Hi,

I took my mom to the eye doctor on Saturday. They have been watching her cataracts for about 1-2 years now. Every six months she had an appointment to see the doctor. Both her eyes were 20/25 and the cataracts were not moving. This time they said one eye is the same and hasn't moved (20/25) and the other moved to 20/50. He told us he wants to see her again--six months at that point they will discuss the cataract surgery. My sister said if surgery is needed, why isn't he doing it NOW before it gets worse. I was with my mom and the doctor didn't seem alarmed and he didn't make it seem as though she needed the surgery right away.

Can anyone tell me at what point the surgery is a definite need? Does it go by the reading or does it go by the patients eyesight (for example, blurry vision, etc.)? My mom said she didn't notice a change in her vision. The doctor told me the patient can usually see a change?

When is surgery needed without question.

Also, can someone educate me on the procedure and the recovery period.

Thanks.

Cataracts don't need to 'ripen' (get bigger) before surgery now!
However the doc may want your mum to realise she actually needs the op, if she can see why bother, but if her sight deteriates she will know she needs surgery.

My daughter had cataract surgery with a six month interval between eyes, her recovery was almost immediate, her sight was a bit blurry but better than it was. She kept asking "have you washed the floor" and "is that a new top" as everything looked more colourful. your mum will be a little older than 8 and it will take her a couple of days at least to recover properly.

Good Luck!

Hi, Having had cataract surgery (I was 30), I think that it depends on how much it interfers with your activities (i.e. driving, working, reading etc) when it should be done. With you mom's vision at 20/25 & 20/50 she should still be seeing fairly well. Also, everyone usually has a "dominant" eye(that is, one that works more than the other). I had to have surgery because the cataract developed in my useful eye (the other one is 20/400 corrected).
And although cataract surgery is commonplace today, it is still surgery and there are risks associated with it. After my surgery I developed clouding of the lens capsule and needed a capsilotomy (laser surgery which "burns" a hole in the center of the lense capsule) to give me clear vision.
I don't know your mother's age and whether this is interferring with her life. If it is, then weigh the advantages & risks, ask the dr lots of questions, then decide.

I'm scheduled to have surgery in a few days and am still wondering (as I look through cloudy eyes) if it's wise "at this point." There is, after all, the risk that things will go terribly, unpredictably wrong, and I will lose sight in that eye. That is precisely why they only do one eye at a time. It is also, as hella said above, why "it depends on how much it interfers with your activities (i.e. driving, working, reading etc)." If I didn't drive, read, or work, I doubt I'd have it done at this time.

On the other hand, a coworker (whose mother had cataract surgery ten years ago) looked at me and said that my eyes didn't look like they had cataracts. Her mother had waited until the pupils were white. That means she was totally blind in the eye before having the surgery. Why wait that long? I guess, to her mother, a little bit of sight was better than the risk. Hopefully she didn't have to drive.

Another consideration is insurance. Because I've had poor eyesight all my life and have learned to compensate, and because it is impossible for me (and many others) to not have memorized the letters on the eye chart after all these years (even though I have a terrible memory), the "visual accuity" test did not indicate I "qualified" for insurance coverage for the surgery (mine was similar to your mother's, dma11663). However, my ophthalmologist did a BAT, or Brightness Acuity Test, which determined that, for instance, in my poorest eye (which is also my dominant eye), I only see 20/100 at night, which explains why I can't locate turn-offs in time to make the turns, and is also probably why so many old people drive so slowly.

Still, some wouldn't consider having the surgery unless it was at least 20/300.
But I think your mother's doctor just wants to be sure the cataracts are going to continue to get worse in the immediate future, so your mom can make a more informed decision.

Sorry to ramble, it helps me not be so nervous about the surgery.
And why did I take today off of work?

Hi SeriousPerson, Just wanted to wish you well with the cataract surgery. It's a breeze & you'll do fine. THe surgery is so widely done today, and probably a whole lot easier than when I did mine in 1987, there are very few people who ever experience problems. I ran into a friend of my dads(he's 82) who just had both eyes done. He said he couldn't see out of one eye see he was nine yrs old. He was thrilled to be able to see 20/20 out of that eye. What a miracle! And my boss's mom had it done a few years ago. A few days later, he said she was mad at the dr. He asked why, & she said , Look what he did to my face!!! Look at all these wrinkles he gave me!
Just thought I'd give you something funny to relieve your stress.
Good Luck.

Thanks.
The surgery went well, but the follow-up care was a little spotty.
My pre-surgical correction is 20/550 (with 20/20 being normal) so there is no big "E" on the eye chart for me (there is now, however, in my Crystalens eye).
But I have rather severe dry eye syndrome, so can't wear contacs.
And combining a Crystalens eye with an eye correct by lenses in glasses is more than the human brain can compute.
Today I finally got them to give me a contac lens for the non-surgically treated eye, because I was seeing more poorly than before the surgery, and that was depressing (and a common reaction to the anesthesia used is "mood swings").
I can't keep it in for long periods, but it gives me some relief from the handicap for an hour or two at a time.

With the Crystalens, the patient administers drops into the eye for a week after surgery to keep the focusing muscles relaxed, so the new lens will seat itself in the back of the eye, where it belongs, and without which there would be no distance vision. This also relaxes the iris, which means a very dilated pupil. So the intermediate and close vision are not available to me right now in the eye with the Crystalens, and the distance vision is distorted in the manner that is customary when the pupil has been chemically dilated.

In a couple of weeks it should be working well, and I will be feeling very sheepish about having a meltdown post-surgery.

In 5 and a half weeks, I will have the other eye done, and 2 weeks after that you should be able to nickname me Ol' Eagle Eye.

Thanks for all your help. Haven't been here for a while. I just read through all your replies about my mom and her cataracts. Thanks!

I don't think at this point it is interfereing with her life. She is 73 years old. I will take her back to the doctor in about 5 mos. and see what he says from there. I will certainly question him about the surgery. I truly believe that there is risk in it.

Thank you all again.

Hi dma11663, You sound like you take very good care of your mom & are concerned for her well-being. She's very lucky to have you there for her.
Seriousperson, Hope you do well and progress rapidly. I suppose everyone has different recovery times where surgery is concerned. Mine was so long ago, I barely remember it. Due to my age, I couldn't get the lens implant, but I didn't much care as long as I could still see to drive & work. So I wear contact for distance and glasses over that for reading. Best wishes to you on the next surgery.
Hellas

Pleased all went well.

My daughter (cataracts at 8 years old) had hers removed when it affected her life, for the simple reason so she could see she needed treatment to be able to read, watch tv, play tennis etc. again. If surgery was done too soon, she would not feel the benefit and think we had put her through it for no reason!
It makes sense when you experience it, at the time I just wanted her to have the surgery over and done with, i am pleased I listened to the doc and waited.

Funny stories from my daughter.
My daughter started saying look at the cute puppy that lady is carrying, she was going all oohs and arhhs! i looked every where and the lady she was looking at was carring a large beige hand bag in her arms. We did giggle, I had to take her up to the lady and show her it wasn't a puppy! The lady thought we were a bit nuts.
Another.
On holiday,we were in a park on our push bikes, riding around the lake when my daughter asked if we could stop and feed the ducks. I replied, yes when we see some, she replied, there are some over there look at the edge of the water. I looked all around no ducks to be seen! I asked my daughter to get off her bike and take me over to see them, she walked to the waters edge and the 'ducks' stayed still, they never moved a muscle. They were rocks sticking out of the water! Its a good job she has a sense of humour! We still feed the ducks but have changed their name to rocks, so we go to feed the rocks!

We returned from that holiday and my daughter knew it was time for surgery! After the surgery she realised that every thing didn't have a fuzzy edge, she also kept asking if I had cleaned the kitchen floor as it looked so clean and bright!

Good luck with your next surgery!

Here's another funny one...I was riding home from work and eyes weren't great at the time, & I turned to my friend and said...Ooh! Look at the monkey in the yellow rain coat! As we got closer, I realized it was a black & yellow fire hydrant! That was years ago and I still have that one thrown in my face from time to time.
Can't tell you how many times at the grocery store I bought things I don't even eat!
It can be funny.