Normal 42 year old one week to Posterior Subcapsular Cataract next week.

Yeah I saw it but small data sample and who knows what his situation will be 10+ years down the line.

I agree 😃

I am one week away from my own lens exchange, I have all the same worries your wife are having, and all the time I return to trusting the surgeon to make the best choice for me, based on his experience from thousands of these lens exchanges.

I have all the same thoughts about change in the future, I am 45, I plan to live many years ahead 😃

But really, surgeons can do a lot of stuff right now to correct a lot of things, and if my vision changes in 20 years from now, I am sure that, at that time surgeons will have a lot more advanced techniques compared to what they have now, just think about how much have happened the last 20 years.

I know one guy, that have monofocal lenses with monovision, he had it done 24 years ago, and his vision have not changed at all, he is still happy with the lenses and the vision he have, actually he rarely uses glasses - he has glasses, but he never puts them on, unless he has to read for a hole day or similar tasks.

Hope all goes well for you Viking.

What my wife is finding hard to cope with is that all(majority) who are getting cataract surgery are going from bad vision to better in general. She will be going from very good vision (minus last 2 weeks) to who knows what 😦

We have a third surgeon on the radar and while watching video of Zeiss AT Lisa I came across him talking at .30 sec mark. Daniel S. Mojon.

Search Google for "What's your conclusion after 2 years of implanting AT LISA tri IOLs?"

I fully understand, for your wife it must be a big shock, and it must be hard to cope with.

If she has perfect vision apart from the cataracts, she is also a perfect canditate for premium lenses.

When both eyes are seeing the same distance at the same time, you get a "bonus" that you will not get with monovision with monofocal lenses.

If both eyes are seeing 20/25 each, together they see 20/20, if they both are tuned in to see the same object. This is in my opinion a very good argument to go for the premium lenses, if eyes are good.

Cheers

I agree and one of my main reasons for going with symfony IOLs. If I were retired and older would have gone monofocals.

Also came across another excellent article. Search for "Trifocal IOLs rank high in European surgeons’ preferences" (you may need to register to view).

One surgeon notes:

In his experience, the only patients who are not happy with trifocal lenses are music conductors who work in dim light at a distance between 85 cm and 100 cm.

“They don’t see well with a trifocal at that distance. They might be better with an EDOF or with an intermediate dominant lens,”

"Daya implanted more than 4,000 patients with trifocal lenses in the last 7 years and has not needed to remove any of them. Patients are happy and spectacle-independent, with the exception of orchestra conductors, who need to use 1.25 D spectacle addition when they stand on the podium."

I personally have worn glasses most of my life, and I don't mind them, so being free from glasses was not a primary goal.I've mentioned I'm conservative with my eyes, so never considered laser eye surgery. But now that I need cataract surgery, I happy to take advantage of the latest technology and be able to see well hopefully at all distances without glasses (except perhaps if reading close up for long periods).I'll also be able to final wear the cool looking sunglasses that I could never use when I needed prescription lens.

Your wife is understandably worried. But I guess in a way she is lucky that the need for surgery has come up after the latest tri-focals have had 6 years of positive experience in Europe. If the doctors say they suit her, they are likely the best choice.

My wife just WhattsApped me to say she is seeing very blurry like 2 weeks ago when this all started for the first time 😦 She said she was scared about the operation and lens choices but now she just want it done and see sharp!!!

We have first appointment with surgeon tomorrow, how will his measurements work if she sees blurry? 😦

This all makes me so sad and breaks my heart!

Google- "Posterior subcapsular cataract can cause a rapid loss of central vision owing to its position in the visual axis."

How rapid is rapid?

Can posterior subcapsular cataract really cause someone like my wife to go from perfect vison/no glasses to blurry vision then almost ok vision then back to blurry vision all in a space of just 2 weeks?

I looked at other serious causes like Stroke, MS, Brain tuomor etc and no symptoms match, well apart from blurry vision part. I hope there is nothing else going on 😦

I will pick her from work a she is seeing blurry now since couple of hours 😦

"There are several causes of cataracts, although in the United States, age is the leading factor. Most people who develop cataracts receive their diagnosis after age 40; they will not need treatment beyond regular eye exams and some lifestyle changes until they are at least 60 years old.

There are some types of cataracts that can progress more rapidly, requiring treatment within a few years of the initial diagnosis, rather than decades. These cataracts are more likely to occur in younger adults, and they are more likely to be caused by trauma, illness, or radiation exposure than just age."

In my wife's case few weeks? 😦 I am so scared!!!

Wishing the best for your wife.

Ophthalmologist have very advanced machines that scan the eye and determine all the measurements.Forgot the name of the machine, but it's not like going to the optician where you look at charts and they try different lens powers. When I went, you look through the machine (forgot what image you see), but then the machine automatically precisely measures the shape of your eyes. They do it five times to make sure the measurements are consistent. So you don't need to be able to see clearly to get a precise measurement.

did it become very blurry in both eyes or just one eye. PSC do progress very fast. i started seeing triple vision. when i saw another surgeon almost 8 months after seeing blurry he said he doesn't understand why i am seeing so blurry as my cataract is in very initial stages. wills eye hospital surgeon told me the next day that it is blurry because it is in the line of sight which is normally the case with PSC . another thing that happened is that lights started appearing in a weird shape.

Yes both eyes. More in left eye though. Just picked wife after work and she says bit better now after all day of blurriness.

cataracts definitely cause blurred vision. you could try some artificial tears. i found those to help a bit. hope your appt. goes well. did the eye doc say the cataracts were dense? meaning thick?

We were too much in shock to ask if cataract was dense etc. As I said until 15 days ago she was completely normal, perfect vision and no glasses/contacts.

There were some small signs (with hindsight), for example for last 1 year or so her mobile phone brightness she used to keep at almost half of mine. Not sure if it was just one of those things or sign of developing cataract.

Anyway yes we will ask the surgeon in few hours, how dense her cataract is.

FIRST SURGEON MEETING REPORT-

So we visited the first clinic. I was told on the phone, when I made the appointment that meeting would be with a female surgeon, she would check everything and take all the measurements and then the Prof Rockstar super experienced surgeon who would operate would come and speak with us.

We had the meeting with the female surgeon, she checked everything and informed us about our options. I would say she was not unfriendly nor was she super friendly. "Efficient" is the word that comes to mind. Feel kind of neutral about her. She might be super competent for all I know and has been active for many years so not newly qualified.

Some points as told by her-

P1) Left eye cataract ("Posterior Subcapsular Cataract") is quiet dense, it covers the whole back part. Around 40% vision currently in the left eye.

P2) She does not think it came in 2 weeks but must have built up over 5 to 10 years and that only 2 weeks ago it came to a point that my wife first truly noticed it.

P3) Right eye cataract is very fine and not dense. Vision is 100% if I remember correctly in the right eye. She said with the current vision my wife could actually drive (we don't drive here in Europe though).

P4) Suggested operating on the left eye and waiting 1-2 years for the right eye or do earlier if the need arises.

P5) She said she could see the Macula etc and everything looks healthy.

P6) Regarding lens choice. Her recommendation. Monofocal set to far on left eye. Let the brain get used to the new improved vision in the left eye. Then in the future when right eye starts to go south get another monofocal lens set to far but slightly closer than the left one, MINI MONOVISION I think. She thinks most likely wife won't need glasses, apparently.

P7) She did not seem keen on trifocal/premium lenses. She said too many artifacts and is bit like playing lottery regarding if the brain adapts or not. So she definitely was not trying to oversell anything to us. Plus patient have to sign extra papers if they choose trifocal etc.

P9) The IOL they use is Hoya-Vivinex. It is from Singapore. Hydrophobic Acrylic Vivinex™ with UV-Filter (Model XC1) with UV- and blue light filter (Model XY1). I think she mentioned blue light filter and it being yellowish so I assume it is Model XY1. It will cost us $400 for each lens. She said she could use cheaper ones but she would not recommend.

P8) Operation date- We said as early as possible. She said end of August is the earliest possible for her and that she will operate with the main Rockstar surgeon assisting her or the other way round. Then she took us to the reception to fix the dates etc.

The reception said that there was an earlier date available with only the Rockstar surgeon in early August. She did not seem keen as she could not be there on that date. We also did not get to meet the Rockstar surgeon. Btw Rockstar surgeon has done around 10,000 cataract operations.

It could be that the female surgeon is very keen to be there as younger patients are rare? I don't know what that was all about? Why does she want to be there if slightly earlier date was available with only the Rockstar surgeon available? We are both confused about that part.

Second surgeon we meet in 5 days. We have not signed anything so have kept the options open.

Worried Husband -

Strange that you didn't get to meet Rock Star Surgeon and interesting that Female Surgeon wants you be there during the procedure. It probably is a learning experience for her to be involved in cataract surgery with a younger patient.

I'd suggest you start a new discussion thread since this is getting long (one of the longest I've ever seen!). It will be easier for people to give additional input too.

Hmmm. If you want the Rockstar surgeon, then I recommend you schedule solely with him/her. If the two are together, then who knows which one will actually do your surgery. I would think/hope that you could meet Rockstar before surgery. Maybe once you have scheduled it.

This all sounds good to me, especially that right eye vision is still at 100%. If she doesn't need surgery for a few years, then it sounds like the monofocal IOL is your safest, simplest choice. Only question would be in relation to future choice of mini-monovision - if the left eye is dominant or not. It sounds like it probably is, since the doc recommended best distance for that IOL. And you have the luxury of waiting 2 years and having better choices available by then if needed. Should be a relief!

I wouldn't read too much into not meeting the other surgeon yet. He may have been in surgery still. Sounds like they're a team and she wants to be present because she is most familiar with your case and individual needs. As I mentioned earlier, I used 2 different surgeons and both were extremely competent, having done over 20,000 surgeries each.

Good luck with the 2nd surgeon consult!

Dr Rockstar has apparently done upward of 10,000 cataract surgeries. Someone I know who deals with eye surgeon in our area as part of their job told me not to worry about the female surgeon/Rockstart part.

She could not say which eye is truly dominant. She said currently right eye seems dominant but that could very well be because it has been picking up slack for left eye for quiet some time.

Regarding the female surgeon thinking that the cataract did not come in 2 weeks and must have developed over 5-10 years.

Around 8 years ago when my wife was around 34, she visited an eye doctor for general eye check up. The Dr was really weird person. He said to my wife that she has eyes of an old woman!!! He prescribed her a thick glass. My wife wore the glass for some weeks but it gave her severe headache and she found it all very strange.

Back then we decided to visit the largest eye glasses chain. They tested her eyes and said she has perfect vision and don't understand why the eye doc prescribed her such thick glasses. They even sent her for some 3d tests and they said that she does not need any glasses. They said as glass shop we would like to sell her glasses but she does not need them so would be unethical.

With benefit of hind sight I wonder if the strange eye doctor saw early signs of cataract and decided not to tell us but instead said that my wife has eyes of an old woman? Why the hell did he prescribe those thick glasses wrongly? Maybe he was just a weird person. Hmmm....he did bill us around $700 for the whole experience!!!!!

No we would see him on day of surgery as operation day has been set for end of August. We have not signed anything so we can pull out. In a way I do feel that having two surgeons present might not be a bad thing?

We see second surgeon in 4 days anyway. The one the eye doc who diagnosed the cataract originally highly recommended. Apparently he is highly experienced too and one of the best according to the eye doc.

To clarify...."Meeting second surgeon in 4 days" I mean completely different surgeon from a different clinic.

"Sounds like they're a team and she wants to be present because she is most familiar with your case and individual needs."

Well she has only seen us once so I don't know about "individual needs" 😃

She did not even ask what my wife does most in life/job etc. We had to ourselves tell her that and ask related questions.

Actually was reading through the document that we have to sign and send back-

Under IOL it says that they will use-

Type SZ-1 OR AcrySof IQ Aspheric Natural- SN60WF, CT Lucia, KOWA OR HOYA Vivinex!

To us she said she will use HOYA Vivinex! Find it bit odd having to sign to all of the above IOLs!!

Hi

I hope it all turns out well for your wife.

I agree that a monofocal lens sounds like the right way to go, because she have perfect vision on the other eye, this way she will have overall good vision, with minimal side effects.

When time comes, maybe in many years from now, where she needs to have her second lens replaced, there will be options that can be done to the eye with the monofocal as well, if she at that point in the future would like the more advanced premium designs.

Here in Denmark add-on lenses are widely used, for people that earlier have gotten the monofocals, these add-on lenses are placed in the eye in front of the other lens, it is a relative smaller operation compared to e lens exchange, and the add-on lenses can be removed again in a relative safe operation.

The add-on lenses can be both bifocal and trifocal, so there will be options later on, if she have a monofocal now.

You can also get contact lenses that are trifocal, so if she get a monofocal, she can try out the trifcal contacts, and see if she likes it, and then she can decide if she would like to go for an add on lens in the future.

Glad to hear about add-on lenses. I am hoping for this technology in the future. For me, I didn't want the potential visual artifacts with the available premium lenses, so I went with monofocals.

Add-ons are not that new in Europe, but it is very expensive for an European manufacturer to get the FDA approval, so many products do not come to the U.S. for this reason. It could almost seem like the FDA are trying to hold manufactorers from other countries away from the U.S. marked.

You know, the "America first" politics.

But I hope for you, that it will get there someday, otherwise there is a lot of nice countries to visit in Europe 😃

The surgeon I will be using have had patients from the U.S. too, but I think it is more normal for U.S. citizens to go to the Czech republic, where the prices are a bit lower, and their equipment also are state of the art.

Viking, would you know what the difference between your friend's eyes is? Also, does he have astigmatism?

Hi, I believe they were aiming for +1.5, but I am not sure what he actually got, you know it can change a little during heling, and he really do not care about it 😃

I guess his brain must be really super adaptive, and maybe he is a little bit stubborn too about glasses, but I never see him with glasses, he never brings glasses with him at all, and I have never experienced that there was anything that he was not able to see.

He does not have astigmatism from what I know, at least not enough to bother him, but i guess you could fix that with a toric lens, right?