My Cataract Journey

I write this with hopes of helping someone else, as I'm a firm believer in Knowledge is Power.

Twenty two years ago I had Lasik surgery, at the time my best corrected vision after Lasik was 20/30 in my left eye and 20/25 in my right. I was seeing great (compared to before) and I was glasses free so I didn't question why they couldn't get my vision to 20/20 with correction. Fast forward to 2013, I was sitting in hospice with my mom who was dying of ALS. I started to notice myself attempting to blink things into focus, readers were helping with my close up work (I was in my 40's after all so I knew readers would be necessary) But my distance vision was not clear and crisp as I was used to. 

My husband was seeing an opthalmologist for cataracts so after one of his checks with the doctor I decided to make an appointment for myself. This doctor confirmed, that I too had cataracts but they weren't age related cataracts, they were congenital or aka Posterior Polar Cataracts, not as common and far more risky to operate on. I sensed he was not comfortable doing the surgery when he told me I should wait for possible better technology. His words were....I'd hate for you to end up worse than  you are now. So I left it. But I was prompted to look things up on the internet as most of us do when we get a diagnosis of any kind. I found very little information on PPC but what I did find confirmed that they are far less common and far more riskier to remove. 

I was not happy with the way I was seeing so I scheduled another appointment with my then, opthalmologist. He gave me a small prescription, hoping that maybe eyeglasses would help. They didn't. On yet another visit he put me on Restasis, hoping that would give some relief. It did not. He scheduled me with a specialist at the University of Michigan for a second opinion. He confirmed the posterior polar cataracts and sent me on my way. I even went back to Dr Tayfour in Windsor, Ontario who performed the Lasik. He too confirmed the cataracts and said he would be glad to remove them but this was a long way to go for me since I now lived 2 hours north in Michigan. I wouldn't have minded going to him but my insurance would not have paid anything and the follow up appointments back and forth would have been diffiuclt.

So time went on and I didn't do anything. On one of my next check ups with my then, opthalmologist I mentioned to him......Dr Tayfour said he would feel comfortable doing the surgery.......at which time he got up from his chair and said.....then I suggest you go see Dr Tayfour. 

He obviously was not comfortable performing the surgery and I'm grateful he let me know. I mean who would want to have an already risky surgery at the hands of someone who was not at ease performing it.

I had a neighbor who had almost lost her sight due to an accident and she referred me to her doctor, and in talking to someone else who had shingles in his eye, he happened to have the same doctor. Both of them raved about how this doctor saved their sight. So I decided to go see him.

On my very first visit, I felt comfortable that I would want him to be my doctor. Still years went by with him monitoring me annually to see where I was with the cataracts. He said on top of the posterior polar cataracts I had the beginning of the age related clouding of the lens. After Christmas this past year, I wasn't seeing well enough to drive so I went to him and he said, I think its time we remove the cataracts. I agreed. And we moved forward with the testing etc. I was able to provide them with my pre Lasik numbers which would help with choosing the correct IOL power, although they still couldn't promise me they could achieve the distance vision I wanted. And, because they have to, they explained to me the risks involved with removing this type of cataract. The biggest risk being the capsule at the back of the eye could rupture (tear sounds so much better) This weighted heavily on me. I could just live with the cataracts that would in time just get worse or I could take the risk. Very tough!!! 

So, I had my right eye done. Surgery itself was successful but the distance vision was not achieved. I'm at 20/40 in that eye. He said he would tweak things to achieve a better distance result in the left eye. I put off having the left eye done until 6 weeks later. I had my left eye done on April 19th. This cataract was more adhered to the capsule and resulted in a tear of the capsule. The first day of surgery I could not see anything out of my left eye. The next day, everything was hazy but I went in for my 1 day follow up and my pressure was up. He used the forceps to relive the pressure and put me on glaucoma drops. My vision is better but Dr told me a piece of lens fell back behind the capsule so he sent me to a retina specialist. Retina specialist got me in quickly and he said the piece that fell back is the outer part of the lens and will likely be reabsorbed by the body. He said if it had been the central part of the lens my body pressure would likely stay up and I would have far more inflammation than what I do have. He wants to see me in a week but advised me to call him immediately if I see an influx of floaters or experience any pain. At which point he said a vitrectomy might be needed.

It pains me to write all of this, but is also  therapeutic. Not many people understand. I hope to educate/help anyone who has this form of cataract. I would have given anything to talk to someone all those years ago when I was first diagnosed. 

Most people consider cataract surgery to be uncomplicated and in most cases for traditional cataracts, that is the case. 

But I'm here to tell you not all cataracts are created equal.

God Bless,

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