Eye Surgery

[Riverwind (imported)]

I have not posted this for a while but last month and last week I had eye surgery, Cataracts removed and new lenses put in. All I can say about this is everything is much brighter like taking out the 40w bulb and putting in a 100 and the vision, 20/15 in both eyes. I have never in my life been able to see like this without glasses. Later this week I go back in to have the stitch removed from the left eye, then drops for the next 3 weeks, the the final appointment where I think I will get new reading glasses. But for distance and driving, glasses free.

So for all my friends who are in their senior years Cataracts are something we will all get, so get your eyes checked and have this surgery it will clear up so much and show you what you have been missing.

MactheWolf needs this because I have been told when your as old as he is, well he must be blind as a bat.

River

[gandalf (imported)]

My doctor is watching my cataracts. He says they have not grown any in the three years he has been watching them. They have not progressed to where insurance will cover their removal.

[tugon (imported)]

I am so glad you have had great success with your surgeries.

[raymar2020 (imported)]

I had cataract surgery over 10 years ago on both eyes. I was reaching the point that driving was angerous. OMG the difference it made then, and still. Glad to hear you had success too, and I recommend it to anyone who needs it .

Raymar

[butterflyjack (imported)]

I'm going to my optometrist's office today to have my eyelids measured for surgical reduction( uppers)..they droop down far enough to impede my vision...He'll give me a doctor's name for the actual surgery (ugh)....Jackie

[msts1945 (imported)]

hmm! I just spent 4 hours in the eye specialist after being referred by my GP. I have very quickly (like 3 days ) started to notice an irregularity in the left eye, where straight lines have a small kinks in them when viewed slightly off center.

It turns out that I have a burst blood vessel behind the retina which is causing antibodies to create scar tissue. This scaring is causing the retina to bulge and so my vision is distorted. It is a form of Mucula . Up until fairly recently it would have spread and finally blinded that eye. However although a cure is unavailable (I thought laser might be used, but no) A treatment is now available that will dissolve (?) the scar tissue and stop the bodies antibodies from attacking the blood vessel and forming more tissue. It is thought I will have normal vision again in 4 weeks. The treatment is injecting a substance into the eye every 4 to 6 weeks, possibly for the remainder of my life. The drug costs $2000 a month and is covered by my medical but only if they approve the treatment. I understand my veterans insurance fund will approve it.

This led me to think about what might cause this, because although I have level 2 Diabetes it is being controlled by diet and exercise for now, and my heart monitor is excellent for my age (now its 138/89 pulse 78) Cholesterol 6 month average 3.8. So I asked what might cause the blood vessel to burst. He said various things, but it is thought a small clot might have found its way into the tiny blood vessels in the eye causing the eventual rupture. It is not that uncommon in men. After leaving the practice and being driven home, I wondered what significance "men" had and also if my own behavior might have influenced this condition. In fact I have been banding myself for up to an hour regularly for the last 7 years or so. Although I don't use multiple bands, I do experience numbness and an inability to masturbate for up to two weeks after a session. My full feeling always seems to return after the second week, usually within a few days.

So what are the chances that banding may have caused my clot?

In another thread it was said by a medical professional, that banding of the penis was highly unlikely in a normal healthy male to cause clots to form. However small clots that might not harm the brain or the heart might harm an eye?

Wondering if others might like to add to this

Cheers

[Riverwind (imported)]

Had the stitch taken out of the left eye, now a month of drops then I will be fitted with reading glasses. YES someone turned on the lights and for the first time in forever I can see.

MSTS1945, The VA does good work slow but good work and the price is right. A person in the waiting room had the same thing you have and was in for his monthly injection into the eye so I know they do it.

Check them out.

River

[nvrgag44 (imported)]

Happy for you, Riv. I live with irrational fear that something may happen to my eyesight. I'd rather be dead than blind. I see an ophthalmologist annually and so far, so good.

Long story, short: My wife had a rare form of eye cancer about 4 years ago. We were referred to Wills Eye Clinic in Philadelphia. An unbelievable place. IMHO they work miracles there. They cured her and she's still OK.

As far as injections go my wife had 7 doses of Avistan injected about 4 months apart. The first at Wills and the others back here. No day at the beach. It's not the injection that hurts but the preparation. The eye must be thoroughly cleansed prior to the injection to avoid infection. The cleaning irritates the eye. She would come home afterwards and go to bed. She slept the rest of the day. By the end of the second day she was feeling more back to normal. The Avistan is like chemo for the eye, a preventative to keep the cancer from recurring.

[Riverwind (imported)]

You know I was thinking about my grandfather who went blind and my father who had surgery 40 years ago and then what they can do today.

All I can say is wonderful.

River

[transward (imported)]

A number of years ago, I was working as an optician for an opthalmologist in Colorado Springs. We had an elderly patient with cataracts in both eyes, badly in need of surgery. Unfortunately he also had the acute form of glaucoma, that can destroy not only vision, but the eye itself, and the Dr. couldn't operate on the cataracts until the glaucoma was controlled. The patient had to come into the office three or four times a week for treatment, and he lived about thirty miles up Ute Pass, at that time a narrow two lane highway through a steep, twisty canyon, and, as a major East-West route, carrying large numbers of lumbering, tailgating 18 wheelers. He made that drive most days for nearly three months. Finally his glaucoma was controlled, and he had cataracts fixed, ending up with better than 20/20 vision. With his wonderful new vision, he made that trip one more time, and was so terrified by what he had been driving every day, that he immediately gave up his driver's licence.

Transward