Dennis The B
US Veteran
I wrote, in a previous thread, that I would be having cataract surgery in November of this year. Rather than dredge up the old thread, I thought I would let you know the upshot from the two operations.
In October, after a year of some degradation, my Ophthalmic Surgeon recommended that I have cataracts removed from both eyes. In that year, I noticed a lot of night-time halos, glare, fuzziness around trap targets, and what appeared to be lack of sharp colors. I'm 66 and blue eyed; my father had the same surgery when he was 66. My myopia was minimal, but I do have presbyopia, as do a lot of folks my age. I also have a fair amount of astigmatism (+4.0 in each eye).
We discussed a number of options, finally deciding on a toric implant made by Bausch & Lomb. This implant is a bit advanced, and more expensive than basic toric lenses (Crystalens Trulign). When we made the selection, he took my case to an independent surgical board, and they concurred with my selection in a blind evaluation. We also agreed that my non-dominant eye would continue to be about 1/2 diopter weaker than my dominant one. I opted to have better distance vision, requiring reading glasses.
I had my first operation on 11/13, followed by a second operation on 12/4. Procedures both times took about twenty minutes.
After each operation, and within eight hours, I noticed a drastic improvement in my vision. Subsequent eye exams have yielded results of 20/20 in my non-dominant eye, and 20/15 in my dominant eye. My reading at 14" is at 20/15; although that may change. The first indicator of improvement was that outlines of letters and numbers were tack sharp (but blurry because of the dilating drops). I was cleared to shoot the day after surgery.
The implants are amazing. For the first time in 50 years, I don't wear prescription glasses. Colors pop out, and my vision contrast is stunning. Front sights on my shotguns and pistols are now tack sharp, and targets are now clear orange, with no blur on the outline. I'm still having a bit of argument between the left eye which dilates normally, and my dominant right eye, which is dilated for one more week. However, I can tolerate that for one more week. Right now, I'm awash in eye drops.
After the first eye was done, I was told to ditch my glasses, which I did. No going back to the old prescriptions. The doctor wanted my non-dominant eye to work harder, and he was averse to putting a blank lens in my existing glasses.
There is a caveat with cataract surgery. There is a possibility of developing a "secondary cataract". However, I've been advised that this is easily correctable and done in the surgeon's office with a laser.
I removed the inserts from my Ranger XLW glasses, and put the plain lenses back in all my Ray Ban sun and shooting glasses.
In the past ten years, I've averaged about $500/year on glasses, shooting glasses prescriptions, etc. That cost will be amortized in about 8 years.
I always took some things for granted, one of which was so-so vision. Ain't technology great?
In October, after a year of some degradation, my Ophthalmic Surgeon recommended that I have cataracts removed from both eyes. In that year, I noticed a lot of night-time halos, glare, fuzziness around trap targets, and what appeared to be lack of sharp colors. I'm 66 and blue eyed; my father had the same surgery when he was 66. My myopia was minimal, but I do have presbyopia, as do a lot of folks my age. I also have a fair amount of astigmatism (+4.0 in each eye).
We discussed a number of options, finally deciding on a toric implant made by Bausch & Lomb. This implant is a bit advanced, and more expensive than basic toric lenses (Crystalens Trulign). When we made the selection, he took my case to an independent surgical board, and they concurred with my selection in a blind evaluation. We also agreed that my non-dominant eye would continue to be about 1/2 diopter weaker than my dominant one. I opted to have better distance vision, requiring reading glasses.
I had my first operation on 11/13, followed by a second operation on 12/4. Procedures both times took about twenty minutes.
After each operation, and within eight hours, I noticed a drastic improvement in my vision. Subsequent eye exams have yielded results of 20/20 in my non-dominant eye, and 20/15 in my dominant eye. My reading at 14" is at 20/15; although that may change. The first indicator of improvement was that outlines of letters and numbers were tack sharp (but blurry because of the dilating drops). I was cleared to shoot the day after surgery.
The implants are amazing. For the first time in 50 years, I don't wear prescription glasses. Colors pop out, and my vision contrast is stunning. Front sights on my shotguns and pistols are now tack sharp, and targets are now clear orange, with no blur on the outline. I'm still having a bit of argument between the left eye which dilates normally, and my dominant right eye, which is dilated for one more week. However, I can tolerate that for one more week. Right now, I'm awash in eye drops.
After the first eye was done, I was told to ditch my glasses, which I did. No going back to the old prescriptions. The doctor wanted my non-dominant eye to work harder, and he was averse to putting a blank lens in my existing glasses.
There is a caveat with cataract surgery. There is a possibility of developing a "secondary cataract". However, I've been advised that this is easily correctable and done in the surgeon's office with a laser.
I removed the inserts from my Ranger XLW glasses, and put the plain lenses back in all my Ray Ban sun and shooting glasses.
In the past ten years, I've averaged about $500/year on glasses, shooting glasses prescriptions, etc. That cost will be amortized in about 8 years.
I always took some things for granted, one of which was so-so vision. Ain't technology great?
