3.4 years ago

Ricky • 50

@madrich_12

I am afraid of cataract surgery. I am age 70 and a 24\7 caregiver for an quadriplegic Alzheimer’s patient. The cataract eye has open angle glaucoma which is being treated with latanoprost and cosopt. I also have bad near sightedness - myopia. My eye was injured with a icy snowball when I was 10 years old. I also have astigmatism.

I have read that all of these conditions make it very hard for cataract surgery with a proper lens inserted to have very good eye sight afterwards. Also, there were some problems identifying the best or correct lens manufacturer for my cataract eye.

What do I do?

3.4 years ago

Mary Beth • 350

@beth

Any surgery is a big deal, and finding the right surgeon and lens manufacturer is hard. For my moderate and severe glaucoma levels, a single vision lens (not toric to correct a very slight astigmatism and not multifocal to avoid glasses afterward) was supposedly best for my glaucoma eyes.

I have had one cataract surgery with an IOP problem and vision loss in nasal arc afterward, and a second one with a different surgeon with absolutely no problems at all afterward, spectacular. I do understand your reluctance. It took me two years to have my second cataract done. It took that long to find the right surgeon and approach and to reach my level of frustration of decreased vision. First surgeon was a rated specialist, yet…!

After each surgery, my distance and near vision (with astigmatism corrected) is so much clearer. I hadn’t known it was so cloudy and fuzzy. One eye needs glasses more than the other to correct astigmatism.

And, both eyes had an IOP reduction after cataract was removed, which is a goal of some cataract surgeries more so than removing the cataract for vision. Narrow angles? Thick cataract? These can raise IOP. Replacement lens is thinner and leaves more space inside the eye.

How to find the best surgeon is the huge question.