body • mind • spirit
Cataract Surgery, A Real Eye-Opener
by Anne Batty T
• •
hat dreaded pronouncement had come … time to consider cataract surgery. And not being a fan of surgical treatment of any kind, most especially one involving the eyes, I was less than thrilled.
Those who had gone before assured me it would be “a piece of cake,” but denial immediately
kicked in and my thoughts ran wild. “I can still see well enough, maybe this isn’t the right time! What if something goes wrong?
And my best excuse, “Cataract surgery is only for seniors, and I’m not there yet.” (It’s funny no matter how much you age it always seems that others are aging but not you.) In spite of all the dithering, reality won out. Caving in and facing the music, I finally made the investigative appointment to learn what Cataract Surgery was truly all about.
Operation Options Understanding that this operation involved an incision in the eyes, disintegration of the old
lenses and insertion of new ones, it surprised me to be offered three surgical options. •
Surgical knife incision with implantation of distance lenses - a choice involving eyeglasses for reading and covered by Medicare less deductibles.
Laser incision including distance lenses – approximate cost $1,500 per eye - also requiring eyeglasses for reading.
Laser incision with full-vision lenses – distance/reading - approximate cost $4,000 per eye. Always a middle- of- the-roader, I chose option two. (Those with supplemental insurance should inquire about help covering the costs of options two and three.)
Pre-op - More surprises! My surgeons at Tayani Eye Institute required a blood test and an EKG before surgery. According to my primary care physician this was “precautionary but a bit over the top.” The pre-surgery taking
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of vitamin C was also suggested, and lest we forget, there were the eye drops, eye drops and more eye drops! (Expensive and an extra charge of course!) To top it off … there was even an eye drop administration grid to be followed.
The Operation This out-patient surgery was performed one eye at a time with approximately a week or two in
between. A mild anesthetic (twilight sleep) was administered and the operation itself took approx- imately 20-30 minutes. In and out time was about an hour.
Post-Op A ride to and from surgery was needed and one the day following for a post-op exam. I was
able to see clearly with the first eye right away and probably could have driven myself, but was told that was unusual. The second eye took a while longer to clear and I definitely could not have driven that next day. And let’s not forget … eye drops, eye drops, eye drops and that infamous administration grid to be followed for several weeks after surgery.
The Good News I am truly amazed at how clearly and far into the distance I can now see. Everything is brighter, more distinct, more colorful, and my driving confidence - both day and night - has elevated.
The Bad News Unfortunately mirrors are pretty unforgiving, and sometimes seeing well does have its draw-
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backs. I now see things maybe best left unseen, and having not required glasses for reading before surgery I’m finding out what a pain that necessity is. Invariably I’m in one place and my glasses are in another, and the only solution … glasses in every room. In hindsight I might have given more consideration to option three! All in all, it has been a job well-done, and my advice, for what it might be worth … don’t hes- itate … in the end the positives of this type of surgery truly do far outweigh the negatives.
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