Only one good eye... suggestions needed please

Thanks Sue... Ya As I understand my cataract is not severe... I would say my comfort level is at 7 out of 10 now... I have a pre op on monday with doctor so I am going discuss all these... Also the issue that bothering me was if I increase the power my near vision going bad... so currently I have power compromised.. I will asks him if I can set my contacts for far vision and readers for computer/reading. before going with surgery...

As mentioned cataracts usually take a long time to develop and if you can correct with glasses or contact lens that would be best solution and give you time to think through your options.

I too work a lot on computer.  You may want to consider targeting a monofocal for intermediate distance and wearing glasses or contact lens for distance.  

I am sure all this is weighing heavily on you given your situation.  Write your questions down that way you’ll remember to ask your surgeon everything you want answers to.  Best wishes.

Sure Sue... I ll discuss all the options and my first preference if I can post pone if by some time... I ll try different optometrist if they can help me in finding contacts/glasses or a combination for my situation.

Thank you... i ll let u know how my appointment goes with the surgon..

Femtosecond Laser?

Your pre-op is on Monday, ie tomorrow. Hmm.. don't think you are ready for it.

 

I hate to be in this situation for my age .... Yes he said he will use laser to take out the lens instead of removing it manually.... its has an extra cost of 1500 $... Just wanted to hear from you guys if its good to go with it.. I did not meet the surgon till now,,, this is the first time I am meeting him now so still did not discuss in detail.. these options were provided by the initial doctor and patient counselor teams.. pLease advise

Many eye surgeons do not recommend the high extra expense of adding the laser option for cataract surgery compared to the standard (manual diamond blade) approach.  It may offer slightly faster healing since the incision is a little smaller, but if a doctor is very experienced with the standard method there is little difference compared to the high added cost of laser.  Be aware Its a premium add-on that some clinics push for extra profit, along with premium IOLs.

up until this point .. I am completely in agreement with the others. Delay your cataract surgery until you are more familiar with what is available to you. At an extra cost of US$1500, no disrespect intended for that hi-tech baby, I had rather go with an eye surgeon skillful and experienced to do it manually.

sure sir.. that would be my first point of discussion tomorrow with the surgeon.. actually yesterday i went to a different doctor(just worried so wanted to get a second opinion)  for cataract evaluation and he(very experienced in the valley) suggested the laser plus symfony lens total 4300 $ per yer...but he suggested we will wait and watch. as its not severe yet..

The surgon I am going to meet tomorrow is from original appointment where I met optometrist followed by a patient  counselor. So I am yet to discuss in detail with him which will be tomorrow..

I had a cataract surgery on my bad eye in 2010, at that time my good eye too had cataract and the eye-surgeon suggested to wait. Finally in the fall of 2017, I had a second cataract surgery. That says a lot to me, a good eye surgeon always have their patients interests at heart.

 

NightHawk - I have 3 different Evals this week and plan to ask a bunch of questions to decide what is best for me - monofocal IOL or something like the Symfony which we have discussed on other threads.

One of my questions is about what, if any, benefit is using the Laser for a traditional monofocal IOL implant.  The one thing that I would really like to be part of the my procedure is to have ORA measurements done just prior to choosing the lens to implant.  I thought the only way to have something like ORA done, was if the Laer was used as part of the surgery, but I could be wrong.

ORA and femtolaser are independent, my eye surgeon offered them separately and I went with ORA (about $300 extra) and no femtolaser (would have been about $1500 extra).  My toric monofocal cost about $1300 extra over a plain monofocal IOL.

Typically (at least that was true for my cataract surgeon), the laser (CATALYS) used for removing the cataract should not cost anything extra. This laser is used to make a more precise opening (compared with a scalp) for accessing and removing the cataract. The CATALYS laser equipment is available for use for the cataract surgery procedure at our local hospital free of charge. Some surgeons (like my surgeon) use it. Others don't.

The Femtosecond laser is used to create the flap on the cornea as a part of the LASIK procedure. The $1500 cost of the LASIK procedure seems to be about right, unless it is included as  part of the premium lens package. (it was in my case)

NightHawk - very helpful info - Thank You! Will be asking about this specifically with all 3 evals. 

Not sure this is best place to post this, but since several of you have replied to my questions, I thought I would share some recent unexpected events for me.

I was scheduled to have 3 different cataract evals this week.  During my Monday eval, the Dr saw something he didn’t like in my non-cataract eye. The preceding Thursday, I did have some flashes of light in that eye, and some increased floaters, and part of me knew I should have called in on Friday, but just figured I would wait until Monday appointment.  Fortunately, his chief retinal specialist was in the office and he squeezed me in. I had a pretty severe retinal detachment,and they scheduled me for surgery the next day (Tuesday) for a vitrectomy.  By time he got in there, I had 4 separate tears with tunneling behind the retina as well.  

Surgeon was pleased with how things went.  As part of procedure, they put a gas  bubble in the eye to keep the repaired area pressed up against the back wall of the eye. This requires me to keep my head in a downward position for seven days at a minimum while the retina heals.. The other net effect is that while the gas bubble is in there, I have virtually no vision in the eye, but I do see vague shadows so I am encouraged that I do not have any blind spots. The other complicating factor is that was my 'good eye'. The  gas bubble also will accelerate cataract formation in this eye do to exposure to air,  but that’s better than losing my vision all together. 

I'm not sure when I will be able to get the cataract evaluation on the other eye now. I’m hoping I can still get it done in 2018 since I have met my deductible for the year.  

Scary stuff, but wanted to share here in case someone is reading it and experiences some flashes of light in their eyes. It should be looked at immediately if that happens.  I will never know if it was always this badly torn after that first day, but if caught earlier, the procedure would’ve been much less complex. 

Sorry to learn that you had a retinal detachment, but am glad to know that the retinal specialist was able to fit you in his schedule and perform the required surgery.

Wish you the best for a speedy recovery in that eye.