So yesterday had cataract surgery in my left eye. Unusual for someone in my age group... but had a tiny cataract directly over the optic nerve, which was totally FUBARing the vision in my left eye. Anywhere else in the lens and it would have been fine for 20 years without addressing.
They took the patch off this morning (it's like a pirate convention in the waiting room when I got there this morning) and OMFG... what a difference! Not just in how I could see before/after... but left to right! Good god... Right eye, things that are supposed to be white... are tan or sepia. New left eyeball, pure white. Though my right eye visual acuity is still 20/20... it's faded and not crisp. Left eye is now 20/20 (almost 20/15... which both eyes used to be)... and just brilliantly clear!
The upshot is that the right eye is now getting done... I can't live with the contrast between eyes. And there was enough of a cataract on the right to justify it...
So the upshot/lesson here is: First... the only reason the left-eye cataract got found is that I thought my reading glasses prescription had changed... so decided to go into get a checkup after... almost 6 years. Waited way too long! Get your eyes checked!
Second, at the eye doctor, they had some kind of scanning technology (can't believe how far the technology at eye doctors has come in 6 years!!!!) that cost an extra $20 or so per eye to have done... not covered by insurance. That was the scan that found the cataracts... very early. Get yourself checked! Don't ignore eye doctor because you think your vision is ok. I put it off... I shouldn't have.
Third, the surgery is super simple. Zero pain, you are awake for it... and it's very cool to 'watch' them working on your eye. Through your eye!
Last, if you have it done for cataracts in one eye... get both done. Will be two appointments. But you will never live with one eye being good... and one being old.
I learned that cataracts are almost inevitable with age. By 50, almost everyone has them, but not usually in places that require surgery in the short term. But a sudden prescription change (or even a slow one) and you can't find readers at WalMart that work... flaring at night. Feeling one eye is irritated (you are rubbing it because you think it's dry or you can't see out of it as well... get checked.
Anyway... Super easy and, wow, I've wondered why my iron sights shooting has deteriorated. It is readily apparent now... Can't wait to have both eyes finished. Will be like being back to my old 'fighter pilot' vision!
Cheers,
Sirhr
P.S. Occurs to me that this might belong in the Health thread.. but who reads that anyway???
They took the patch off this morning (it's like a pirate convention in the waiting room when I got there this morning) and OMFG... what a difference! Not just in how I could see before/after... but left to right! Good god... Right eye, things that are supposed to be white... are tan or sepia. New left eyeball, pure white. Though my right eye visual acuity is still 20/20... it's faded and not crisp. Left eye is now 20/20 (almost 20/15... which both eyes used to be)... and just brilliantly clear!
The upshot is that the right eye is now getting done... I can't live with the contrast between eyes. And there was enough of a cataract on the right to justify it...
So the upshot/lesson here is: First... the only reason the left-eye cataract got found is that I thought my reading glasses prescription had changed... so decided to go into get a checkup after... almost 6 years. Waited way too long! Get your eyes checked!
Second, at the eye doctor, they had some kind of scanning technology (can't believe how far the technology at eye doctors has come in 6 years!!!!) that cost an extra $20 or so per eye to have done... not covered by insurance. That was the scan that found the cataracts... very early. Get yourself checked! Don't ignore eye doctor because you think your vision is ok. I put it off... I shouldn't have.
Third, the surgery is super simple. Zero pain, you are awake for it... and it's very cool to 'watch' them working on your eye. Through your eye!
Last, if you have it done for cataracts in one eye... get both done. Will be two appointments. But you will never live with one eye being good... and one being old.
I learned that cataracts are almost inevitable with age. By 50, almost everyone has them, but not usually in places that require surgery in the short term. But a sudden prescription change (or even a slow one) and you can't find readers at WalMart that work... flaring at night. Feeling one eye is irritated (you are rubbing it because you think it's dry or you can't see out of it as well... get checked.
Anyway... Super easy and, wow, I've wondered why my iron sights shooting has deteriorated. It is readily apparent now... Can't wait to have both eyes finished. Will be like being back to my old 'fighter pilot' vision!
Cheers,
Sirhr
P.S. Occurs to me that this might belong in the Health thread.. but who reads that anyway???