Cataracts

Right with you skilegs. I had the same experience but when the first eye was 'done' the consultant felt that my brain would struggle to cope with the discrepancy so the other eye was 'done' soon after. Not a fault in my brain - simply that it would be too great an adjustment. Until I went to hospital about this I had never heard of this Clear Lens Exchange when they pretty well insert a prescription contact lens into the eye and you no longer need specs! Wore specs from age 10 to 61 so am loving the freedom. Apologies to anyone who is squeamish about this but please be assured by both skilegs and me that it is nothing like as difficult or traumatic as you'd imagine. Life-changing, painless and very easy to cope with.

I had a cataract op in my right eye about 3yrs ago and need the left eye done eventually. When the right eye was operated on I found I did not need my glasses for driving and watching the tv, but I am almost ready for the left op and have needed to use glasses again but this time for reading. I would agree that the op is life changing I could not believe the improvement in my vision and colours, it felt like someone had washed the windows. It is painless I would recommend it to anyone.

The op my mum had was simply to remove the cloudy lenses and replace them with clear discs, meaning she still needed glasses, but the one I had actually involved replacing the cloudy one with a prescription lens. I was also very pleased to know that in my area, cataracts are treated as soon as they are diagnosed and there is no longer the 'waiting until they are ready' attitude. I was surprised to find that I had the condition and it was treated so early on that I didn't have the experience of losing colour or serious deterioration at all.

I didn't have cataracts, but because of really bad sight (-14 both eyes) I had lens replacements with prescriptions in them (same as the cataract op) done privately about eight years ago and it has been fantastic. Had second eye done a week after the first and have already justified the expense because of how expensive my glasses were. I would recommend this op to any one with severe short sightedness and fed up with thick expensive glasses.

Thank you ladies for cheering me up. I recently had my regular eye check and was told I had very early cataracts - not yet interfering with my sight, such as it is (I have a heavy lens in the left side of my glasses - a lazy eye that was not diagnosed as a child). I am very good with pain, blood etc. but I have always been squeamish about eyes so a possible eye op. in the future was the last thing I wanted to hear. You've made me dread it somewhat less.

I was really scared but the worst bit for me was the thought of the anaesthetic injection but it wasn't too bad at all and the rest was a dead cinch and the results were fantastic. I've since had to have some out patient laser surgery on an eye and I didn't even know it had started when I was told it was done!!!

Hi Whatamess. I can totally sympathise as I dreaded the thought of what I might have to see - after all, you can't close your eyes! However all I saw was very bright light and absolutely nothing else. I felt nothing and was very pleased that it was so easy. NO pain or discomfort and an easy recovery. Really recommend it and as soon as you can get it done. No point in waiting for any more deterioration if you don't have to!

Hi em. Is this a technique that means you don't have to wait until the cataracts get 'ripe' before having the op as you used to have to do? The cataracts haven't yet affected my sight - my varifocals are for long sight but there's been no deterioration from the cataracts as yet........

Hello Whatamess. A few years back I went for a routine eyetest to update my prescription (varifocals) and choose new frames. My bright young optician said she was not satisfied that she had my prescription just right and wanted to refer me to the local hospital opthalmology dept although she couldn't see anything obviously wrong. After tests there they diagnosed the early stage of a cataract. I was totally unaware of this and had no real deterioration in my vision. I then asked if that meant going on a waiting list until the cataracts were 'ripe' for an op. I was told that the idea of 'ripening' is old hat!
They now recommend dealing with the problem as soon as it appears. Many opticians are unaware of this and still give the out-of-date advice to patients.It may be a post-code lottery situation but we are very lucky here. It may well be worth your while asking your optician to refer you. Mine were 'done' within a 3/4 months and instead of the clear plastic disc to replace the cloudy natural lens, I effectively had prescription 'contact lenses' inserted. (see my other post) I do hope your health board works like mine!!

Thanks em. My optician was very young and very thorough and did pick up early cataracts so on the ball from that point of view. Surprising that opticians are not aware of the latest thinking. I shall investigate further.....She did say that they may never affect my vision, which I admit I did find surprising....

Could someone here please reassure my BIL who has been recommended to have a cataract op shortly in just one eye. He is very apprehensive about the whole process but the main thing that is really bothering him is the few days immediately after it's done. He's been told that he will have to wear an eye patch which he stubbornly refuses as he says he will feel like a pirate! Is the eye patch worn for long, is it in place 24 hours a day and how can I persuade him to go ahead? He also has glaucoma and has been told that the cataract op will help with this too

* Yogagran* I had to wear a clear plastic eye-cover (no resemblance to a pirate!) only overnight. There was no bruising, pain or discomfort. Eye drops had to be administered regularly for about 10 days. The advice is not to overdo things for a few days, but I did some gentle shopping the next day. Everyone is apprehensive before the op imagining all sorts of horrors but believe me there is absolutely nothing to worry about. The whole experience was efficient,straightforward and totally painless. Please encourage him to go ahead and maybe persuade him also to read the experiences of grans here!

Thanks em. I thought it was possibly only overnight but BIL insisted that he had been told it was during the day too! He's a great worrier

For many years I worked as an auxiliary nurse on the eye ward at a large hospital. I loved the cataracts days as there was so much interaction with the patients and we all had such great fun. They were 'local' anaesthetic patients so were awake and alert. They were mostly day-cases unless they lived alone with no-one to be with them overnight. The overnight stay was purely precaution as having to keep one eye 'covered' overnight could affect their sight, especially if the other eye was not so good. A precautionary overnight stay was better than a hip operation the next day due to the patient falling through not being able to see properly!

The procedure was so swift the patients were back on the ward before they knew it and were almost disappointed when it was time to go home!

My work was manic - the trolley would come for patient no:1 (now the patients walk to theatre and why not if they are fully mobile!) and I would go with them down to theatre. I stayed with them holding their hand and reassuring them while the anaesthetist numbed the eye. Prior to leaving the ward they would have had a succession of drops which numbed the eye so much that when in theatre the patient never felt the main injected anaesthetic.

They were then wheeled into theatre for the 'op'. I then went back to the ward by which time patient no:2 was ready to go - I went down with Patient no:2 and by the time they were ready to go into theatre patient no:1 was ready to go back to the ward.
I took no:1 back to the ward, collected no:3, brought back no:2, collected no:4 and so on almost on a conveyor belt but honestly - it didn't seem to be a 'conveyor belt'.

Each patient was individual and treated like a prince or princess and those who were a bit nervous soon relaxed as they saw the others go down and return so quickly and happily.

All this was some ten years ago so no doubt it is even easier these days so yogagran, please reassure BIL he will be fine! In my day the patients wore a clear eye shield home which they had to keep on overnight - this was purely a precaution against the possibility of them rubbing the eye (deliberately or accidentally) and of course as protection against the corner of the pillow case or bedding irritating it overnight while they were sleeping. I believe this still happens. They came back in the following morning for the eye to be checked and all was fine. Nowadays I'm not sure they even come back the next morning.

The results were amazing - I clearly remember one lady coming to me the day after her 'op' and telling me, with great excitement, she had lived at the same address for many years and never knew there had always been sheep in one of the fields near her flat! She knew the fields were there but had never been able to see the sheep! Other reported that they never realised their windows were so dirty!

Sorry this reply is lengthy but please - anyone offered a cataract 'op' - GO FOR IT it really is life changing and those years on that ward were some of the most rewarding and happiest years of my nursing life!!!

That's brilliant, thanks sbagran. As my BIL is not computer literate I'm going to copy this out and give it to him. Hopefully it will set his mind at rest.

in January I had both cataracts done on same day. Having worn contact lenses since I was 15, I was finding my eye sight changing a lot, and in fact it was cataracts.
The day surgery went very well, a total of 3 hrs, drops first inserted then after an hour or so I walked into the theatre, had first eye done, painless but a little anxious as It was a new experience! They gave me a nurse with a hand to hold or squeeze...Then the second one done after about 15 minute break. Return to waiting room for a choc biscuit and coffee and when I felt ready, husband took me home!
The care I cannot fault, as I was the first of my friends to have eye surgery I felt a pioneering spirit and could truthfully report a successful conclusion.
I wore plastic clear eye patches at night just as protection for a week or two. Frequent eye drops for 6 wks and then that was it.
The colour and brightness were instant, I could see so well but as I have astigmatism I need specs for driving, reading, but lenses are a thing of the past.

Yogagran - MaggieP has updated my message and as I suspected things are even easier now even to having both done on the same day!
Am so pleased it went well MaggieP and my best wishes to all who go for it - just one thing tho ....... Please don't look at my windows !!!!

*Sbagran I really enjoyed your post. I was so impressed by 'my' team at 9wells in Dundee. As hospital experiences go, it couldn't be faulted. Quick and efficient but so supportive and friendly. They must select special people to handle this type of surgery. Mine were done separately but I think it would have been easy enough to cope with both together. So many of us are a bit squeamish about eyes but this was such a straightforward and painless procedure that I've persuaded several friends to go ahead with it. Whatever a potential patient imagines and dreads simply DOES NOT HAPPEN. Thank you for the excellent outcomes that you and all your colleagues have achieved!

Bless you em! so pleased it all went well for you, Sadly I left the NHS over three years ago now - management and 'progress' got the better of me. I lost my Mum a couple of years ago but keep in touch with a dear elderly lady who was a good friend of Mum and came to visit Mum when Mum was becoming more poorly. While she was down we took her out for sight-seeing trip during which time we got onto the subject of the NHS. Wonderful lady 89yrs old said quite categorically that 'management' are ruining the NHS - "they're all mini-skirts and clipboards" - priceless!
You were right about special people being selected although they are not so much selected as select the work for themselves. I know of many many nurses who could not tolerate eyes - just too squeamish. I found it fascinating though and you could really have a laugh with the patients. I remember one day when I went to collect a patient I had previously taken down and as I entered the recovery area she looked up and said "Here she comes - Arnold Scharwzeneggar" Was that a compliment I wondered until she explained - as I left her to go into theatre for her 'op' I said "I shall return" For the remainder of that mornings list I was referred to as 'Arnie' - ahhh happy memories - but I am so lucky to have slotted into a part time secretarial job that I love so I don't miss the NHS at all!

Thanks everyone for all the good experiences - I think I kicked off the squeamishness thingy with my comments. I do feel much better about it now if I have it done.

I don't know if I am particularly weird (no comments please!)but my squeamishness probably stems from over sensitivity in the eyes. For example, peeling onions won't just make my eyes water - they stream and sting for an hour afterwards. So bad, I ask my DH if he is around to peel, slice and chop them for me. Also, one of the reasons I am a poor swimmer is that even opening my eyes under water blinds me for some time and I have varifocals that darken in bright light for driving and night driving. My father was just the same and one of my daughters is similar (though she can open her eyes under water).

Even the puff in the eyes you have for glaucoma tests leaves my eyes streaming - so much so that I have been asked if I am crying - and at an opticians where they used eye drops instead of the puffer my vision was so badly affected I had to sit in the car park for nearly two hours before I could see to drive safely.

I'm sure that is the explanation for my squeamishness - possibly some genetic cause for my father's, daughter's and my over sensitivity? I must ask my other daughter as her PhD is in genetics! Can't think why I haven't before...

I have a cataract on a lazy eye (also have a history of eyecancer ? in this eye diagnosed 9 years ago. I am thinking of having the cataract removed but I keep prevaricating. My consultant said wait until the glare gets bad but it annoys me now, feel I have dirty glasses in variable light and just aware that I have a cataract. Any input would be much appreciated and has anyone had cataract removed from a lazy eye.

Just back from the opticians and been told I have cataracts. Not too bad yet but they'll need to be dealt with. Just another thing to worry about. Hip replacement (s) first. I feel like I'm just wearing out my body parts one at a time!

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