My mom is 75 and is planning on having cataract surgery in both eyes. She wants to do one and then a week later, the other one. She's a diabetic, but has her sugar under control lately. The doctor said she doesn't have to stop any of her medicine, even asprin because eyes don't bleed. She wants to know what to expect during and after the surgery from someone who has gone thru it. How long before she can drive, what kind of complications can occur, what else does she need to know, what does she need to do. I read something about different lenses doing different things. Should we research the type of lens he's planning on using? Any info is appreciated.
Thanks.

Some of the answers to those questions depend upon certain variables.
What is her vision like now?
With is the measurement of her corrected (with glasses) vision now? 20/20?
Without glasses, is her uncorrected vision near-sighted or far-sighted?
Does she currently see "halos" around headlights when driving at night?
Is she able to drive at night currently?
Also, what type of lens implant(s) will she be receiving? That is, what is the name/brand of the implant. For example, I have a crystalens in one eye and a ReStor lens in the other.

For me, the actual surgery was pretty much a breeze.
But the post-op vision was not something I was prepared for, especially being a single parent who works full-time.

thanks serious,
I think she is nearsighted now, not sure of her actual prescription.
she drives at night now.
why do you have 2 different brands of lens? which one do you prefer, and why?
what is the problem with your post op vision, and has it improved with time?
Thanks for your help!

I think she is nearsighted now, not sure of her actual prescription.If she was farsighted, the adjustment would be a piece of cake--with chocolate frosting.
If she's mildly nearsighted, and also wears reading glasses, well, it would be great too.
If she doesn't wear reading glasses, she has to accept that the surgery will probably leave her needing to wear them, though her distance vision will be good enough to legally drive without glasses (though I do wear them to drive, so I can read street signs and drive defensively).
However, the ReStor lens gives near and far vision (but blurry intermediate). But it's taken a good 6 months for it to work with my brain. And being nearsighted my whole life, I had a lot of skills that required exceptionally good near vision. So I need glasses frequently now.
she drives at night now.I had just reached the point where I no longer wanted to drive at night. In fact, that was a big reason I had the surgery. But my night vision is worse now than before. That is, the halos are much worse. Everyone I have personally talked to has said the same thing. But my boss's boss's uncle supposedly got rid of all the halos when he had his surgery.
why do you have 2 different brands of lens? which one do you prefer, and why? what is the problem with your post op vision, and has it improved with time?I opted for the crystalens with my first eye because the Restor had not been proven in clinical trials yet, and my very-up-to-date ophthalmologist had not yet been trained in its use. The crystalens had a lot of (and still does) good advertising out there dressed up in the disguise of doctors' and patients' recommendations. It gives good intermediate vision. In brightest sunlight, it gives pretty good distant and near vision too.
I went with the ReStor for my second eye because the crystalens had not proven to give me very good near vision.
Both of those lenses do not perform well in anything other than very bright light, hence the night driving issue. I feel very blessed that I have an office at work with a south window.
When I made the decision for the crystalens, I had unrealistic expectations. I guess that's pretty common with cataract surgery these days, because they do it much earlier than previously, when it wasn't performed until the eye was pretty much blinded.
The reason it was so disappointing for me was a disconnect between me and the medical personnel. They promised with great assurance that no matter what, it would be better than it was.
But they were comparing my previous uncorrected vision with my post-surgical vision.
I, on the other hand, who never got out of bed without putting my glasses on for the last 40 years, could only compare my previous corrected vision with uncorrected vision post-op. And because most cataract patients are still retired, married people, and I am neither, I was in tears of frustration at work (as a librarian), and was driving myself around in unfocused terror.
Since then, the ReZoom and Tecnis have become available. Just as I had asked to have the ReStor back at the time of my crystalens surgery, I asked to have the ReZoom when I got the ReStor, but it was not yet available in Chicago. Both of those are supposed to address the low light issue.
But the last I read, the improvement in low light is not very significant.
When I opted for the crystalens instead of the single-vision intraocular lens, I believed I was make a choice comparable to getting a new computer with Windows XP instead of a new computer with Windows 3.1. But it was more like getting Windows ME. Of course, if you don't work with computers, that analogy will make no sense to you. ;)

The bottom line:
If possible, try to be sure that the pre-op corrected vision is worse than the post-op uncorrected vision will be.
A lot of it has to do with lifestyle and expectations.
Overall, I would guess that a 75-year-old would be very pleased with the results unless she works full time.

seriousperson - thanks for your detailed response!
I appreciate it. So you're in Chicago! :bouncing: :bouncing:
so are we! My moms surgeon is Dr. David Greenberg, he works out of Swedish Covenant Hospital......do you know of him?
Who did your surgery and where did they do it?
I'm going to print this out and give it to my mom so she has all the info.
Thanks again!

You're welcome.
I had Dr. Epstein with Chicago Cornea Consultants.
I check this board fairly regularly, so post any other questions she might have.
There are also others on this board who have experience with different lens implants.