Warning!! re Cataract surgery!!

.... sorry to hear this. My elderly neighbour has since moved but a similar thing happened to her. She did not drive etc. so opted for lenses to help while cooking, reading, needlework/knitting etc. The Opthalmologist put in lenses for distance and she too had to buy glasses for close work. How does this happen? Is it the doctor decides what he/she feels the patients needs? How often does this happen I wonder. Just told my spouse and he said: it's so we cannot read the doctor's bill!!! Seriously though, this seems something that should not have happened - could the Dr. at least pay for your new prescription eyeglasses? Very good of you to remind people to ensure this doesn't happen to them!

I’m sorry that happened to you. I would be furious. That happened to my father-in-law years ago, too. He has always had bad eyesight, plus retinal detachments. Then the wrong lens put in during cataract surgery. He had to wear very thick glasses. Then just a few months ago, the lens detached and was just floating around in his eye. His symptom was dizziness that the doctors couldn’t diagnose. It took several days for him to realize that his dizziness was really a visual disruption. Then a few days later, he was totally blind in that eye. He just had surgery a couple of weeks ago. Had to have two teams of doctors because of the retinal complication. I don’t know the outcome yet.

Anyway, yes, you have to be your own advocate at the doctors office or hospital. There is a reason that surgeons come in and visit you before surgery and often mark on your body where the surgery is supposed to be. Some people have had the wrong organs worked on or removed.

I would ask for my money back.

I hoped when I joined that someone would comment on cataracts because I'm facing that decision now.

I'll be 74 this month and have known for the past couple of years that I have cataracts. Doctor said as long as I can read and drive with new prescription glasses I could wait.

I can do normal things like read and drive with my glasses but need to make a decision.

Thanks for suggesting I have distance lens after the cataracts are removed. Distance is what I need to maintain.

Thank you

Other than my father-in-law, everyone else that I know who has had cataract surgery has had a positive experience. Many of them don’t even have to wear glasses anymore. Overall, it is very safe and quick. But there just isn’t any surgery that is without risk.

I’m 63 and know that in a few years, I’ll have to have the surgery myself. I’ll just be checking and double-checking that my doctor and I are on the same page when my time comes.

@anncobbyenen. I had cataract surgery in 2020 for both eyes. I chose to go with the distance lens implants and use glasses for closeup and reading. I chose distance implants after research and talking with my surgeon because I learned that many people are not fully accommodated with the multifocus lens implants. I'm so glad I went ahead with this surgery. I didn't realize how blurry my vision had become until the surgery was completed on my first eye. I saw colors and depth that I never recalled seeing in the past. I spent the ride back home staring out the window at the beautiful colors of trees and sky.

Everyone I've talked with in the past few years has had good success with cataract surgery and are glad that they went ahead with the surgery.

I was 68 years old when I had the surgery.

Have you talked with your doctor about your concerns?

@anncobbyenen, I'm 80 now but had cataract surgery done on both my eyes due to glare and difficulty driving at night. I had both surgeries in my late 70s and it was the best decision I've made. My Mayo eye doctor asked me if I wanted to see distance better or close up and I chose distance specifically so that I could drive without glasses. I do need glasses or readers for close up reading of small print like labels and ingredients on food so have to take readers with me to the grocery store.

Thank you so much for the information. I will make my decision soon.

The earliest appointments I could get was Sept 20th and Oct 11th to see different doctors.

I reached out to Mayo Center and have a call scheduled for this Thursday.

Thank you for your helpful information.

Thanks for the information and encouragement.