New eye lens

DogT

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On Monday the 5th I got a new lens in my right eye. Cataract operation and I opted to spend extra money to have PanOptix Toric lenses put it. Cost me a bundle, but so far it's looking good. after over a week I can actually see my smart phone letters and watch TV without glasses, of course with one eye, the other is not that bad but is going to be done Tuesday, the 20th. Incredible what they can do these days. I just wish they could give me a new spine and maybe some memory and reflex back.

The new lens is able to focus from about 15" to infinity in 3 stages, it's not like trifocals though, it just focuses some how. And it also corrects for astigmatism. I find myself already trying to take off my glasses that I don't have on. The first day felt like someone poked me in the eye with a stick, but by that evening the pain was gone enough to sleep fine. It did take a week for the swelling to go down so the lens works right. Only issue I have is a big fuzzy floater in the right eye right where I look to read. I'm hoping with the left done, I can just ignore it. I may look into fixing that too.
 
I had the same surgery. Only two regrets: (1) that I didn't have it done 10 years ago; and (2) that I didn't insist on having the doctor try for 20/20 vision in both eyes instead of asking for it on second after he gave me 20/40 in the first. He told me far sightedness was over rated. Excellent doctor but he obviously didn't know what it was like to be near sighted your entire life.
 
I had a lens replacement last November to correct a right eye problem that I had had since birth. Amazing!! Why did I have to wait so long??? Should have done it years ago!!

I went for the Femto Laser procedure - any other method of lens removal just seems crude by comparison.
 
I had the same thing 2 years ago, Toric lense. No longer need glasses. I wore glasses all my life and now the only time I miss them is sawing and grinding I have to remember to put on safety glasses. A hard habit to develop at my age.
You'll love the new eyes.
Jaydee
 
This was the Femto Laser procedure also. Yeah, I wish I had done it back in my 60's when I could enjoy it longer. But not sure they even did it then, or what it would cost me, at least Medicare is covering some of this, but not much. Hopefully the 2nd eye will go smoother than the first. I was grouchy and mean for a few days there.
 
Mine was all out of pocket. If mine had been to correct a cataract, then it would have been covered. Bonus is that I will not get a cataract in my right eye now. I went with the easy payment plan. Still entirely worth it though.

The first day was the worst for me, like someone had poked me in the eye like you said. But the second day was much better. A little bit of weirdness (edge shimmering, light halo's) for a few weeks while the eye tissue healed around the new lens, but now it feels and works totally natural.
 
Well, whatever Medicare didn't cover it cost me $7400 out of pocket for both eyes. I suppose at some point I'll get a statement from Medicare and my Fed insurance as to what they didn't cover. My GP told me he got Lasik surgury on his eyes just for correction not cataracts maybe 15 years ago for $3000. I have a Roth IRA I was wondering what to do with it anyhow. Now if they could just make me feel younger. I could have done just the basic Medicare lens for nothing, but it wouldn't correct astigmatism and I'd still be using glasses to read. I'm still getting used to it, it seems to come and go with the smeariness.
 
Great to hear. I am getting mine done over the next couple of weeks. I am early 60's, and after what my grandma went through, I did not want to wait any longer than I had too, get them fixed as soon as I could and enjoy them as long as I can. Had cataracts since mid-50's, finally Dr agreed to do it. It will be laser, he told me I will close to 20/20 and may need light (125%) readers.

Funny thing, the Dr also told me he would correct any astigmatism, and I told him I dont have any. So he got said everyone has it, and I should have quit there, but I still said well, I know there is no such thing as perfect, but my eye Dr. never told me about it. So he said Look, lets look at your left eye measurements. And then said, hmm, your left eye is pretty much fine, and his nurse mumbled to him, his right eye is better... I had 20/10 vision until my 40's, and losing vision has really annoyed me for a long time. Getting old isn't for sissies, eh?

I am still working so insurance covers a bunch, still out of pocket like $1500 for laser option and upgraded lenses. This has bothered me far too long, glasses don't help with cataracts, and nearly everyone I talk to say "I wish I did it sooner." This is also an extremely low risk deal, so just doing it. Wish me luck.
 
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You should have no problems, just follow the orders. Yeah, I'm 76 and wish I could have done it earlier.
They've scheduled me for 7:30 Tuesday and it takes an hour to get there. I'm not used to getting up before 8 so I think I'll just roll out of bed and put my clothes on and go, I can't eat or drink anything anyhow.

My cataracts were not that bad, it just made things start to look smeary in bright light and night driving was a nightmare. They say these new lenses are not good for night driving too, but I don't do that much. I always had astigmatism but not that bad, I actually never even wore glasses until my 60's when I started getting far sighted and couldn't read stuff, I could always pass the driver eye test.

This right eye is still getting better, probably getting used to it, it's just unbalanced with the old left eye.
 
Yes, there is a 2 week lag between eyes, I am not really looking forward to that. I hope night driving is not too bad, that is my big complaint now. We will see how it goes, good luck, man.
 
No problems driving at night. Toric lenses and surgery with a laser. Make certain to tell the doctor what vision you want to end up with. Hitting the numbers is a mix of skill and luck. My doctor hit 20/20 after telling me there were no guarantees. Props to him.
 
Thanks for posting on this topic. I have cataracts in both eye which are not very advanced and are being monitored. These days I never do anything without wearing glasses with hardened lenses. Years ago I was at a mate's place and used a rotary scratch brush to polish something. I just saw something flick. That night when I went to bed, I shut my eyes and got a burst of pain. When I looked in a mirror, I could see the steel bristle sticking out of my eye. Next morning, I went to an eye doctor and had it removed.
These days I cannot shoot a gun at a target, or play pool - because I wear bifocals. But a cataract removal op is coming.
 
Even if my eyes were perfect, I would still wear glasses with hardened or plastic lenses and which compensate for glare.
 
Great non bike thread except if you cannot see well you shouldn't be biking. Ive worn contact lenses since I was 16, the old fashioned hard type. Im 70 in a few months. Want to have the eyes done just to be shot of the contacts but the fear factor of
having something go wrong. Wish I HAD to have it done would remove any indecision.
 
Great non bike thread except if you cannot see well you shouldn't be biking. Ive worn contact lenses since I was 16, the old fashioned hard type. Im 70 in a few months. Want to have the eyes done just to be shot of the contacts but the fear factor of
having something go wrong. Wish I HAD to have it done would remove any indecision.
I worry about that too. However, I did a lot of reading and internet searches and this is very low risk. My eye Dr has done something like 30,000 of these literally, (he is pretty old.) There are risks in everything. After all, you DO ride a motorcycle.... ;) not to be a jerk about it, but riding a bike is far more risky than this proceedure... I do understand there is a lack of control issue by letting someone else mess around there in the eyes. One thing to be very careful about is, at least in the US, is to read comments posted on the internet and whatnot from people about their bad experiences. I did that and came to realize unhappy people like to complain and try to very publically cause the Dr problems. However, you dont know what other issues that person had, what other complicating factors exist. Happy people dont bother to post comments much. If my eye Dr told me there were risks because of other eye issues I would be thinking long and hard about this. But it looks like clear sailing. I wish you well in your decision making, if and when you decide to do it, best wishes.
 
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Thanks for posting on this topic. I have cataracts in both eye which are not very advanced and are being monitored. These days I never do anything without wearing glasses with hardened lenses. Years ago I was at a mate's place and used a rotary scratch brush to polish something. I just saw something flick. That night when I went to bed, I shut my eyes and got a burst of pain. When I looked in a mirror, I could see the steel bristle sticking out of my eye. Next morning, I went to an eye doctor and had it removed.
These days I cannot shoot a gun at a target, or play pool - because I wear bifocals. But a cataract removal op is coming.
I agree. I was installing electric stepups on my pickup when it was new last year and I was wearing safety glasses (where I work they are mandatory as well.) However when I was drilling into the sheet metal under the vehicle it got gusty and a piece of steel blew into my eye. What a mess. Emergecy room and of course it was a holiday. Next day the eye Dr had to numb my eye and take a needle and scrape it out. The worst part was when he said "it is very important you hold still" YIKES. Anyway he got it out. But wait... that's not all... I had to go back AGAIN to get the rust ring scraped out. if THAT story doesn't make guys wear safety glass, I wish them best of luck.

And that is why I am itching to get this fixed, my shooting eye is the worst one.
 
My GP told me about how he watched a standard cataract operation, it took about 5 minutes. Apparently it's one of the most successful and safe operations around if you look it up. And it's on of the best things that have helped people around the world from blindness. That's the standard knife version, I'm not sure about the Lasik one, it may even be better. So I wouldn't be too worried about getting it done but it is aggravating until it heals and your sight comes back. That's what the docs don't want to tell you.

I haven't looked in the peep sights yet, but the last week I shot a white tail off the deck at about 8 AM with my new eye. I always look out in the yard and see if anything is there before I shower, if so, I get the 1922 Savage 99 out with a scope on it, but they''re usually only about 30 yds away and I shoot them in the head with a handloaded 125gr Speer HP TNT with 42gr of IMR4895 at about 2700fps. They fall like a rock. I got one last Christmas day just like that out of the front door, it was grazing on the Azaleas in the garden. I shoot them off hand, that 10 years of high power service rifle shooting helps and the 99 seems pretty accurate for a break down version. I sold my custom M1A1 though. I figured I'd never shoot HP again.
 
I see no need for heavy weapons. I've dropped the evil white tail with rimfire .22 and AIR RIFLES!
 
.22 cal is supposedly illegal here in VA, even the 220 Swift. That thing hits the target before you can blink from the shot. Besides it's only bow season now, do I care? I gave it to my yard guy that comes once a week, I don't like deer meat.
 
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