Second Cataract Surgery

The jury seems to be still out on whether or not a laser gives better outcomes in cataract surgery. For sure it increases the cost though.

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Being able to drive right after surgery is a low bar. It probably varies from one jurisdiction to another, but where I am all you need to legally drive I believe is 20/40 in one eye. My wife is almost blind in one eye (20/200). She had surgery on the good eye at 8:00 in the morning, and saw the surgeon at 3:00 in the afternoon. He gave her the go ahead to drive the next day when the sedative drug had worn off. She tested at 20/25 the same day as the surgery. After three weeks she tested at 20/20. No laser was used, but she did get a toric lens to correct for astigmatism.

Did your wife have surgery on her good eye or the one that was almost blind?

She had surgery on both eyes, with the bad eye done first. She has had lazy eye probably since birth. The eye had high myopia and very high astigmatism and the surgeon thought there was some hope of restoring some vision with a toric lens. Unfortunately it did not help much other than making the fuzzy image brighter. But fortunately now she has had the "good" eye done with a toric too, and has 20/20 vision in it.

Hi @RonAKA - my mother actually has lazy eye and only sees shapes or forms out of that eye. She has found it VERY challenging to find a surgeon that is willing to operate on her good eye (which has poor eyesight as well - she has worn gas permeable lens and/or thick 'coke bottle' glasses for years). I think the surgeon I just used regularly operates on single sight eyes and I am making an appointment for her. Fingers crossed! Like your wife, I don't think there is anything they can do for the lazy eye. Seems if her parents had covered her good eye when she was a baby, that might have prevented this! Time were different then and they were VERY poor so we try not to be too judgemental.

Yes, the current surgeon is not optimistic that significant sight will return. He thinks damage may have been done to the eye with a forceps delivery, and there is damage to the cornea as well. As I understand it there is some optic nerve development which can only occur when we are very young. Her vision loss was not detected until she was in school. Too late.

That is very interesting. Thanks.

I have to take a vision test to renew my drivers license. I have a pair of glasses corrected for my right rye and one for my left eye. I called my doctors office to ask which eye had better vision. I would then take the test with that eye. The technician was doubtful about the outcome because they test both eyes. I thought as long as one eye is functional I can pass the test.

You may want to google for the state (?) standards for vision to get a license.