Can you tell me about Cataract surgery? Doctor says I can have it but nervous

What the doctor says  is correct... the procedure is qiuck and much less risky than years ago. But only you can make the decision. My cataracts had progressed to the point that my vison was rather horrible. I'm 69 and had each eye done last Fall. Recovery varies from person to person and for each eye. My right eye took a lot longer to normalize than my left eye. What I can tell you is that I too have astigmatism and cataract surgery DOES NOT fix that.

Before surgery, I was always very near-sighted but could see things well very close up. The cataract surgery gave me pretty good distance vision but close up vision became terrible. In any event, my astigmatism meant I'd still have to wear glasses anyways, both for distance and for reading. I got a prescription for progressives and am very satisfied now. You can have the astigmatism fixed by a different surgical procedure, such as Lasik, but it is definitely not a normal or routine part of catract surgery. One surgery repaces the lens while the other surgery cuts and reshapes the cornea. Personally, I'd opt for contact lenses rather than doing Lasik surgery, which is not always 100% in fixing astigmatism.

I am 80 years old and had cataract surgery in both eyes. I am now able to play golf and actually can see the ball leave my club and land again. I used to wear glasses to read plus correction for whatever ( I think it was astigmatism). I can now read and use a computer without having to use glasses and I do have a prescription to have 20/20 viision, but so far have not had any problem seeing without glasses. The operation was a snap and like they say, only 10 minutes. I was awake during the entire procedure. The anesthetic was amazing. Absolutely no pain. I did have double vision until the anesthetic wore off. I attribute that to the brain trying to focus but the muscles controlling eye movement were still asleep and unable to respond. But that cleared up before the day was over.  While sleeping they want you to wear a plastic guard over the eye. I was also required to use 4 or 5 different eyedrops daily during recovery period. All in all I am happy with my new eyes.

I am in the states, but just had my right eye done and was terrified. I am 49 and went with the  Multifocal lens , It was nothing, no pain at all , I was under a twilight and remember but didn't care about something coming at my eye, they put a goopy substance in the eye then the twilight I saw pretty light show then it was over.  I have scar tissue but they say I healed so fast and it may resolve if not I will have to undergo the YAG laser later to fix that.  Also I was to have the Fectmo laster to fix the astigmatisum but the astigmatisum wasn't enough to undergo the laser.  I have my second eye in 3 weeks and I can't wait, my world is so much better, I even wonder how I saw as my left eye is HORRIBLE now and no clue how I see out of that eye.  

They can fix astigmatisum's but I don't think they do that unless you have the multifocal lens but I could be wrong about that , I can only go by my experience. 

 

Yes, what Songbill says is true.  It's a simple and painless surgery.  Virtually no down time.  I found the follow up eye drops to be the biggest nuisance.

....also, multifocal may not be available to you.  It depends on your eyes.  Toric lenses are the ones used for astigmatism.  Usually insurance does not cover multifocal or toric lenses.

There are more chances of complications (specifically how well you can see ) the more 'non-standard'  ie multi-focus/whatever lenses you have.

I opted to have both eyes done to avoid having many years of worsening eyesight due to the cataracts developing further and wiating for gthe NHS (UK) to stump up the funds to do them.  At the time of my op, I didn't have any idea that I actually did have cataracts...only my ophthalmologist, during my annual eye check-up, telling me that they were starting.

In hindsight, I think I would have preferred to take my chances. You never know, I might have fallen under a bs before they really needed doing.  

Now, I dread walking into a shop or supermarket with all those overhead lights. The glare is very disconcerting...almost to the point that I am considering wearing one of those gamblers eyshades...even though I will look an idiot.  When I walk into a car park on a sunny day, it is a chiarascuro kaleidoscope of glittering lines.

Wish I'd never had them done.

I can understand your fears have no basis in today's medical world.  I just finished have both eyes corrected with toric lenses to correct my severe night blindness and astigmatisms.  You should expect bumps in the road.. I had an eye abrasion and secondary cataracts but the dicomfort for the surgery and eye abrasions and laser surgery was about the same level as going to the beach and having someone  throw sand in your eye or going skiing and ending up snow blind.  That being said don't expect miracles.  You still may not be able to drive at night; it depends on how you adjust to the lenses, but with the proper lenses your daytime vision will be substantially improved.

Cataract surgery is the most common surgery in the world, estimates are perhaps 20 million cataract surgeries worldwide are done each year,  and also the safest. The vast majority of patients have great results they are happy with.  However every surgery is a risk, and tiny % of people may have issues afterwards, but most of those are minor and treatable (like temporary swelling treated with drops).

You will see some posts online from people with problems, like someone on this page complaining about glare, but that is because people with problems are more likely to come online and post about them and with millions of patients even a small  % with problems can lead to someone posting about them. 

I had no pain during my surgery, I didn't feel a thing except for once when they rinsed my eye I had a vague sense of it, but nothing bothersome To me it was less of a big deal than any dental procedure I've ever had done like even a minor filling. Actually I'd say it say it was easier to go through than even a dental cleaning where they scrape along your gums and need you to open your mouth for a long time. You   spend more time waiting for the procedure, waiting for the drops to kick in, than for the few minute surgery. Its common for them to give people a mild sedative to help them relax, but you don't actually go to sleep. 

I did have to wear a bandage on that eye until the next morning, but some places don't require that these days. I didn't have any special requirements for sleeping, but some places are cautious and give you something to wear  to protect the eye when sleeping for the first few days since they don't want you rolling to sleep face down and putitng pressure on the eye. Apparently many don't feel that is really needed and they are being over-cautious. Cataract surgery used to be much more of a big deal (it required larger incisions and stiches, whereas by default now its minuscule incisions and no-stitch)  so more after-surgery caution was appropriate, but  many are realizing those cautions aren't needed anymore. 

Astigmatism is sometimes treated during surgery using a special "toric" lens which corrects for it, or sometimes if it is small enough they will do another small incision in the eye that leads the eye to reshape itself. 

One major decision you need to make with cataract surgery is what to do about near&intermediate vision.  The default replacement lens most people get  is a monofocal, which is like single vision glasses rather than bifocal or progressive glasses. If you have a monofocal set for distance, it is like the sort of complete presbyopia elderly people have where readers are needed for any near work, in fact its common for things from 6 feet inwards to get blurry.

Some people use monofocals for what is called "monovision" where one eye is set to focus well at a distance, and the other eye is set to be a bit nearsighted to be able to provide better closeup vision without glasses. Most people adapt well to monovision, but it means you are  mostly only using 1 eye for many distances.

There are alternatively premium lenses (which the patient needs to pay for out of pocket, since in most places neither insurers nor government plans will pay for them, just like they don't pay for things like lasik since they consider them optional)  which are made to provide a wider range of vision from near to far. The problem is that no premium lens yet is perfect, though the vast majority of people are happy with their choice. There are different types of premium lenses. Accomodating lenses like the Crystalens (or its toric version the Trulign) are likely to give good intermediate vision and some chance of good near (e.g. perhaps half of people still need reading glasses for near), though a small minority don't get any better vision than a monofocal (I haven't seen an exact figure, I've seen surgeons guess perhaps 10-15% of patients have that). Multifocals more consistently can provide better near, but with a small % having problematic halos at night. Different multifocals have different strengths, some are bifocals  (usually either distance&near with less good intermediate, or distance&intermediate with not quite as good near), and some are trifocals (not available in the US, I don't know what country you are in). Outside the US there is also a  new lens the Symfony which is a new type of "extended depth of focus" lens which  provides good distance&intermediate and often good near (a small % need readers) buth with a low risk of halos, its risks are almost the same as a  monofocal. The FDA is deciding now whether to approve the Symfony in the US, but no one knows if that'll take a few months or another year or so. I went outside the US to get the Symfony a year ago rather than waiting on it. Its odd to need to go outside the US to get a lens made by an American company, but unfortunately the FDA here is very slow and overcautious.