After thee cancellations I was finally able to to keep my eye appointment in Winston this morning. Dr. Hill has been seeing me for 10 years and tracking my cataracts. Dad had glaucoma so she is watching that as well. I prefer to keep her as my eye doctor for those reasons instead of switching to one up here.
I left here early enough to run a couple of errands then headed back up the mountain around 11:40 when I finished up. Back home, I had phone calls to make and a kit issue to take care of. It’s a beautiful day but 41 degrees and windy. Snow showers in the forecast and very cold air returns for tonight. Not much of an accumulation predicted for Sparta.
Having a long history with a doctor is pretty important to ones overall care and wel being, and one of the things that, in my area, has become increasingly difficult to do. The changes to the medical industry that seem to be spurred by the insurance industry and ACA have accelerated the outflux of doctors in my region.
We had a bit of snow last week but below seasons norms. Fair today, cold cold cold over the weekend. Dogs really didn’t care to do more than the bare minimum outside. A farmer friend has begun lambing season and had four ewe deliver (fortunately in her barn) when the temps dropped below zero.
Brrr.
Barbara,
A couple observations re cataracts & glaucoma.
I was extremely myopic since childhood, and despite Ray Thompson’s constant insistence that I’d really love new IOLs, I waited and waited before having them done. The old fart was right, I do! But I’ve learned a few things since then, and figured I ought to pass them along.
1. After IOLs, you have absolutely no power of accomodation, so if you spend a lot of time reading, have them use lenses a bit under-powered so you won’t need reading glasses.
2. I think the push is to seĺl the fancy new lenses which are “bifocal”. Aside from the expense, I suspect they are more trouble than just glasses (bifocal or whatever) to wear on top of your new eyeballs.
3, Color! I got conned into getting IOLs with a slight yellow tint as it was supposedly better for some damn reason. I wish to God I hadn’t. It shifts your color perception ten ways from Sunday and blue, in particular, is muted. I’m still futzing with the technical calibration on my TV (hidden settings used by repair folks) to get the color rendered the way I’d like.
4. Flaring. This was and *IS* the worst drawback. I don’t know what caused it, and my Doc calls it a “high-order abberation” which is Doc-speak for “Hell if I know”. So please, please discuss this possible side effect with your doc before ever getting cataract replacement surgery and insist he does all he can to minimize it.
5. Dry eyes. Another side effect not mentioned beforehand. You’re going to need a lubricant like Restayne every morning. If I had the balls, I’d make my own solution with methylcellulose, but it’s really confusing because there are many types. The damn drops are expensive, too!
6. Glaucoma. Runs in the family so I always , ahem, keep an eye on it. 19/18 for years, praise the Lord. I don’t trust those air-puff machines and think they’ve fallen out of favor anyway, but make sure you get a direct pressure reading.
My cataract surgery went extremely well. I have clear lenses so no color distortion. Doc knew I photographed and never offered the option as he knew it would skew my color perception.
I also opted for distance vision and just use reading glasses when I am reading or working on a computer. Most people need reading glasses at my age so it seemed reasonable. I have the progressive lenses (expensive) and they work very well. I preferred distance vision as I have diopter adjustment in my cameras viewfinders.
I found the procedure trivial and absolutely remarkable. I have no dry eyes, flaring is at a minimum, glaucoma is not an issues.
I also had a vitrectomy before the cataract surgery. Cataracts are a side effect of that procedure. Both eyes. Also had the retina lasered to avoid problems.
I would consider my procedures an absolute success.