Let's talk about cataract surgery.....

Frank53 · Aug 8, 2022

pentaxuser said:
How did you manage until you were able to take the coverings off the eyes? I had always thought that immediately after the operation the eye has to be covered completely? Is this not the case nowadays?

Thanks

pentaxuser

Those coverings are transparant and have holes (for fresh air, I suppose) had to wear them till the next day and than only during the night for one week.

Pieter12 · Aug 8, 2022

When I had my surgery done a number of years ago, I was given dark sunglasses. No other coverings. Of course, there were drops to use and my eyes remained dilated for quite a while.

pentaxuser · Aug 8, 2022

Frank53 said:
Those coverings are transparant and have holes (for fresh air, I suppose) had to wear them till the next day and than only during the night for one week.

Thanks and useful to know. I just had a vague feeling that for a while, at least, say, several days the eye remained covered completely by a dressing that prevented any light penetration.

I just checked on the U.K. National Health Service website and this is what it says:

"You may have a pad and plastic shield over your treated eye when you leave hospital, which can usually be removed the day after surgery"

So a day only with luck here in the U.K. Holland's post operative method sounds more advanced and more user friendly .

pentaxuser

MattKing · Aug 8, 2022

The protective cup or pad is left there to prevent you from poking the eye before the healing has made progress.
You know, to protect yourself from pointed sticks
Not these guys though:
{Bill and Nick and I were in school together for years}

Sirius Glass · Aug 8, 2022

I was not allowed to drive to or from the cataract surgery and I wore a eye cover when I slept and until the office business [not driving there] when I was told that I no longer needed the eye cover.

Larryc001 · Aug 8, 2022

Many people drive like they have both eyes covered. Sorry for the ot Comment.

summicron1 · Aug 9, 2022

I"m the same as tom taylor up there -- I had cataract surgery done and only had distance lenses put in and use reading glasses.

I dunno what your eyes will end up as, but for me the distance lenses allow me to focus from infinity to about 3 feet and three feet is the apparent focus distance of most of the cameras I use -- SLR nikon and Leica, rangefinder Leica.

So it's suddenly as if I have all these cool cameras that are a LOT easier to use..

And here's something I had no idea -- for years I've wondered if I had a dead bug or something in my grain focuser in my darkroom -- stupid squiggle in the middle of the image all the time. Well, with no cataracts now that is also gone -- it was the dingy in my eyeball reflecting back in the grain focuser optics!

Get it done if you haven't already. The world is brighter, although the guy in the mirror will be a LOT wrinklier, for some reason.

dpurdy · Aug 9, 2022

I will add my experience though it isn't exactly on topic. I don't have cataracts. However a few years ago I had a head injury and soon thereafter I had vitreous separation in my right eye. I am "wrong dominant" in that my left eye is dominant though I am right handed. So my problem was in my non dominant eye. My vitreous separation, which is normal age related, was incomplete because it wasn't normal. Being incomplete, it warped my retina and made it impossible to see sharply as well as it caused straight lines to appear weirdly curved. The surgeon I saw said it is unlikely surgery would fix my problem. After a few years my good eye, left eye, started to lose definition. It got so bad that I couldn't confidently focus my camera. A few months ago I came across information about photobiomodulation. which is to say infrared light exposure. I got the proper lights and started doing the recommended staring at them in the early morning. Right away my vision in my dominant left eye improved dramatically. Now I can see sharply as normal in the real world but also now I can see exactly the focus in my camera.. as well as my grain focuser in the darkroom. If you have never heard of Photo Bio Modulation I would suggest you spend some time on you tube or google and learn about it. Lots of people sharing their experience.

Sirius Glass · Aug 9, 2022

dpurdy said:
I will add my experience though it isn't exactly on topic. I don't have cataracts. However a few years ago I had a head injury and soon thereafter I had vitreous separation in my right eye. I am "wrong dominant" in that my left eye is dominant though I am right handed. So my problem was in my non dominant eye. My vitreous separation, which is normal age related, was incomplete because it wasn't normal. Being incomplete, it warped my retina and made it impossible to see sharply as well as it caused straight lines to appear weirdly curved. The surgeon I saw said it is unlikely surgery would fix my problem. After a few years my good eye, left eye, started to lose definition. It got so bad that I couldn't confidently focus my camera. A few months ago I came across information about photobiomodulation. which is to say infrared light exposure. I got the proper lights and started doing the recommended staring at them in the early morning. Right away my vision in my dominant left eye improved dramatically. Now I can see sharply as normal in the real world but also now I can see exactly the focus in my camera.. as well as my grain focuser in the darkroom. If you have never heard of Photo Bio Modulation I would suggest you spend some time on you tube or google and learn about it. Lots of people sharing their experience.

Congratulations on your recovery.

takilmaboxer · Aug 10, 2022

I had cataract surgery on my right eye a few months ago and I'm delighted with the result. It was my dominant eye most of my life, but about 4 years ago a developing cataract caused me to practice using my left eye, until it became the dominant eye. Due to extreme myopia a close focus implant lens was the only option. Now, both eyes are sharp and neither is dominant. I can focus my 35mm just fine and the left eye, which is quite myopic, can focus on the screen of my 4X5. My experience was very positive and when the left eye starts to cause problems I won't hesitate to do it as well.

Roger Cole · Aug 10, 2022

Pieter12 said:
Another thing--not really a big issue--is there is the probability of a film capsule forming over the implant after a few years, that will introduce a bit of cloudiness. This is easily removed with an in-office procedure. Some surgeons don't let you know it may be a possibility.

It can form much, much quicker than that. My father had it happen and had it zapped right away. It's a nothing-burger to fix.

I'm not there, yet. But like an ophthalmologist once commented on a pilot forum I also followed at the time, "cataracts are like wrinkles. If you live long enough you WILL get them."

wiltw · Aug 10, 2022

lxdude said:
A variable diopter adjustment in your eye sounds like a great idea!
You're right about apparent distance. Though as I recall, Topcons were at apparent infinity.

I just pulled out a Topcon Super D, and was surprised to discover my right eye can see the focus screen with no diopter correction for close distance!

Sirius Glass · Aug 10, 2022

wiltw said:
I just pulled out a Topcon Super D, and was surprised to discover my right eye can see the focus screen with no diopter correction for close distance!

Sometimes things in life get better. Smile!

wiltw · Aug 10, 2022

Sirius Glass said:
Sometimes things in life get better. Smile!

Yet it seems counter-intuitive that things would improve simply with the selection of a 59 year old camera!

Sirius Glass · Aug 11, 2022

Cataract surgery is the only medical procedure that you would feel better and are better immediately after.

alanrockwood · Aug 11, 2022

This is a true story. I do not know the lady, but I know the man to whom she told the story. She was quite old and had a bad case of cataracts for years. She eventually had cataract surgery and when she looked in the mirror for the first time she wondered who that old lady was looking back at her.

By the way, I have a brother in law who was basically blind because his cataracts were so bad... not sort of blind, but it got so bad that he couldn't even leave his apartment without someone to guide him. He had cataract surgery a few weeks ago and now sees very well. It has completely changed his life.

Roger Cole · Aug 11, 2022

Sirius Glass said:
Cataract surgery is the only medical procedure that you would feel better and are better immediately after.

While that's probably true, modern hip replacement surgery, using the anterior approach, came pretty close for me. I've been limping painful (and increasingly badly) since 2015 with two chiropractors and one orthopedic surgeon mistakenly thinking it was mainly sciatica. Once I got the right diagnosis from a different surgeon the third orthopedic surgeon, the hip-replacer he referred me to, said, "you needed it yesterday. I really can't believe you're still walking on that." I got on the schedule in the first available slot he had and had it done June 21. My home PT therapist cleared me to stop using my walker again four days later, surgeon cleared me to stop using cane and “absolutely ok to drive” at nine days. At my six weeks visit last week the newest x-rays looked “perfect,” I have no pain at all other than a slight tenderness to the touch which I literally do not notice if I don’t touch it or lay on that side and even that is even less this week than last, and the surgeon said, “no running, no jumping, other than that do whatever you want.”

Photography relevance: though other developments got me interested in getting back into photography now it would have been impossible without this. I literally couldn't walk without severe pain and a horrible limp. Now you'd never know I had any issues or just had surgery and I'm going for walks over a mile easily, with only needing to build back up those leg muscles that haven't been used properly in so long standing in the way of longer walks and hikes, so I CAN get out and shoot.

It's not as instant as cataract surgery, but with the anterior approach it's still pretty amazing and quick.

guangong · Aug 11, 2022

The only caveat: make sure that your ophthalmologist does many, many cataract surgeries.

Sirius Glass · Aug 11, 2022

guangong said:
The only caveat: make sure that your ophthalmologist does many, many cataract surgeries.

benjiboy · Aug 12, 2022

Sirius Glass said:
View attachment 312671

I just got my cataract surgery done on my right eye about two weeks ago, in the eye department of the largest teaching hospital in Europe, where they do literally thousands of them a year, I had my other eye done there nearly twenty years ago, they were both fairly pleasant experiences, the difference was the first time they removed my cornea with a scalpel and the second with a Lazer.

Sirius Glass · Aug 12, 2022

benjiboy said:
I just got my cataract surgery done on my right eye about two weeks ago, in the eye department of the largest teaching hospital in Europe, where they do literally thousands of them a year, I had my other eye done there nearly twenty years ago, they were both fairly pleasant experiences, the difference was the first time they removed my cornea with a scalpel and the second with a Lazer.

So you are on the cutting edge ...

benjiboy · Aug 12, 2022

Sirius Glass said:
So you are on the cutting edge ...

Yes Steve, that's right, I can now see "at my own convenience".

eli griggs · Aug 12, 2022

I have "nuclear" cataracts and have been working hard to get my blood sugar down by giving up food and soda sugars.

The VA says they will fix mine and additionally, fix my distance viewing, which really hampers my game

I hope to get this done in the next two months, so I can really enjoy documenting Autumn.

VinceInMT · Aug 13, 2022

Roger Cole said:
…..But like an ophthalmologist once commented on a pilot forum I also followed at the time, "cataracts are like wrinkles. If you live long enough you WILL get them."

Which applies to other things as well. Guys, we are generally of a certain age range here and it’s important to know your PSA (Prostate-specific antigen) annually. Luckily, mine was found early. It’s all part of having seen lots of calendars.

Alan Edward Klein · Aug 13, 2022

I've been wearing glasses since I was 4 1/2. I'm now 77. I have had astigmatism all my life and other issues corrected to 20/20 with eyeglasses. I now have had diabetes 2 for the last ten years. I have to check my eyes yearly because diabetes can affect them pretty badly. No problem yet, thank God. I do have cataracts but the doctor says at 77 the amount is about normal for my age. I thankfully see pretty well still. Of course, my photography doesn't seem to be getting any better though.

My whole point is if you have developed diabetes, please have your eyes checked regularly.

Let's talk about cataract surgery.....

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