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Home » Eye surgery scheduled for Monday

Eye surgery scheduled for Monday

The New Neo Posted on by

Like many people “of a certain age,” I have cataracts that have gotten to the point where they impede my vision quite a bit. But unlike a lot of people, I don’t have a simple situation. Probably as a consequence of an iridotomy I had about fifteen years ago (and which I briefly mentioned in this post from 2017), I have significant adhesions in my left eye which make the cataract removal more challenging.

Right now I’m on the west coast, staying with relatives, because the eye surgeon I chose is here. I’m scheduled for the surgery in my left eye this coming Monday. It could go any number of ways, and it’s hard to predict the recovery time because it’s not the ordinary uncomplicated cataract surgery. If things go smoothly it could be quite a quick recovery, or it could take longer even if things do go smoothly otherwise.

So this post is just to let you all know what’s going on. If I have time before Monday, I may schedule a few posts for Monday and maybe Tuesday. Certainly the open posts, anyway. I’ll be planning to give you an update as soon as I can.

Comments

Eye surgery scheduled for Monday — 81 Comments

  1. Know you have the prayers of your community here Neo.
    Skilled hands & speedy recovery.

  2. Good luck. I had mine done 10 years ago after more years of wondering why my eyesight was deteriorating. Once it’s done you’ll be amazed how much better your eyesight is…

  3. I had cataract surgery on both eyes because I was going blind. At first I couldn’t see at night, and eventually also in the day. It was the best choice I ever made. Good luck on your surgery.

  6. I’m sure it will go fine.

    I had cataracts removed in 2020 and I see better than I have since age 7.

  8. Neo, best wishes to you. Gerard Van der Leun asked his readers in March of last year whether we had any advice for him about the cataract surgery he needed; he ended up with nearly 200 encouraging responses. I recognize that yours will be a more complicated procedure, but in hopes that at least some of what his readers said might be helpful to you, here’s the link to the comment thread:

    https://americandigest.org/the-eyes-have-it-a-question-for-my-readers/

    Please keep us all posted– and may you have a safe journey home as well as a full recovery.

  9. I hope your operation goes smoothly and you make a good recovery. May your next post about this be a celebration of how much better your vision is post op.

  10. neo:

    Prayers for a routine procdere, quick and uncomplicated recovery, and complete restoration of your vision.

  12. Eye surgery is one of the great boons of the modern age. My favorite charity is Seva, which has restored sight to over four million people in the Third World mostly with cataract operations in the past 40 years.

    https://www.seva.org/

    neo:

    So may all work out for you as planned. If you need to take it easy blog-wise, I’m sure you know you can.

  15. Good luck Neo, you’ll be in my prayers. My wife and I both had cataract surgery in the past 2 months and we are both seeing great. Mine was more complicated as well, since the surgeon did a procedure for my glaucoma at the same time. It went well. Please keep us informed.

  17. Neo,

    Best of luck on the surgery. I know yours is more complicated, but to share my experience: Best thing I ever did. I went from 20/200 vision to 20/20.

    Your blog is one of the ones that keep me hopeful in an increasingly crazy world. Looking forward to your coming posts.

    All the best for a speedy recovery.

  21. Best of luck on your cataract surgery. I had mine done three years ago, with the laser assist to break up the old lens for easier removal and also make the incision for lens removal and replacement. The laser incision is smaller, and probably heals faster. I also paid for the multifocal lenses, so I don’t need glasses for anything but reading (I read all the time, though). I do have some glare with night driving, but that’s probably due to the multifocal lenses. The surgery itself is quick (15 minutes).

    My doctor told me that my cataracts had “gone from fifty cents to a dollar fifty” in one year, whatever that meant. I did find out later that I was on the edge of being legally blind – 20/200 to 20/400. One unexpected change was a shift in color vision; your cataract is not only cloudy, but it also absorbs blue light more than warmer colors. It’s particularly noticeable between surgeries.

    Two later complications, and I had them both. (Don’t let this scare you off from surgery!) One is a “secondary cataract,” or posterior capsular opacity. Your lens is in a sac, and for lens replacement they cut the sac open front and sides, but leave the back to help stabilize the new lens during healing. A simple laser procedure will fix it.

    The other, more serious complication is a posterior vitreous detachment (PVD), in which the vitreous gel in the eye detaches from the retina. After surgery, they’ll ask if you see any floaters or flashes; these can be symptoms of PVD. PVD can be caused by age, myopia, trauma, or recent cataract surgery; mine happened two months and seven months after surgery. Symptoms are flashes, particularly in peripheral vision, and a storm of floaters with a drop or two of bleed. If it happens, get yourself to an ophthalmologist immediately. A PVD can lead to a torn or detached retina; I had one tear, which was fixed by yet another laser procedure. Otherwise, the only long-term effect of a PVD is a large amoeba-like floater called a Weiss Ring.

  22. Wishing all goes well and you have a speedy recovery. Please accept these invisible flowers (which is quite nice since you can select whatever you want).

  23. Sincere wishes and prayers that all goes well. My second son had laser surgery which went quite well to correct his eyesight.

    Medicine is getting better – but humans are not God.

  25. Best wishes and take your time getting well. We can argue with one another perfectly well without you.

  26. Diane E Wilson:

    The good news is that I’ve already had a PVD in my right eye, and maybe in my left eye as well.

    I’m not allowed choices in lens replacement, not allowed a multifocal one because of my particular situation with the scar tissue. I think I would have chosen the unifocal distance one anyway – which is what is planned – because I hate those halos and used to do a lot of night driving. Haven’t done night driving for quite a while except a few minutes in very familiar places.

  27. Best wishes.

    I have a similar problem, I’m blind in my right eye and the doctors are hesitant to do the operation without a backup eye. The risks are low, maybe 3-4 in a thousand, but going blind would be a real problem. So I am stuck with deteriorating vision until the risk is unavoidable. I would have done it years ago otherwise.

  28. Keeping you in mind, and hoping your son’s family will be taking meticulous care of you.

  29. Chuck:

    That sounds difficult. At least, maybe during the waiting they’ll be improving their techniques and reducing risks.

  30. Good luck with your surgery. You might consider removing the apple as well; I’m sure it also obstructs your vision.

  32. Best wishes for a speedy recovery. Don’t overdo it after the surgery; we will be patient.

  33. Very best wishes, neo. Ms. M J R went in for cataract surgery for both eyes in mid-2021, around two months apart, one from the other. Here’s to a healthy recovery!

  34. Wishing you the best of luck, Neo. I, and thousands of others, read you every day. If you miss a few days, we will still be here waiting for you.

  36. Good luck, neo.

    I had my cataracts removed and replaced with uni-focal lenses about 6.5 years ago. I had to go in for another procedure merely a week later because of debris inadvertently not removed from one eye. In the many months following the surgeries, there were halos around bright lights at night, and I needed to wear sunglasses even on cloudy days here in Southern California.

    And dry eyes! Bausch & Lomb Muro128® 5% ointment really helped with that.

    After 2 or 3 years, the halos disappeared, the eye dryness completely abated, and I only needed sunglasses like other folk do. Since the surgery, the sunglasses I use are all bifocals.

    Of course, with uni-focal intraocular lenses, reading glasses are a must. I use multi-focal lenses for seeing comfortably anything within 8 feet of me, and always for reading anything within that distance.

    Like Cornhead (a/k/a Dave), my vision is better than it ever had been since elementary school.

    Diane mentioned colors. Yes. WOW! The surgeries uncovered the many colors and shades I hadn’t seen in apparently well over a decade. Comparing what you see with the operated upon left eye with what you see with the yet-to-be-operated-upon right eye will be “eye opening.”

    I think you will be very happy with the results.

  37. Prayers that all goes well with your surgery and recovery. Take your time coming back to us and spoil yourself a little!

  38. Adding my good wishes, Neo. I hope it all goes as well as mine did last year.

  39. Ira M. Siegel:

    I was told that the unifocal distance lens works for everything beyond 3 feet. Hope that’s true in my case. I think they keep changing these things so that what was the case 6.5 years ago may be different now.

    I already have a huge disparity between my 2 eyes, particularly in terms of color. Although I have cataracts in both eyes, the left eye’s vision is much much worse than the other. In my right eye, colors look quite bright (although I’m told that if and when I have surgery on that, I’ll see a change to more brightness). In my left eye the colors are relatively dulled. That’s the one that is slated for surgery, and that’s the one with the adhesions that make it more complex.

    I also have a situation where I can presently read fairly well without glasses, and I’m told I’ll need reading glassed more afterward. I do already use glasses for the computer and I should continue to need them, although perhaps different glasses (stronger or weaker I have no idea).

  40. I wish you the best for your surgery Neo. I had mine done a few years ago and I noticed a curious effect after the first eye was done. Everything looked much bluer out of the eye with the surgery. Apparently cataracts had a significant effect on Monet’s paintings as they distorted his perception of color.

    I can’t say my surgery was pleasant but I’m happy with the results. I know your surgery is more complicated than most and I hope for the very best for you.

  41. Can we all get a vote on wishing Neo good fortune?

    YUP.

    The eyes have it.

    :^P

  44. I really look forward to your successful operation and your tales of recovery. I think Althouse had it done a few years ago and wrote the most moving post about living with the decline of sight, and then its return.

  45. I am sure you will show the courage and strength you have revealed through your willingness to speak out against injustice and defend truth that you exhibit on your blog.

    May God be with you and may He grant you patience and heal you quickly.

    Here’s wishing that, like others who have commented here, you have better vision after your recovery than you have experienced in decades!

  46. I’ll be praying for you.

    I will need the operations myself in the next year, and have read a lot about them, including the fantastic material at the Gerard Van der Leun link above.

    You’re a special person, Neo. May God be with you.

  49. All the best wishes Neo for the best outcome possible and pain-free, complication-free and full recovery. Bon Chance!

  51. Neo, prayers for successful surgery! (I already pray for you when I pray for our country, as one of the patriots who are trying to get it back on track.)

  52. You will be amazed at your new high resolution vision. It makes people happy! It is an anti-depressant. Once in awhile (@15%) the capsule breaks and the lens inside is difficult to remove completely, but even with this, your eyesight will eventually be a lot better than status post ante. If the lens breaks into many pieces, there is a laser frequency they can use to break up the pieces. This is done a few weeks after the initial surgery. [Your brain can get used to floaters after a week or so.] I had this happen in one eye and it took about a year to resolve. But it is still better than before the surgery.

    So, with your adhesions this might happen but don’t worry, you’ll end up better than before. Cataract surgery these days is almost a miracle. No iris defects happen either. They used to have to take a piece of iris out. Iridectomy no more. They go through the sclera near the limbus in a tiny incision (@2mm).

  54. I’m looking forward to updates on a successful surgery and anything about it that might be of interest to those of us who are also of a certain age. Good luck.

  56. I had it two year ago, and it’s the best thing I’ve done. I chose the type of lens that gives me vision at every distance, and I’ve thrown away all my glasses and contact lens stuff. It’s like a Biblical miracle. Good luck!

  58. Wow, best wishes for a speedy and complete recovery. For some reason, one of my great fears is losing my sight, so I am very careful with my eyes. And I am fortunate to not have had any problems. In fact, at 74 years old, my eye doctor says, “I don’t know how you see as well as you do with those cataracts, but your vision is excellent!” So, I am going to put off cataract surgery for as long as I can.

  60. Hoping for a good outcome for you! I am sitting for a pre-op evaluation this week, so I am looking forward to being able to see at night again – astronomy isn’t much fun without it!

  62. Neo,

    Best of luck with your Eye Surgery.

    I had cataracts in both eyes and have had successful surgery on both.

    Don’t bother posting if it is too difficult. We will all understand.

    T

  63. Best wishes and a speedy recovery.

    I look forward to a description of your experience since I’ll be needing the surgery in the near future.

  64. Good luck Neo – be super vigilant about all the eye drops necessary post surgery. I’m sure you will!

  65. Neo. Best of luck. You have the choice, if things have not progressed since mine, of a distance lens or a close-up lens.
    I chose the distance lens since I figured two things would be true in an emergency; distance vision is necessary and, I wouldn’t be able to find my glasses.
    So I have a distance lens and close-up readers around the house. My experience is that if you have eight–couple of bucks each at the Dollar Store–you can usually find one before you start swearing.
    Or you can get close-up lenses and keep distance glasses around just in case.

    I
    I’ve had a couple of emergencies where distance vision was necessary and thus finding my specs wasn’t necessary.

    Talked to a guy who had one of each and said his brain attends to the one he needs.

    Best of luck and God bless you.

  67. You’re in my prayers.

    And if it works out properly, you will be amazed at how much better you see. I speak from experience.

  68. Prayers for your surgeon, Neo – sure hands and good judgment!!

    Also for you in the process of healing…..

    God bless.

  70. Best wishes on the surgery, Neo. I’m rooting for you as are so many others. I love your story, prose and thoughts and hope to read many for years to come.

  72. How did I miss this post for so long? Sorry o hear about the complications. My best wishes for your surgery. Don’t try to rush your recovery. We’ll all be here when you/re back up and completely recovered.

  74. Neo, I will be praying for your surgeon’s skill and for a satisfactory outcome through the day today. May your result be good and your recovery swift.

  75. The gang of commenters are right. I was scared to death before mine, but the procedure was short and painless. When I shared my nervousness with my eye surgeon, he said “Don’t worry, we’ll give you our special two-martini cocktail” and whatever they did give me was wonderful! Best wishes from one of your many fans.

  76. I had cataract surgery in both eyes in 2017. The benefits to my vision were amazing. Most trips to the dentist cause more discomfort IMO.

    A side benefit was the discovery in the pre-surgery evaluation that I already had significant glaucoma in one eye (cupping of the optic nerve) that my optometrist had not noticed. Yep, damage already done.

    So when you get to that certain age “watch out” for glaucoma. It runs in families and steals your sight.

  78. I only just read of this. Good luck with the surgery neo and hope you have a speedy recovery. I have also had significant eye surgery beyond cataracts – detached retinas when I was 18. Later had cataract surgery that went normally.

  79. I had cataract surgery three years ago. I can see clearly now. Everything used to look like it had a brown cast over it, but now the colors are so bright!

  80. Prayers for you from someone who lives next to a Benedictine monastery in north Alabama.
    Love your blog; been reading it for at least 15 years.
    Kind thoughts!

  81. Thank God.

    I’m one of those people who tear up when someone just *talks* about doing something to an eyeball.

    I don’t know how cataract surgery is done. But they would have to put me O-U-T before sharp metal came anywhere near my optic organs.

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