Fair people get them a lot. For a week after you have hypervision until your brain gets wise.

All very happy with the results.

I think they wait a week for the second eye just to make sure things went smoothly with the first eye.

It is indeed very common but there are risks to consider.

Most are really pleased with the result, and wished they'd done it sooner. But, it IS surgery, and there's no guarantee that you'll get the expected result. So make sure you understand everything, and have all your questions answered before making your decision.

I had cataract surgery in both eyes last year and i am very pleased. I too had one "blurry"eye and had that one done first. I was truly amazed at how well I could see and did the other eye as soon as I could. Really, cataracts develop so slowly that you are not aware of how much you are actually not seeing. Colors looked so vibrant after, I did not know that my perception of color had gradually faded.

I know lots of people who had them without problems

Relax...go ahead an have them removed... you'll not regret it.

They are 89 and 90 years old now. No problems. No complications. I remember they had to put eyedrops in for a short period of time after the surgery. They were very motivated to do the eyedrops as directed to prevent any complications.

Cataract operations are one of the most common operations and most successful operations. The whole procedure in the operating room takes just a few minutes. You will be amazed by the results!

I had developed a very early and very bad case of cataracts. Both the surgery and the recovery time was amazingly smooth. You just have to be sure to follow the instructions, both before and after surgery.

I was extremely nearsighted, my whole life so I opted to pay, out of pocket, for some very high tech lenses that completely corrected my vision. I now only wear 'cheaters' to read very, very fine print. It was expensive, but most definitely worth it.

will be getting the surgery and really want to have those.

As I recall, they were about $1,200 but there was, at the time, a rebate, too. The lenses were pretty new on the market and correct for both near and far vision. I was told that my vision will stay as it is, from now on.

My insurance would not cover any corrective type lense - just the generic lense replacements. To be shed of thick glasses - even the high density ones were still a bit much - was a blessing, and worth every penny. I didn't even want to have to think about having to manage with bi or even trifocal glasses, or my vision getting even weaker.

And another $1000 for laser rather than actual surgery. My insurance doesn't cover either and they told me none do.

...as untreated cataracts cause blindness. Or is it just the enhancements of near/far lenses that are not covered?

But the Laser & near/far lens are not.

Had one eye done last year and the other this year.
No pain at all.
You'll see a bright light for a few minutes.
That's it.
Had both lenses replaced with the $1500 ones that Medicare doesn't cover.
Supposed to correct astigmatism.
Not sure if it was worth it, I have age related macular degeneration (ARMD).
Talk to your ophthalmologist about it.
He/she should have already explained it to you.

Pistashios.

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/2015/03/3-reasons-why-pistachios-can-boost-your-health/

The info says it helps 'prevent'.
But thanks anyway.
BTW, I'm taking A-Reds 2 vitamin formula.
My ophthalmologist recommended them.
They're supposed to slow down the progression of the disease.
I want them to just use stem cells and grow me a new eye.

You'll be glad you did it.

drive without glasses. Still use reading glasses. I had been warned that many people had difficulty with bifocal lens.

Neither had any kind of complications. There are risks that why they usually don't do but one at a time. Even before she had great vision on the 1st eye until the shock of the surgery dissipated, she was amazed at the vibrancy of colors especially blues. Her cataracts where yellowish which is a blue blocker.

drive without glasses. Still use reading glasses. I had been warned that many people had difficulty with bifocal lens.

They said is was a breeze with the added bonus of no more glasses ever.

No regrets whatsover. Painless, brief surgery. Minimal recovery time. Plus you get a boffo 2001-style lightshow when they remove the old gunky lenses.

several years ago. I still have to wear glasses for reading, but now I can see so much more clearly even in poor light. It was like removing a beige film off my eyes. No problems, no pains, just have to put drops in several times a day for a couple of weeks, could drive in two days.

Of the options offered for types of lenses, I decided on a near lens for my left eye and far lens for my right eye.

The was a good move for me.. I can drive and read , do almost everything without glasses. I Do wear distance glasses for night driving, baseball etc..and I have WALMART ( boo, sorry) cheapo reading glasses for reading usually.. BUT I knocked out the glass over the 'reading eye. :&gt ))

I am a musician, and also got glasses that bring music into perfect focus at the distance to the music stand...

Piece of cake. Sees better than ever. Reads without glasses. Just be sure to do the medication drops as directed. I'm actually looking forward to when my cataracts are ready forsurvery

easy surgery just follow the post op instructions to the letter with the drops and you'll be better than new.

Last edited Thu Jun 22, 2017, 09:28 AM - Edit history (1)

one is done. Most doctors would do the blurry eye first.

The procedure should be painless, and it is very important you follow the after care treatment to the letter. You should also have someone who can drive you home after the procedure.

As long as you have no conditions that counter indicate the procedure, you should be just fine

with BOTH eyes needing drops simultaneously!

I had surgery in each eye. The surgeries were about a month apart.

I have worn glasses since I was twelve. Now I only wear reading glasses. I had to rest for about a day and a half after each surgery. I had no complications, and everything has been fine. This was about six years ago.

I had very early onset severe cataracts and had surgery in 2014. I had the blurry vision and halos around lights typical of cataracts. After surgery, my lifetime extreme nearsightedness became 20/20 vision,except for reading, and the true colors and clairity of the world astonished me. The best way i cna describe is watching a movie on VHs compared to wathing the same movie on Blue Ray. Do it you will not regret it.

My mom had both eyes done. It's outpatient surgery. The doc said the eye is the fastest healing organ in the human body. Just remember to let the surgeon know if you have ever taken flomax or its generic as that makes the surgery a bit more complicated, but still easy.

done, first one then the other. Each procedure took about 10 minutes. She has perfect vision now

Get it done. See better.

Before surgery, I had horrid vision my whole life. Glasses could not correct my vision. -12 and -14. Had been using monovusion contacts, one for reading and the other for distance. Decided to fit my implant lenses to achieve similar results. Results have been very good. I am good for driving and for reading and everything in between. No need for even reading glasses.

I had a few minor problems, took about an extra week to recover from the surgery. The biggest change for me was colors and night vision. My cataracts were very dark yellow; I had not seen white in 20+ years. After my first eye was done, I realized I had been seeing yellow for white, green for blue, etc. The yellow for white is what really screws up your night vision.

In summary, get cataract surgery. BTW plan for 4-6 weeks between doing the eyes.

and I couldn't be happier. If anyone was a candidate for complications it was me (very strong astigmatism in both eyes) but it went without a hitch. I dreaded it, believe me, but I'm very glad I had it done. The worst part was the eyedrops for a month; I hated that. But no pain, no complications, and my vision is great for the first time in my life.

first time in my life. I still wear thin glasses for super sharp vision and close work, but I can go without. Was driving next day after surgery.

You will be amazed. In unlikely event of complications, they can probably fix it.

Good luck.

...so she waited until the time was right and had cataract surgery with lens implants. When you have been 100% tied to thick glasses or hard contact lenses your whole life, being able to choose to go without readers or distance glasses if you want to is -- awe inspiring.

I tried every brand of contacts, but just couldn't wear them.

I got a very good sales pitch from my ophthalmologist and am debating the issue. I'm still queasy about people mucking about with my eyes. Thanks also to all who replied to the OP.

She waited almost too long and the cataracts pearlized and made the procedure more difficult. The pressure went up in the first eye, very dangerous. The second eye the surgeon didn't get all of the lense and had to do it over.
My advice is to do it as soon as possible.

This was in the last year or so.

Of course we fretted, but it went very smoothly. (She continues on to watch Fox News and read the Drudge Report with no problems )

ETA: I wouldn't wait that long.

it was a walk in the park. The nurses called them the "Cataract Twins".

It was really easy. I had been totally freaked out at the idea of someone coming at my eye with a laser, but with the conscious sedation, I didn't feel a thing or even have much of a chance to freak out about it. I had be nearly blind from the cataracts and now I see quite well. it's a miracle.

Easy peasy.

I had a spinal fusion. Now that's a surgery to be worrying about.

Really amazing change. No problems at all.

Had it done to both eyes. Only thing others notice is every so often if the light is right they say my eyes shine.

She had the op to remove cataracts on both eyes at age 77 - a simple procedure with no discomfort - she was overjoyed to be able to see her flowers and plants properly - and her HD TV !

Very routine.

Heck, I could probably watch a YouTube video and do the procedure myself. Now where did I leave that exacto knife...

though I'm experiencing one of the minor complications. Not having to wear glasses at all now is worth having to use gel OTC eye drops every day. I was never able to wear contacts because of dry eye, so it was not surprising that I would have to add gel drops to my daily routine. I say go for it.

The only one who had any complications was my mother, who stomped off to the cheapest clinic in her city without "bothering" her sister in law who was the Dean of Nursing at the local university and knew everyone medical and their reputation.

Mom had to have a re-do at the better clinic. Mom drove us nuts with her approach to medical care, which had a certain level of hostility and victimhood embedded in it.

Everyone else, young and old, chose the best surgeon recommended by their opthalmologist and had outstanding success in the various places they live in. Modern cataract surgery with lens implant is one of the miracles of vision-saving medicine.

NO problems AT ALL. Impressed with the Doc and his staff.

I wonder about the nature of the 'complications' you refer to.

you're not seeing colors correctly! Too much yellow tinge to everything, whites look off-white or even beige, etc.

The regimen per eye is drops days before op, two weeks of drops post-op, go back for check-up, then rinse, lather, and repeat with second eye.

Restricted activity, no heavy lifting, no bending head to look down, wear big sunglasses from the ophthalmologist.

And you will be required absolutely to prove you have a driver to and from.

old, comparing with your other eye will reveal that you've been seeing things with an increasingly "amber" cast for years

seeing sunlight; I was seeing that amber, as you say (great descriptor), and by and by all was well!

... at least rare enough that my doctors had never actually had a patient that had them, usually occurs in older people, I was about 55 at the time, 10 years ago.

This condition basically means that the BACK of the lenses in my eyes had become opaque and sort of like a broken mirror...what I COULD see was kind of grey and haphazardly segmented. I basically went from never having glasses ever to being legally blind in one month.

I had the 2 operations a month or so apart. When I had my procedures, they had just come out with new artificial lenses called Crystalens, which would flex by the use of your own eye muscles, you could basically see all distances, no need to choose near, middle or distant vision lens implants.

I was a little scared about something brand new but loved the idea of all ranges of vision. My doctor put it into perspective by saying "Look, yes, you are getting the equivalent of those big ugly grey early "cell phones" with the antenna , for your eyes, and yes, in coming years the lenses will be more and more improved with time. But right now you have NO time, and let me tell you, those big ugly grey cell phones changed my life completely as a doctor having to be on call, no more stuck at home near a phone, no more beeper, and these lenses will change yours."

So I went for it. Basically they stick a needle into your eye (and I was watching it happen, but somehow the amazing anesthesia wouldn't let me scream in horror) then they inject a red dye into the lens to map it out, then they cut a tiny slit and suck out the old lens, and insert the new lens which flips open once it's inside.
The doctor also did some light laser surgery too on the surface of my eye.

Recovery was fast, in a few days I could see GREAT, although because I had surgery done in Ohio, they wouldn't let me fly home to Los Angeles for I think it was 10 days, to protect my eye from air pressure changes. I went back to Ohio a month later and the other eye done, I have had almost 20/20 vision ever since, although now ome predicted cloudiness is coming back, which will require a little laser surgery.

Lucky me, I had been diagnosed with diabetes before the blindness onset (the cataracts were not related to diabetes) and therefor I had NO INSURANCE. THe dreaded "pre exisiting condition". So I had to pay out of my own pocket, I paid $10,000 but it was the best money I ever spent, vision is PRICELESS, I can't even imagine what my life would have become if I couldn't have afforded the surgeries, but I have good Scottish DNA and had been stashing money away since I was a kid, I really believed in the "rainy day" theory.

So I am a success story, of course all surgeries have risk (I'm now waiting on hip replacement surgery, thank God and the Democrats for Medicare!)

far, and in a trice went from near-sighted to far-sighted.

Now I can read road signs without specs---

BUT instead I need 4.0 reading glasses to thread a needle or do any coloring. Not thrilled about that result that wasn't really mentioned.

**In full disclosure, it was because of my personal situation. I could have have travelled to have my doctor of preference implant more "inclusive" lenses, but I had no-one who could have made the trip with me. And the hospital required proof of their staying with me overnight.

This was for the Northampton and Montgomery Counties area of PA.

I was lucky because although I live in Los Angeles, I had a girlfriend in Summit County, Ohio, which also happened to be the home of a famous eye surgeon. When I went blind in my left eye I was there in Ohio and went directly to him and he treated me so that's why I returned month later for my other eye and that's how I had somebody with me and a place to stay while I was doing the surgeries.
Just a lucky break for me, thank God.

I'm awaiting hip replacement surgery. Seems like only a few weeks ago I was an indestructible stud!

She was in her early 70s. She is doing great, her distance vision is nearly perfect, all she needs are readers... for her it was a vast improvement of her overall vision, notwithstanding the cataracts.

I know have 20-20 vision. Just need my Dollar Store reading glasses.

I highly recommend doing this. You will forever be grateful.

... they were both near-sighted and the new lenses made them see 20/20, which had some drawbacks for BOTH of them! They were both accustomed to seeing better up close without their glasses and the need for reading glasses to shave and other activities took them awhile to adjust.

You will be fine... I only had one done..my bad eye.. I am too worried to have my close-to-normal one done..even after cataract removal. my vision is still shitty (they said it would be) in my bad eye.. but it is better than before..

It does not hurt, and other than not bending over or lifting heavy thing for a short while, there is noting to it