Cataract operations

[Paulina18]

I’m having 2 cataract operations in January .
Feeling very scared .
Anyone had or having Sam soon or suffering with cataracts ?

@Paulina18

Thank you, that makes sense.

I am going to go back and see if I can convince her to refer me to the surgeon and if not, I will try someone else.

I think it’s your decision .
NHS will only do it if your cataracts are very bad but if you go private you don’t need a referral .

I booked a consultation with eye surgeon direct .
I’m not alone , others have done same and had surgery .

It’s very quick , pain free and very little discomfort after in my case .

Good luck
I’m glad I did it .
Even noticed my tiny print is much better .
Had new prescription at opticians yesterday , tiny print only , only bottom line seemed a little blurred , very tiny print .

Just found this helpful thread. I have cataracts in both eyes (one worse than the other but I'm very myopic so need to have both done) and am waiting for a date from Moorfields.
I asked about having lenses for mono vision but my optician has advised against as he feels distance vision plus reading glasses will give the best quality of sight overall - I'm a bit disappointed I will still need glasses but frankly anything will be an improvement from -11 with cataracts!
Can I ask what cosmetic impact the operation had - bloodshot, bruising? - and how long it took to heal? Completely shallow I know but I've got a few social events over the summer that will involve photographs and I really don't want look red-eyed and demonic!

I had no bruising or blood shot eyes either .

No make up for one month to avoid infection and you are administering eyedrops frequently in your operated eye for a month .

My surgeon recommended eyhance lens as they are good for long distance , intermediate , improve small print and good for driving at night as they make lights less harsh in dark setting .
My surgeon said that the biofical lens can be very troublesome to many people , he said most complaints come from that kens and if you suffer light issues in dark setting they can add to the problem and there is still a 10 percentage chance they don’t fully work .
Eyhance is a little more advanced that basic mono .
They are both designed to focus on good distance , I especially needed good intermediate also which is what my lens does .

I only use glasses for tiny print .

Apart from glasses for reading small print you will be amazed of end result .
Tears of joy I feel coming to you soon 😋🤞🥰

It’s life changing 👀😋

Good luck and let us know how it goes .
Nothing to fear 😉

Thanks @Paulina18 Moorfields are still recommending a monovision trial and optician will prescribe lenses for it but is still advising against. Can I ask people who were very short sighted and astigmatic what their sight is like corrected for distance vision? Is everything within arms' length a blur or just fine print? Do you actually just wear glasses for computer work and reading or have you slipped into wearing them all the time? I would so love not to wear glasses - I hate them and they don't suit me at all but I don't want to compromise on vision quality. I'm also struggling to imagine the reversal from very short- to long-sightedness.

@stripyvelvet

Following with interest. I was told 6 years ago that I have cataracts which had been there for a long time, possibly since birth. However due to a detached retina and associated surgery they told me that they would only operate on the cataracts when my vision was really bad due to risk of re-detachment.

My vision is already bad at -12 with astigmatism but with the cataracts I’m now really struggling to see in the dark and the glare from lights is so bad that I can’t safely cross roads because I can’t judge where cars are properly (luckily I don’t drive). Colour is affected too; my eyes see colour differently as one must be worse than the other, and my vision is still a bit blurry with glasses. I’m wondering at what point they’d consider them bad enough and reading your stories is really making me wish I could have the surgery now!

Hope you’re all doing well.

Just following up on my two posts from January. I ended up at the eye hospital for something else recently and as an aside while I was there I told them about the struggles I’m having with my cataracts. They checked them and said that what I say matches with what they see and said that they could get me on the list to have them done straight away if that’s what I want, however they strongly advised against having them done, despite my symptoms. They said the risk of my retina detaching again would be very high So it looks like I’m stuck with them. Although I’m struggling, especially at night, at least I do have vision - which could be lost altogether if my retina detached again. I’m so disappointed. There’s no way around it; it seems you choose to go ahead when your vision is so bad that it’s worth the risk of losing your sight altogether.

I’m getting a pulling feeling to my left leg above knee thigh area

has anyone felt similar ?
possibly vain issue ???

Still waiting. Can only assume I am part of the COVID backlog.

Can’t say I do Have any pulls.

However I have had a small bleed in my eye so back under the surgeon. They don’t think it is linked to my surgery but keeping a close eye. Optician has said my eye is very dry so has given me drops for the time being. At the surgeon on Thursday.

@Paulina18 so finally had my appointment with the surgeon, he is happy to go ahead with the surgery. However as I have an astigmatism he is recommending a toric multifocal lens, says I won't need glasses at all, maybe for reading in low light.

I am 90% sure I want to go ahead with it, but the 10% is niggling me. the lead time on the lens is 6 weeks, so I need to call them today to confirm if they should order the lenses, I so wanted this and now I am doubting it.

My panic set in once I had a date. But now nearly 7 months later, I’m glad it’s over and done with. I still can’t believe how clear my vision is. I’d definitely do it again.

I’m so glad I had mine done, it’s transformed my life . I’ve got glaucoma, astigmatism and an anomaly at back of the right eye, the optic nerve has a slight bend, it doesn’t sit straight or something.
Because of these complications I had both operations done at our big hospital instead of the private clinic where they take NHS patients.
I had local and anaesthetic drops, didn’t feel a thing. Vision improved from -10 to -1.75. I need glasses with prism varifocal lenses to correct some double vision not connected to the cataracts.
The second op took longer than the first as the cataract was very dense.
I wish you well, I was warned of a small risk but in my case I was almost blind, I was a danger to my self, couldn’t see cars. Coukdnt go out on my own . It was miserable.

My mum has had both ones done, she was terrified when she went for the first one doing but was fine, she said she was in the waiting room longer than she was in having it done.

EntropyBanana join Benendon, it is £11.99 a month & you can claim after 6 months, cataract surgery is on the list of operations they pay for.

@Paulina18 just had a practical question. When you do one eye at a time, what do you do about your glasses ? do I need to change the glass in the frame for the eye that is being treated ?

I think I have to wait 4 weeks before having he 2nd eye done.

Thanks.

I didn’t need my glasses at all while waiting for second eye , I saw fine without them as worse eyes was corrected first .
never put glasses on again after first operation .

it all depends on how bad your sight is in each eye

my operations were only a few weeks apart

My mum had a cataract operation in 1 one eye 2 weeks ago. Her optician has removed the lens from that side of her glasses so she can still use them. She has an opticians appointment in another couple of weeks and if its healed OK she will go on the waiting list for the 2nd eye to get done. Once both are done she will get a proper eye test and get a new pair of glasses at that point.

@dementedpixie, thank you ! I will get the opticians to remove the lens on my spare pair and bring them with me, I need to remember which eye they said they would do first !

My mum came out from the op with a little plastic guard taped over the eye that had been done. She wore it for a couple of days I think which was tricky with specs. She had ointment and drops to put in the eye although I think the ointment was because the cataract fragmented a bit on removal so it was to prevent infection.

I had an plastic eye patch over the operated eye. I was advised to keep it on that night and to take it off the following day, I only used it at night for a week. My husband had his done at a different clinic, he came out with nothing covering his eyes at all.
I didn’t wear my glasses again after the first operation, even with the lens removed as the cataract in the other eye was so bad my specs were useless, I couldn’t see anything, just a dark sepia cloudy fog.
My husband took the lens out of his glasses himself.
Cataracts are the result of dead cells building up on the natural lens. The lens renews it’s self like skin cells but as we age the process slows down and the dead cells out weigh the new ones.
A lot of water is used during the operation, it’s under high pressure to break up the cataract, it was running into my hair near my ears. the fragments of the cataract are sucked out, ( it’s not painful) you may feel pressure on your cheeks. The new lens is placed via a tiny incision, IOL, Intra Optic Lens.
you might hear the worlds “in the bag” this means the new lens is in situ.
Take dark sunglasses in case you don’t get an eye shield.
It’s like looking at the world through HD lenses.

Before your second operation you will be told to have an eye test before you see the consultant, this is important. Without it they can’t order the new lens. You may need a different prescription to the first one.

I’m having my second one done tomorrow 🥳 I had my first one done in January and been on the waiting list since then so will just be glad to finally get it sorted.

I was worried about what I would do for reading after I got the first one done as I was hopeless without my specs but I’ve actually been able to use my existing glasses. I will need a new prescription a while after I’ve had the second one done but I didn’t need to take out the lens. It probably depends on the problems you have with your eyes and what your prescription is for.

How did the 2nd surgery go ?

I am so pissed off, I was referred to a Professor by the Opthalmologist as he is the best in the region (not UK), but I got a call today to say that he wouldn't be there next week for the surgery that his assistant would be doing it, I said no thanks, I will wait for the Professor.

Then she goes to tell me that in fact the Professor doesn't do ANY of the surgeries, it's his assistant, but he would always be in the room with them and supervises. He never mentioned that to me, when I asked him about what things can go wrong, he said that on an odd occasion there might be an infection, but that he has done 30,000 of theses surgeries with no serious side effects, he never mentioned that he only supervises the surgeries.

I looked up their website and the assistant isn't even listed on it.

So it's back to the drawing board for me to find someone to do it, I just hope they don't charge me for the lenses that they have ordered.

@themessygarden My second surgery went really well thanks. It was two and a half weeks ago now and my eye feels completely back to normal, except the sight is fantastic now. If anything I would say it has gone better than my first. I don’t know if you read my earlier posts upthread but I had a stye and some soreness after the first and it would water quite a lots for a good while afterwards. This time there has been none of that at all, just really straightforward.

Sorry to hear of your setback, Would you not even consider having the op if the Professor was present while his assistant was performing the procedure? It seems a shame to have to start again from scratch if the clinic has a good track record. What if you were to ask to discuss your concerns with the Professor directly to see if he can’t set your mind at rest?

"I now have 20/20 vision".

Cataracts in both eyes and -6.00 shorted sighted. I had my first eye done on 26th Sept and afterwards found that I had lost some spatial awareness eg I couldn't gauge the depths of steps without looking down carefully first and I bumped into a few doorways when I moved too quickly, but this stopped when 2nd eye was done.

I had the Johnson & Johnson lenses (Eyhance?) and opted for distance vision but was disappointed that after the op I can't read my small watch/read phone/laptop without glasses, so no 20/20 vision for me. TV is fine though and I have cheap ready readers stashed all over the house. (Aldi £2.49 each)

2nd eye was done 10 days ago and I have been driving locally a bit, even tho the doctor said wait for 2 weeks. I also bought new eye make up and brushes and can see to put stuff on, in the dressing table mirror. For tweezing and putting on eyeliner, I use a cheap (T K Maxx) make-up mirror with a 10x magnification section.

6 weeks after 2nd eye op, I will have to see my optician to get an eye test for proper closer work glasses. I'm hoping that when both eyes are fully healed I will at least be able to read the text on my apple watch more clearly.

My op took 5 mins with a fancy new talking machine - I went private as there's a 3 year NHS waiting list where I live. There's even a waiting list to go private!