It's an " Old Man " thing. I'm sure some you you have had it... Looking for any insight on what to expect from the horse's mouth. Doctors can say sht to me all day, but I'd rather here it from people who have actually had it done. ONE of my concerns is that you are awake during the operation... HOW THE HELL DO YOU DO THAT????? I can't stand anyone or anything around my eyes. Do they give you Morphine or something to calm you down?? I need it done but not sure I want to go thru the operation..

Thanks From

One Eyed Willie.....

I think doing one eye is in my future the next year or two. Good friend thats my eye doc acts like its not a big deal and will make me see much better. Insurance will pay. Ill be following this thread.

Following, was told earlier this week I’ll be needing this.

My mother had both eyes done in her eighties, without issue. They apparently numb your eyes. They give just enough anesthetic so you are waking up just as the surgery ends.

That being said my wife (now deceased) became awake during the surgery and had a panic attack. She came out of the surgery soaking wet and distraught. Based on my previous experience with my mother, I thought that my wife had exaggerated the incident until we met with the doctor and he came in apologizing. We changed ophthalmologists after that incident.

Every other person I know that has had the procedure had no problems and were very happy after they had it done. Do the aftercare drops as recommended and you'll be fine.

Had both my eyes done last year. I took an anxiety med beforehand and was fine. Much better than when I had my Lasik 20 years ago. Worst part was covering my face but only for a minute. Most ins only covers the basic lens and you’ll need readers. I opted for the top of the line for $4k per eye. No readers.

I was quoted $5500 for top of the line adjustable lens, per eye. Ouch!

Curious on the downtime afterwards. Any Pain, long lasting vison problems. Is your driving ability hindered for any length of time? ALL TIDBITS of information is helpful.

A neighbor is going to have a cornea transplant after a botched cataract procedure so choose wisely.

can buy a bunch of readers for $11,000.

I'm 73 and will also need this done.................eventually

My wife retired after 25+ years of doing chair side eye surgeries with some of the finest surgeons in the country. She will tell you that it is safe, and fills a necessary area of life. Is it totally without some risk? No, but the chance of you getting killed by lightning in your bass boat is orders of magnitude greater than complications. Her retirement plan was the finest lenses you could buy, and a wonderfully successful surgery on both eyes. Having helped on about 15,000 surgeries, she was comfortable with it!!

From the AAO, here's some of the risks.

What Are the Risks of Cataract Surgery?
Like any surgery, cataract surgery carries risks of problems or complications. Here are some of those risks:

Eye infection.
Bleeding in the eye.
Ongoing swelling of the front of the eye or inside of the eye.
Swelling of the retina (the nerve layer at the back of your eye).
Detached retina (when the retina lifts up from the back of the eye).
Damage to other parts of your eye.
Pain that does not get better with over-the-counter medicine.
Blurred vision.
Seeing halos, glare, and dark shadows.
Vision loss.
The IOL implant may become dislocated, moving out of position.

My eyes were done 1 week apart, no pain at all. I do see halos and that may or not get better over time. No driving for 24hrs after each eye.

I had one eye done several months ago. I now have lots of floaters and "clouds" in in that eye that may have actually been there before, but are now more visible with more light coming through the new lens. When the clouds aren't in the way, I can see great detail very far away. The doc/surgeon said the clouds would go away in a couple days, a week, a month, maybe longer... They're not going away and it's a bit discouraging. I continue to postpone the other eye, fearing the same result.

As far as messing with your eye, I got some eye drops to numb the eye. They tell me I got an injection into my eyeball, but I wasn't even aware of it. The operation seemed a little surreal and was over in only a few minutes. I came out anesthesia very quickly, which is very unusual for me and I asked what they used. They said fentanyl

I wore fairly mild prescription glasses before surgery. After surgery on only one eye, I struggled with and without glasses. One eye was focused at infinity; the other was focused at 2-4 feet. Even after new lenses for both eyes, I am still having some trouble with depth perception, especially walking up and down stairs. I am confident that will change if and when I get the courage to do the other eye.

Had LASIK done on both eyes back in 2020. Did the right eye on January 15th, and left eye on February 5th if memory serves me correctly. Would only do one eye at a time. Numbed the eye and dr marked center with a pen of some sort. Put me to sleep for the final numbing. Was awake during the procedure. Felt no pain at all. Put a patch over the eye till numbness wore off and had to wear a cover over the eye to protect it at night. Said not to rub the eye. Went to work next day after both times. Only issue was having to wear a pair of glasses with one lense removed for two weeks between surgeries. Wasn’t supposed to drive, but oh well, what they didn’t know didn’t hurt them. Wasn’t supposed to lift over so many pounds, so watched that. Went in for checkup a week after second eye, had 20/20 in both eyes for distance, and just have to use readers now, cost was about $8000 per eye I believe. Could have had close up corrected to, but would have been several thousand more. Can buy a lot of readers for that. Had worn glasses since I was in third grade, it’s still amazing to see well without wearing them all the time. One of the best things I have ever done. So amazing to wake up and not have to look for glasses just to see. Next week after my check up on both eyes, covid hit. Hated to think about people who only had one eye done, as all surgeries were cancelled for close to a year due to COVID. Only thing that was weird, took a while, several hours for the numbness to wear off and eye wouldn’t move, everything was on two different plane levels until it wore off. Was due to cataracts in both eyes for having it done.

Did both last year. Went with what Medicare would pay, nothing out of pocket. Total change. No down time, had one done then the next
week the other. took the day off for surgery. I do use readers for my phone messages. All I can say is, Do it, Do it, Do it.
I was not awake during surgery. Find another doctor if that is the case.

Too bad you don’t want any doctors words. I have some experience in this realm and if you want some answers i can give them, including what patients tell me before and after. PM if you want. I wont waste your time if you dont want to hear from the “other side”

I have had both of mine done best thing I have ever done great sight now but do have to wear cheaters to read with. I now have better than 20/20. I highly recommend it. Just make sure to follow docs orders with the eye drops.

I've never had cataract surgery (though I'm fairly certain that that will change in the not-too-distant future), but I'm very familiar with the procedure.

Typically, a preoperative sedative is given (Versed, similar to Valium, but shorter acting) that helps reduce anxiety, and may-or-may-not provide a little short term amnesia (for most people, it does).

Once in the OR, a small dose of intravenous fentanyl (relax! it's been used for over 60 years as an anesthetic staple) is often given, followed by intravenous propofol (the Michael Jackson drug), which will induce sleep. Both of these medicines are quite safe when administered by a trained medical specialist.

While you're asleep (unconscious), a needle is positioned with the tip behind the eye, and local anesthetic is injected (called a retrobulbar block). By the time you wake up from the propofol (maybe 3 or 4 minutes), the eye itself should be totally numb.

Pretty much everyone is "awake" after that point, believe it or not (if you actually believe you were not, it's likely because of the previously mentioned amnesia)! But, there are a few folks that are claustrophobic enough (a plastic mask, or nasal prongs, provide ample air/oxygen while sterile drapes are used to cover the face and upper chest) that additional propofol may need to be dribbled in.

It's not unusual to feel some pressure, but there shouldn't be any pain.

The actual surgical procedure itself takes just a few minutes. Easy peasy for most.

Interesting that so many were put to sleep. Seems unnecessary. I was awake the entire time. Prep time took longer than the actual procedure.

I got mine done two weeks apart. They put me to sleep to deaden the eye. They woke me up and did it while I was wide awake. No driving for 24 hours. All the eye drops you have to use is the worse part of it. Before I wore glasses and had trouble driving at night. Now its readers only and I see great at night. An eye Dr. in Sherman did mine. The VA paid for mine so I had the cheapest lens put in. That was three years ago.

I had one eye done 5 or 6 years ago. Will do the other sometime in the next year.

I was totally sedated
Totally painless
Blurry vision in that eye for about 30 hours post op
At the time my ophthalmologist was recommending the fixed focus lenses, which is what I have, but with technology advances he now recommends the multi-focal
Today I can see well with that eye from about 10 inches out to 500 or so yards
No readers needed

Absolutely would like to hear from ALL SIDES. any thoughts at all.. I'm very nervous having anything done to my eyes at this age. Couldn't image the worse scenario happening and I have to live the few years I have left without sight or distorted vision.

Same experience here as several have already posted. I am fairly young for cataracts according to doc, but not really rare. We had been watching for several years and just waiting til it got bad enough fhat insurance would cover. Had first eye done in mid december and the other a week later. Much like when I had lasik 20 years ago, a mild sedative to calm the nerves then lots of drops during prep to numb. Awake the entire time and out of office within an hour of arriving.

Blurry vision for the day and evening but immediately noticed changes...mostly in colors. They are strikingly vivid after years of looking through a brownish filter. Dry eyes for about a month but drops helped a great deal. Now 3 months later, completely healed, great vision, and i don't even think about it. I still use cheaters when working on computer and reading, but much weaker correction now.

Do it...like lasik years ago, it is game changing.

Had cataract surgery on right eye, no pain and could not believe the improvement in vision. Ophthalmologist wanted to do the other eye right away even though i told him vision was good. He indicated it needed to be done. I agreed with him due to the improvement of the first eye. Unfortunately, this did not turn out as well and vision was worse than before. This Dr. treated the problem for 3 months with no improvement. Finally, he wanted me to see another Dr. in his group which I did. This Dr. recommended I see another ophthalmologist .... not in their group. So, I go to Focal Point vision and see the Dr. there. Immediately I felt better with this person and to make a long story short he diagnosed the problem right away as being connected to Fuchs disease which is inherited. Had a cornea transplant in that eye and all has been good since.

No pain to speak of and highly recommend you have needed procedure done right away.

Why not post your advice for all to see, this is an open forum and many people are looking at, and interested in in’s and out’s. As stated above, already had it done and gave the best advice I could from my procedure, which I had done in Sherman.

The OP originally stated he would "rather" hear from patients than doctors but I think it was somewhat tongue in cheek which he later clarified to be the case. Hopefully TexasBuckeye will come back on and post. Hes probably busy being inside someones eye. If I had eye surgery it would probably be by TxBuc.