A few years ago a friend of mine got cataract surgery. He had worn glasses since childhood, but after the surgery he had perfect 20/20 vision and great reading vision. That sounded awesome, and naturally I wanted this surgery too even though I didn't have cataracts. I grumbled a bit about that and then forgot about it.
Until a couple of months ago, that is, when I checked into it and discovered that you could indeed get cataract surgery even if you didn't have cataracts. It's called Refractive Lens Exchange or Clear Lens Replacement and the big drawback is that you have to pay for it yourself since insurance won't cover it if you don't actually have cataracts.
So that's what I've been doing for the past couple of days. On Monday they did my right eye and today they did my left eye. After a day my right eye already has about 20/30 vision and it will get better over the next few weeks.
My reading vision, however, is totally shot. But this is where the latest and greatest high-tech lenses come in. I chose to buy RxLAL lenses from a company called RxSight here in Southern California. Their claim to fame is that unlike other lenses, you can adjust these after they've been implanted and the eye has healed completely. The first adjustment happens in 2-3 weeks, and that's when the lenses will be tweaked to provide sharp near vision. After a few more adjustments it's all done and the lenses are locked in place.
The only real downside to all this is that the adjustments are done using UV light. This means that for the next few weeks I have to wear UV glasses at all times so I don't wreck the implanted lenses. After they're locked in place, I don't need them anymore.
In the meantime, I have to wear the UV glasses everywhere I go and reading glasses whenever I want to read or use the computer. This is a pain in the ass, but it should be worth it. There are other multifocal lenses on the market, but the RxLAL lenses are a bit clearer and don't produce halos around bright light. That's the promise, anyway. A month from now I'll know for sure.
you should be wearing aviators ...
He's more machine than man, now.
Plus, he's embraced the Dark Side.
Actually, looks like Kevin Drum is turning into NFL insider Peter King.
Shorter Kevin: "I'll be back."
Very high tech. Enjoy your perfect eyes. I actually have cataracts (they're very bad yet), so I will have Medicare pay for mine.
Now you'll be able to re-read all your favorite books like you've never read them before.
Look at your bookshelves. Do you have any old style wargames from SPI or Avalon Hill?
Panzer Blitz FTW!
p.s. I had cataract surgery with lens replacement a couple years ago. My choices were single prescription near or far. As I didn't wear glasses previous bifocal lenses were not recommended and I chose "far" so I could drive without glasses but need them to read. Glad to hear you got a way better option. Speedy recovery!
Panzerblitz - A classic!! 🙂
You are more courageous than I am. I am not getting surgery ever unless I need it.
BTW my wife had cataract surgery at both eyes, the first years ago, the second more recently. Due to a communications error she now has one lens for near vision and one for far. Almost as good as Kevin's and for much less money. Plus that lower price was paid by Medicare! And no UV glasses!
That's actually pretty common. People do it with contact lenses too. My eyes, for example, will be tuned slightly differently, one for near vision and one for far.
I know it isn't necessarily comparable but can you give us an idea of cost? I tried to get laser surgery 25 years ago but my corneas were too thin. I'd love to remove my glasses!!
That's what they do for Lasik and similar: one eye does near, the other does far. How does that impact binocular vision? Like, for driving -- or even more dangerously, for working in the kitchen?
As you age the eyes lose their range of focus, so that your vision can be corrected to give good up close vision or good distance vision, but not both. Mono vision, where one eye is correct for up close and one for distance works well. I have been wearing monovision contacts for 30 years and rarely notice it. The first month was rough, they had my dominant eye as the up close eye, and when driving I had real issues seeing. Eventually my brain rewrote my image processing software and things were fine.
"rewrote" or "re-booted"?
Version 1.0 used my left eye as the dominate eye for distance. Version 1.1 uses the right eye.
There are men in iron boats in the sky, we make suns upon the land, our eyes are crystals, make cures in flasks, we shout across the world without moving our lips, and still people kneel in front of pews.
At least cats still hunt.
Like +10.
Is that Vincent Price's monologue from "Thriller"?
Eerily, no.
Cool.
Maybe it's better not to reading anything for a few weeks...
Covid starting to go back up in places in US (from sewage surveys), and Europe is being hit hard (with little/no lag between rise in cases and rise in hospitalizations).
And oh yeah, there's a land war in Europe. I keep clicking my heels together, but nothing changes.
You aren’t wearing the right kind of shoes for that. Not sure I’d want to go to Kansas in any event.
Well, congrats, Kevin. And small freaking world, I had cataracts surgery (right eye only) yesterday at a fancy private clinic here in Beijing. But unlike you I needed it. I went with German-made lenses (Zeiss). I may opt to get the left eye done, too, to jettison the reading glasses, but I'm going to give it some time.* I don't think Zeiss lenses can be adjusted post-surgery, but I am told about a third of implantees need to go back at some points for a touch up to deal with opacity issues. (The other option the clinic offered was a US brand, but some of my research indicated the Zeiss give a bit more of a "wow" factor in terms of crystalline, restored vision).
*Opthamologist told me the eyes learn to "work together" and I may be able to do fine and go eyeglasses-free with only the right having the surgery. But I'm guessing I'm going to break down and spring for the left eye, too, because, who doesn't want to experience the world like an 18 year old again?
I thought, "What a great idea! I should to that!" But you lost me at "pay for it myself."
To quote the old ad campaign:
"Who's that behind them Foster Grants"????
I had cataract surgery a couple of years ago. I got Symfony lenses. The result was 20/20 in one eye 20/25 in the other from 20/70. The only negative are photophasia's with car headlights and taillights. I can manage it in most situations but I'd never drive at night in a place like Vegas on a really heavy commute.
I heard about what Kevin did but it wasn't readily available and Symfony seemed like the best option at the time although I'm not certain it was in retrospect.
I'm also having a second vitrectomy, first eye done, to clear floaters. Turned my eye from a dirty windshield to a bug-free clean one. Amazing stuff being done with eyes these days.
Wanted to add one other thing, well two. In theory, these surgeries are a one-time thing, meaning forever for both eyes although I suspect old age and gravity, might maybe disagree if I live long enough.
The other thing is that the Symfony is good except for inside of 12”, there I need reading glasses.
A vitrectomy may be in my future, too. My left I has a couple of floaters here and there, but my right eye is completely full of junk, so much that when I get a retinal image at my optometrist the field is covered with a zillion bright points of light.
That's very weird that I typed "I" when I meant "eye."
You were think about your I, of course.
I get typos like that a lot. I figure a really efficient connection has grown up in my brain between where I hear what I'm trying to say and where I'm telling my fingers which keys to hit. So I often type something that sounds like the thing. And I used to think a lot of people didn't know how to spell. Now I know they probably do know, but their brains are taking shortcuts.
In some ways, the vitrectomy was more impactful than the cataract surgery. Obviously, I could see well again, so the cataract removal was more important, but not having a roomful of flies is a big deal too. I really noticed it driving, I wasn't ping ponging my vision all over the place.
It's not nearly as easy of a surgery as cataract. There's 3-days of a patch, you sleep with one for 2 weeks, and you can't really exercise, other than walking for 2 weeks. And it hurts a bit, unlike cataract's where everything is just better (you can't exercise for 2 weeks), but not patches and you are driving the next day.
Good to hear the vitrectomy was a success. I have resisted thus far.
I had a rare result of cat surgery. Double vision. Now I have to wear different glasses with prism correction. One for the computer monitor and one for driving. Pain in the ass. I walk away from the computer and forget to put on the other glasses.
Yikes, I am definitely an oldster in this group. I had my cataracts removed three years ago because I needed klieg lights to read. A year later I was back to have a laser treatment to remove protein from the lenses. I believe it is back already. Some of us are 'lucky' I guess. Medicare paid for mine with a choice of reading or distance only. If you want more, you pay.
Congratulations Kevin, I hope these work for you and be kind to them. Eye drops, are good but pass them by your physician first. You may notice dry eyes.
I had cataract surgery about 5 years ago, and opted for the multi focal lenses. Before the surgery, I needed corrective lenses for distance vision, but not for reading or using a computer screen. Post-op, I had 20-20 distance vision, but needed cheaters for reading and computing. A few months ago, I developed fuzzy vision in one eye. Turns out it was scar tissue from the surgery that had detached and was floating around under my lens. A simple laser treatment fixed that, and my cyborg eyes are back to working fine. Best wishes for speedy healing!
My rule of thumb for any surgery is: don't do it unless it is medically necessary. My stepson, the orthopedic surgeon, agrees with me. There's no such thing as zero risk surgery. My eyes are not the absolute best, but I do pretty well with progressive lenses in my glasses.
The mortality risk from cataract surgery is very low but it is not zero. That's not worth the risk, to me, to avoid putting glasses on once a day. And glasses are way cheaper.
I’m thinking “Blues Brothers”….
Hi Kevin sorry to be late for this post but I have a question. I'm considering getting the RxSight light adjustable lenses and I'm curious about what restrictions they put on you afterwards in terms of showering, exercise, activity, etc and for how long?
I've been wearing glasses my whole life so who cares about another month or so with the UV-blockers, as long as they're appropriate for a work environment.
Did they make you sleep with an eye patch? I've read some implanted lenses require that for a week or so.
Thanks
n in ny