Cataract Surgery Experience

First off, let me just say this forum was a great find as I recently went through cataract surgery. I am 36 years old, and discovered I had developed cataracts in both my eyes a couple months ago. I recently moved to a new city in a new state and needed to go get a new Driver's License but could tell I needed a new glasses prescription, so off to the optometrist I went.

After some extensive chart reading, he took a look at my eyes and revealed that it looked as though I had cataracts! Unable to correct my vision past 20/50 in the left and 20/40 in the right, he gave me a referral to a local eye center that specializes in LASIK and cataracts.

They then confirmed I did indeed have cataracts, and given the degree to which they were at, plus that I felt they were impacting my daily life, I was recommended for surgery. Honestly, it was kind of a whirlwind at that point. All I could think about was my dad having the surgery when I was a kid. The ophthalmologist and I went over all the options available to me, but I was just so against monofocal lens already because of my memories of what it had been like for my dad (good for him because he'd been thrilled with the outcome, but all I remembered was him constantly losing his reading glasses). The multi focal lens option (Clareon Panoptix Trifocal) sounded promising, especially with my age and the fact that I absolutely despise having to wear glasses, and have since I first got them at thirteen years old. She was great about highlighting some of the negatives of the multi focal IOL, including halos and that I'd potentially still need reading glasses for fine print. But neither of those were deal breakers.

I talked over the options with my mom, who actually agreed that perhaps the best option for me was the multi focal lens given how young I am. The cost worried me, because it would be upwards of $6K after insurance, but she agreed to help pay for it. And that was that. I didn't do a whole lot of research on the lens prior, just enough to understand how it would work in theory.

Surgery was nothing like I expected. The idea of anyone or anything touching my eyes always causes me anxiety, but between the anesthesia, the eye drops, and the Ativan they put under my tongue, the experience flew by. I remember the surgeon telling me what she was doing, the pressure of the suction cup, the water rolling down the side of my face, the green laser, and an annoying pressure near my eye. I may have passed out during the whole thing, I wasn't sure at the time, but I was eventually told everything went great and was wheeled back into the recovery room. I think I must have zoned out again because the next thing I remember was sitting up to go greet my mom (who was my ride after surgery).

But I remember I could see! Everything out of my right eye was so clear and in focus. Driving home was like seeing the world in a whole new way, and made me realize just how bad my eyesight had gotten in recent years. When we got back to my apartment, I went and laid in the darkness of my bedroom with my sunglasses on. My right eye could not handle much light that day, and the halos around lights sources was awful. But I did feel good enough to go get dinner with my mom, I just kept my sunglasses on and everything was fine.

My post op the next day went great, my eye was looking good, pressure was good, distance came in around 20/30 but my near & intermediate were more difficult (I realized later it was because of the focal points from the lens and how I hadn't discovered those sweet spots yet).

I went back to work the next day, and took things slow, taking lots of breaks and trying to break the old bad habits I'd acquired due to the cataracts development (like squinting and leaning closer to the screen). My two week follow up went much better, as I'd had time to settle with the near & intermediate and those came in at 20/12.5 while my distance was hovering around 20/20 (I couldn't read EVERY letter on the line but I got 4/5). The doctor recommended me getting an hba1c test done to rule out diabetes, since my cataracts had developed at such a young age.

Also during that time, I found this forum, and began reading up on everyone's experiences with cataracts and surgery and the many different types of IOLs available. It was enlightening, but also made me glad I hadn't found it prior to making my decision. I think reading about the personal experiences may have kept me from choosing the lens I ended up with, when in fact, I have been thrilled with the results. But reading about how some of the side effects (halos and spiderwebs around lights) is something many are also dealing with has actually made me feel better about the decision I made, having now seen them for myself.

Surgery for my left eye was a month after my right eye, and I knew what to expect, which perhaps also eased my anxiety. It helped to laugh with the nurses and my doctor about how I had been through this before. Same anesthesia, same eye drops, same Ativan under my tongue. But this time, I was aware for the whole surgery. Including right at the start where the surgeon put the suction cup over my eye, started with the laser and then stopped - she wasn't happy with something and needed to start over. After that, everything went swimmingly, and though I was aware for all of it, I didn't feel a thing. This time I remembered being wheeled back out to recovery and being unhooked from everything.

I made my mom go straight for lunch this time, I was starving! It was nearly 2pm at that point and I hadn't eaten since 10pm the night before when I went to bed.

My left eye did not adjust as quickly as my right did, my vision remaining slightly hazy the rest of the day. I tried to not worry about it, remembering what the doctor had said about how the different eyes will often react differently to the IOL. Then I laid around the rest of the day and tried to relax.

Post op follow up the next morning went great. I'd woken up with clear vision in my left eye, the haziness gone. And having already gone through figuring out focal points with my right, it made reading with my left a bit easier. My distance was again around 20/30 and my near & intermediate at 20/16.5.

I had been super careful after the surgery for my right eye not to do anything that might upset the eye - including not sleeping on my right side. But after surgery for my left eye, that had to change as I also didn't want to do the same for that eye. It became harder to remember that I needed to be careful after the second surgery because I could see! There was no discomfort, nothing really reminding me that I had to take it easy.

Just had my two week post op for the left eye, where they also rechecked the right and then tested both eyes together. Distance vision is 20/20 and my near & intermediate came in at 20/12.5. I was absolutely thrilled. The doctor did notice a bit of scar tissue developing in the left eye already but as I hadn't noticed it, and it clearly wasn't impacting my vision, she saw no reason to address it at this point in time, and neither do I. Still have to get my blood work done (July was a sh*tshow for me), so we're holding off on scheduling my next appointment until I get that to potentially discuss it.

I have small halos and spiderwebs around certain LED and halogen lights, but nothing that interferes with my daily life. I am able to do my work on the computer at a comfortable distance and I have nearly completely broken my bad habit of leaning forward to squint at the screen. Colors are more vibrant and visible these days, and I do not miss the haze that felt like I was looking through a dirty windshield all the time. Driving at night isn't something I do a lot of, but when I did some over the 4th of July weekend, it was still easier and more enjoyable than it had been in the months leading up to surgery due to the cataracts. Tuning out the halos around headlights is easy, as they don't extend out past the oncoming car itself, and I am still able to see the actual vehicles. But being able to read street signs and license plates has made driving fun once again.

I just wanted to share my experience, especially given my age. One thing I had tried when this began was to look for other people in their 30's who'd developed cataracts and undergone surgery - but it's been few and far between. And most of the ones I have come across, those people have only developed a cataract in one eye, so my experience wasn't quite the same.

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