Surgery - Both Eyes at Once
Posted , 11 users are following.
Hello to all,
Am very new to cataracts, so please bear with me...
I'm 45 and recently diagnosed with pretty advanced cataracts in both eyes. I wondered why my vision had been getting so bad!
Because of various factors I'm having the surgery done privately - and the surgeon has said he sees no danger in doing both eyes on the same day. I've read a few pros and cons for this approach, so wondering if anyone here has experienced this?
Thanks in advance,
Jack
2 likes, 22 replies
tigitigi72 jack109
Posted
Good luck, whatever you decide.
jack109 tigitigi72
Posted
Quick question, when you say your father was virtually blind afterwards, do you mean just immediately after the surgery, or long term?
Thanks again.
tigitigi72 jack109
Posted
Really hope everything goes well for you, whatever your decision,
Bumblebea jack109
Posted
peter1110 jack109
Posted
Even though the 2nd eye has a catract that's worsening, I'm very reluctant to have it done for obvious reasons.
Even though the surgery is supposed to be "slam dunk" these days, it sure wasn't for me. So no way would I say you should have both eyes done at once. Good luck.
james12445 jack109
Posted
gary06773 jack109
Posted
Im having both my eyes done at once
next Friday Surgeon has told me that it is quite normal
Gary
Bumblebea gary06773
Posted
gary06773 Bumblebea
Posted
I have taken many months choosing my consultant
He is lead eye consultant at a city NHS hospital
He exdsplained to me that the risk of cross contamination was about a million to one As one eye would be done I would be moved to a seperate operating theatre all staff would re scrup and gawn and then the second eye would be done
He repeated this in a letter to me after my second consultasion
The same day or a week later I would imagine he would have to be very carefull of infection
I will post after Friday and give van honest accout of my exsperience
to help others visiting this forum for the first time As all your commennts have helped me
Gary
Bumblebea gary06773
Posted
gary06773 Bumblebea
Posted
you have misread my reply
As neither of us are medical exsperts I would sugest being guided by your surgeon
Jacks post stated that his surgeon had reccomended both eyes could be done together
Perhaps I should have replied SO DID MINE
If anyone has mistaken my post as medical advise
I apolagise
Im not an exspert I wouldnt have joined this forum if I was
Regards Gary
peter1110 gary06773
Posted
gary06773 peter1110
Posted
Having both eyes done together has been less traumatic than having my teeth capped
But as you point out Happy campers rarely post on forums
The possative posts attract little interest
But then again the private clinics never publish negative comments
I made the right choice for me
I thought long and hard about all of this and was not pursuaded either way
24 hours on I can see further and finer print than I could when I was a teenager So I must be one of the happy campers
I hope you get your eye sorted out and the second one goes without isue
Regards Gary
peter1110 gary06773
Posted
joel38600 Bumblebea
Posted
1. Bumblebea mentioned that doctors make more money by doing both eyes at the same time. This is not true if you have insurance! Medicare and most other insurance companies pay only 50% for the second eye if done at the same time so they make less than doing it on different days. My daughter is a dermatologist and it is the same thing with biopsies or lesion removals, that is why dermatologists usually ask you to come back to do a second similar procedure.
2. Somebody mentioned that doing both eyes in one day is something they did years ago. Quite to the contrary, if you Google the subject you will see that doing both eyes in one sitting is a newer concept and at least 50% are done that way in Europe and Canada currently. i suspect that some of this is due to doctors in the US making only 50% for the second eye as compoared to it being done on a different day and in other countries..
3. People who post on message boards like this are usually those few who had a bad result--and that can happen regardless of doing it in one day or two days. Google the subject and see the recent studies from recognized Medical Centers and Hospitals to get a good idea of the difference. Antidotal comments from a fewunhappy people do not make a valid study as the great bulk of people having successful cataract surgery do not go on boards like these.
charles94562 joel38600
Posted
For those who may be reading this thread in the future, everything in joel38600's post is correct. However, do your own research and decide with your surgeon what is right for you.