Quote:
Originally Posted by cmyx6go
I feel your pain. Last winter I started having a problem driving in the dark. In March I started to notice a difference in my vision both close and far but went into lockdown and couldn’t get my eye doctor. I finally went yesterday and he said I have the start of cataracts plus my astigmatism. FML. This really sucks. Need to look into surgery. Dr said it’s too early. He will try and tweak my prescription. Getting old sucks. Now get off my lawn.
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Not disagreeing with your doc. But I can tell you I know many people who have had cataract surgery and almost every one is thrilled with the results. When it is time I think you'll be happy.
On that note there are two paths to take.
1) standard paid for by medicare with fixed lens replacement technology. Been done for decades and works but if your eyes were bad before needing reading glasses they will still be bad. This is pretty much free covered by medicare.
2) multifocal lens implants. The surgery is almost identical but you pay extra (a lot, like $4K or something) to get the high tech lens that allow you to see like you did when you were younger.
Number two doesn't work for everyone and a top shelf surgeon will tell you. In my case I couldn't wait til I had cataracts. When I was 50 I was fed up with needing cheaters to read a menu or see anything small on my phone etc. So I jumped the gun and had multifocal implanted in Thailand on my dime.
My surgeon asked me what I expected and what my priorities were. I told him I just don't want to need glasses and I want my vision like when I was young. He said yes to the first and no to the second. There is other stuff aging besides the lens.
My result - well I'll skip the gory details and the fact in Thailand they'll do BOTH eyes at the same time. For me it worked out fine. I had some issues with halo effect at night for a few months (try driving when every taillight glows) but I got what I asked for.
I can read without glasses. If I'm gonna read a long time small print I'll still use cheaters but I don't need them to read a menu or my phone. I can drive without glasses. The only sacrifice is (and it might have been like that before) I can not see golf balls at distance very well. That is the "no I can't have the vision I had when I was young part".