What to expect after cataract surgery in both eyes?

[AustinN4]

My question relates to iron sights (pistol and rifle) and optics both. Assuming all goes well, I know that my far vision will be near perfect without glasses but that I will require reading glasses, which is just the opposite of my current situation.

I use an Aimpoint red dot more than anything else. I shoot both eyes open and focus on the target, not the dot, and put the dot on the target. No problem, works great for me. With my current glasses, iron sights on pistols are also no problem at 25 yards. It seems like this should not change after the surgery, no?

But I currently really have trouble with scopes and irons on rifles, especially at 100 yards or more. Based on your own experience, is this likely to improve after the surgery?

Looking forward to your thoughts. AN4

 

[LOCKHART]

I had mine done bout 2 years ago, austin44, you gonna love it! I have been IHMSA
competitor for 34 years, and after I had my surgery, it was the first time I've ever
shot silhouette without glasses! I wear protective glasses shooting, of course. It's
gonna make you feel like you are a young man again. I could actually see the iron
sights clearly again, without corrective glasses.

 

[navyguy]

It depends on the lenses you choose, and your particular eye issues (astigmatism etc).

Me, I got ReZoom lenses in both eyes. These are designed for near, mid and far vision after some "training" (that is time looking through them) I also had astigmatisms corrected via laser. So, for me they are prefect, except they did not correct my left eye dominance, but is was that way before, so I still deal with that the same way, except I see WAY better. 20/20 in my left eye, 20/25 in my right.

My advice, talk to the doc, and choose the lenses that will do the best for you. You basically get one shot at this, so don't go cheap. It's for a lifetime. And it's your vision which is no small thing.

 

[ROGER4314]

My cataracts are getting worse but they're not bad enough for Medicare to OK the correction. I guess that I need to be blind before the surgery is approved. Still, if I exceed 70 yo, they'll be inclined to stall the surgery hoping that I'll croak first. It's Hell gettin' old!

Flash

 

[navyguy]

Find another doctor. If you have sight problems and the doctor agrees, you should get the surgery. Howeve, Medicare will only pay for basic lenses, so if you want premium lenses, you will meed to pay the difference. I think the premium lenses are worth the cost. Probably $500 -1000 more, but you need to decide. The basic lenses will give you improved distance vision, so you will need glasses for mid (computer distance) and reading (close). Or there are options for added contact lenses. All of that to me is a pita.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[karlac]

My cataracts are getting worse but they're not bad enough for Medicare to OK the correction. I guess that I need to be blind before the surgery is approved. Still, if I exceed 70 yo, they'll be inclined to stall the surgery hoping that I'll croak first. It's Hell gettin' old!

Flash

In lieu of starting a new thread, bringing this back to life in hopes folks have some more input.
Just had cataract surgery in first eye 48 hours ago.
Obviously interested in experiences ...

 

[bluzman]

I'm 73 and had cataract surgery on both of my eyes recently. In a nutshell, shooting has become fun again. Now if there was a fix for that bit of shaking in my hands...

 

[AustinN4]

Still haven't gotten mine fixed.

 

[karlac]

I'm 73 and had cataract surgery on both of my eyes recently. In a nutshell, shooting has become fun again. Now if there was a fix for that bit of shaking in my hands...

Same age.
Can you illuminate on which procedure you had, what kind of lens, and how long it took to get the maximum benefit?
Had a multifocal lens (Restor +3) implanted on 3/24.
Day 4 and still not seeing much improvement, and even that seems to fluctuate.
Thanks ...

 

[AustinN4]

Same age.

Bunch a old farts on here, including me.

Had a multifocal lens (Restor +3) implanted on 3/24. Day 4 and still not seeing much improvement, and even that seems to fluctuate.

Not trying to stir the pot, but my doc doesn't recommend multifocal, only single vision. He say most of the problems he sees are with multifocal.

I put off getting mine done so far as I am getting along pretty good even though mine are insurance-approved operable as doc said the surgery would likely increase the floaters and flashes i see.

 

[bluzman]

Same age.
Can you illuminate on which procedure you had, what kind of lens, and how long it took to get the maximum benefit?
Had a multifocal lens (Restor +3) implanted on 3/24.
Day 4 and still not seeing much improvement, and even that seems to fluctuate.
Thanks ...

I got monofocal lenses implanted which, BTW, I understand are the only ones that are completely covered by Medicare. They restored my distance vision to essentially 20-20. I use drug store "readers" for close work and reading but that's no different than before surgery when I was wearing soft contacts to correct for distance vision.

Surgeries were two weeks apart. The benefit in terms of seeing true colors again was immediate (I found out I had been looking at sepia tinted world prior to surgery). Clarity and sharpness took about a week to settle. Even then there were some visible anomalies around bright lights at night which disappeared after the second week. At this point, I'm almost to the end of the 40 day eye drop medication regimen for the second eye. Although my tendency in the past has been to short cut such lengthy medicinal regimens, I've followed this one exactly. As noted, the surgery is no help when it comes "floaters".

 

[karlac]

Bunch a old farts on here, including me.

Not trying to stir the pot, but my doc doesn't recommend multifocal, only single vision. He say most of the problems he sees are with multifocal.
I put off getting mine done so far as I am getting along pretty good even though mine are insurance-approved operable as doc said the surgery would likely increase the floaters and flashes i see.

No problem, was aware of the possible multifocal issues going in, but since most of those can be corrected with glasses if need be, that would put me right back where I was before surgery, sans cataracts, I decided to take that 5% chance. And I did opt for the femtosecond laser correction and surgery in hopes the tenfold increase in precision might help ... we'll see (literally, I hope).

I got monofocal lenses implanted which, BTW, I understand are the only ones that are completely covered by Medicare. They restored my distance vision to essentially 20-20. I use drug store "readers" for close work and reading but that's no different than before surgery when I was wearing soft contacts to correct for distance vision.

Surgeries were two weeks apart. The benefit in terms of seeing true colors again was immediate (I found out I had been looking at sepia tinted world prior to surgery). Clarity and sharpness took about a week to settle. Even then there were some visible anomalies around bright lights at night which disappeared after the second week. At this point, I'm almost to the end of the 40 day eye drop medication regimen for the second eye. Although my tendency in the past has been to short cut such lengthy medicinal regimens, I've followed this one exactly. As noted, the surgery is no help when it comes "floaters".

Even being colorblind, I did notice within minutes of coming out of the surgery how vivid the colors were, before the expected blurriness set in. I'm getting those anomalies/halos, but no worse than in the untreated eye, or before the surgery ... if that stays the same, hoping its a zero sum game.

The concern so far is the time factor required in getting to maximum benefit ... while that is progressing noticeably each morning, and this is day four, was hoping it would be faster so I could make a more informed decision on the second eye which is now scheduled for 4/6.

Those damn drops are PITA, but I'm being religious about that as well. Now, if I can only resign myself to "taking it easy" for the required amount of time.

Glad I got my shed built at lake house beforehand ...

Thanks to both of you ... and to you bluzman. Comforting to hear of a successful outcome at this stage of the game.

 

[Oldloader]

I got multifocal lenses about four years ago. I,m 71 now and the improvement has been fantastic. I do use readers for close work but don't generally need them for reading if the light is good. At first halos and such were a distraction for night driving, but I don't notice it now. Glad I got this done.

 

[karlac]

I got multifocal lenses about four years ago. I,m 71 now and the improvement has been fantastic. I do use readers for close work but don't generally need them for reading if the light is good. At first halos and such were a distraction for night driving, but I don't notice it now. Glad I got this done.

One more day and wake up for eye 2.
Took longer than I expected, but pretty amazed at the improvement in eye 1 at day 12.
Was made aware of the low light issue with near vision beforehand.
Will not be surprised to need some low power cheaters.
So far the halos are worse in the untouched eye than the the one with the implant.
Only real problem so far is depth perception when driving, with the two eyes not working together.
Thanks for imparting your experience ... encouraging!

 

[karlac]

So far so good ...
However, you may want to exercise greater care when measuring out a jigger of gin ... or not.

 

[ZX9RCAM]

What's a jigger, lol.....