior to going to the VA for hearing aids, because both my hearing and eyes have went south gradually I guess I got used to the changes and it didn't really bother me but after finally getting hearing aids I could immediately tell that I'd been missing out on a lot and the same holds true now for my right now that's it's been worked on......things are a lot sharper, crisper and defined compared to my left eye.

It's another ten days (July 6th) till my left eye gets worked on and the doc said another four weeks after that till both eyes are completely healed up and then she'll give me a eye exam for new glasses (mainly for reading and to correct a slight astigmatism) which will probably take a week or so to come in so by mid August I should be good to go and this will all be behind me.

I'm rooting for ya'! I have my second eye done that same day. I have check-ups every six months as well (watching for glaucoma). I hope my second eye comes out as well as your first one did! We/I really kinda' screwed up. We tried to coordinate my cataract surgeries and my wife's back surgery, and it didn't work out so well. Her back surgery had to be moved up earlier than we expected, so my second eye surgery got shoved back. Then, I had the abrasion after my first eye surgery, and it didn't want to heal. So, my recovery was delayed. I go for my coronavirus test Monday, in prep for my second eye surgery a week from Monday. Hopefully, she will be able to drive me home from that! Then, hopefully, I will be able to drive her to a 4-week follow-up with her neurosurgeon in Edmond one week later! It should all work out. If we had it all to do over again ...



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TerryMiller

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From the time my optometrist first told me I had cataracts starting, until I decided I had to do something about it, was about a year or eighteen months. Seemed to me like they progressed rather rapidly. I don't know if that time frame is typical or not.



.

In my case, it was a number of years. I don't even remember what year it was that he first told me that it was developing. When I went in for my annual eye checkup in 2013, my optometrist told me that I seemed to be at that point. He could only correct lenses to 20/25 and said that by next year, I would probably have to have the surgery.

Like someone else said, I've never wanted to mess with my eyes, especially so because of my love of taking pictures. But, we set it up for May of 2013 for the first eye and 2 weeks later for the second. I had quit smoking in 2003, and going into that first surgery, I would have given my left leg for my pipe and tobacco that day. They did a good job with the anesthesia, and it went smoothly. So smoothly, that two weeks later during my second eye surgery, they stopped and the nurse said, "Terry, you REALLY need to take a deep breath." I guess I was so relaxed that shallow breathing was doing me just fine.

Dr. David Mallory was my surgeon.

Meet Dr. David Mallory
 

John6185

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Got quite a ways to go yet but I'm looking forward to getting this all behind me.
. Hangfire, what was your visual acuity prior to the surgery?
Sometimes cataract surgery creates glaucoma and then sometimes if one has glaucoma it eliminates the glaucoma. Odd but it's true.
 
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