Cataract and lens implant

[Andrew MacLean]

All the best with that: my own cataract operation went well and I have enjoyed excellent vision ever since.

[russell_anderson]

Glad to hear that, Andrew. Most cataract operations seem to have very good results.

[GrandPaClanger]

Hi Russel
Glad the second ops went well. Hopefully you have got a good base line for them to work with. Best corrected vision is at that moment in time. That's not to say that it can't be improved with further procedures. In my case post graft and with a cataract lets say I have a BCDV (best corrected distant vision) E/E With the removal of the cataract this may be improved to D/D Adding some sutures to remove the astigmatism may improve it to C/C. Ok so that's the best I can hope for with my eyes being "naked" . I guess for me\you that would be driving standard (6/9). Now it may be that to achieve that I need B/B so I need to slap on a pair of glasses. Now having never been able to wear glasses because of the KC my thoughts are OK it's a pain but i don't have to muck about with contacts and a can function around the house or on the beach ok with C/C. If I decide to resume my hobby of flying model aircraft ( which I had to give up because i could tell if the blumin thing was the right way up and pointing towards me or not) I will need A/A BCDV. To archive that I may need to wear contacts. Of course in the above it would be nice to get A/A "naked" but I am not holding my breath. Post graft there is further corrective surgery that can be done to remodel the cornea. I gues it will be a case of how much the NHS is willing to fund and to a certain extent how much surgery I want to go through. I am not sure how that applies to your F/D ?

First step for me is to get on the waiting list for the cataract. Found out on Monday they forgot to add me on four weeks ago Grrr

All the best
Ian

[russell_anderson]

Hi Russel
Glad the second ops went well. Hopefully you have got a good base line for them to work with. Best corrected vision is at that moment in time. That's not to say that it can't be improved with further procedures. In my case post graft and with a cataract lets say I have a BCDV (best corrected distant vision) E/E With the removal of the cataract this may be improved to D/D Adding some sutures to remove the astigmatism may improve it to C/C. Ok so that's the best I can hope for with my eyes being "naked" . I guess for me\you that would be driving standard (6/9). Now it may be that to achieve that I need B/B so I need to slap on a pair of glasses. Now having never been able to wear glasses because of the KC my thoughts are OK it's a pain but i don't have to muck about with contacts and a can function around the house or on the beach ok with C/C. If I decide to resume my hobby of flying model aircraft ( which I had to give up because i could tell if the blumin thing was the right way up and pointing towards me or not) I will need A/A BCDV. To archive that I may need to wear contacts. Of course in the above it would be nice to get A/A "naked" but I am not holding my breath. Post graft there is further corrective surgery that can be done to remodel the cornea. I gues it will be a case of how much the NHS is willing to fund and to a certain extent how much surgery I want to go through. I am not sure how that applies to your F/D ?

First step for me is to get on the waiting list for the cataract. Found out on Monday they forgot to add me on four weeks ago Grrr

All the best
Ian

Thanks for that Ian. It's very informative. What that is telling me is that with glasses the best I can get on my left eye (post op) is 6/9 and that the best on my right eye (pre op) is 6/15 which will now (hopefully be improved after the op)! That will be fine for me as it means I can drive legally. The consultant still expects my vision to improve further - even the eye that was done almost 5 weeks ago - so we will have to see if that happens. He was also confident that I would not have a serious degeneration of the Fuchs Dystrophy for a minimum of 10 years and most probably for 15 years or even more. However, my vision without glasses will still have to improve a litttle way to be as good as it was previously with glasses although I'm pretty confident it will be better post-op with glasses. That is what I find confusing as I expected my sight to be better without glasses post op than it was with glasses pre op because of the replacement of cloudy lenses with equivalent non-cloudy ones!!!
One thing I can tell you is that your cataract op with be totally painless if my experience is anything to go on. I've now had 2 cataract op and the laser retina strengthening and not one bit of pain in any of them!

[russell_anderson]

Summary of my experience to date.

I’m 67 and I’ve recently had cataracts removed from both eyes and toric lens inserted. I had severe miopia and astigmatism and also have Fuchs Dystrophy. I decided to go ahead with the operation because I was on the borderline for driving. I was struggling to read road signs and to recognise faces from a distance but could read and use my PC (I work in IT) without ,spectacles. I went to a reputable private Eye Clinic via my work health insurance although had to pay for the upgrade to toric lenses. I used a consultant with a good reputation and when I was examined, he told me that he belived I would be O.K. without any surgery for the Dystrophy. I had the operations with a 4 week gap between each eye. Both operations were totally painless and the consultant told me they were clinically perfect. My eyes have been checked and I’m told that the Dystrophy has not deteriorated because of the operation and the new lenses are in the perfect position. The consultant gave me the choice of long or close vision and I chose to improve the long range vision and to get spectacles for reading and PC work. The consultant was very optimistic that i would have good long-range vision and that most – but not all – of my astigmatism could be removed. Sadly, although it’s now 8 weeks since the first eye was done and 4 weeks since the second eye was done, I cannot see clearly either for reading, using the PC or at long distance. The right eye seems to be improved re the astigmatism but the left eye does not. The eyes definitely have different focal lengths and I’m getting floaters on a daily basis from the left eye, although not severely. On April 1st, also got a floater in the right eye which had never occurred before and this one has stayed there constantly. The consultant has told me to continue putting in eye drops for another month before I go back to see him again. After the first eye was done I had an eye test at the hospital and with the addition of lenses found I got good vision. Hopefully, it will be better than what I had previouly with spectacles but it’s still pretty disappointing!

Have a final review with the specialist on April 30th but sight is not improving without spectacles.
Just keeping my fingers crossed that it will be better than it was previously with spectacles.
Very much regretting that I ever went ahead with this operation at the moment!

[Anne Klepacz]

Sorry to hear, Russell, that the results so far haven't been what you'd hoped. Sadly, it seems that no eye operation, even a relatively straightforward one on a cataract, is entirely predictable. Perhaps the Fuchs was having more effect on your vision than the medics thought, or perhaps you can still expect some improvement in the next few weeks. All the best for your appt at the end of April, and let us know how you get on.
Anne

[russell_anderson]

Sorry to hear, Russell, that the results so far haven't been what you'd hoped. Sadly, it seems that no eye operation, even a relatively straightforward one on a cataract, is entirely predictable. Perhaps the Fuchs was having more effect on your vision than the medics thought, or perhaps you can still expect some improvement in the next few weeks. All the best for your appt at the end of April, and let us know how you get on.
Anne

Thanks, Anne. Will do.

[GrandPaClanger]

Hi Russell

Echoing Anne's comments. Hope things improve and keep is informed

All the best
Ian

[russell_anderson]

Hi Russell

Echoing Anne's comments. Hope things improve and keep is informed

All the best
Ian

Thanks Ian. Will report what happens after my next visit to Optegra on April 30th.

[GrandPaClanger]

Well i had the cataract Op on Tuesday. Straight forward enough. Only thing I wasn't aware of (told) is they do some injections. Not only do they numb it and stop it moving (knew that) BUT it turns the vision off for 24 hours so you can't see a darn thing. They also did astigmatic keratotomy (cuts in the cornea) and added some sutures to improved the shape. Still very tender and red as a result but pain has eased off a lot. Great to hear the consultants and the theatre staff talking amongst themselves. Really interesting.

Will take a while for the vision to sort it's self out but white things are a heck of a lot brighter than I can ever remember

Ian