Last week I went for a check-up to my regular optometrist and was told that I needed cataract surgery on my right eye. I knew that I had the beginnings of a cataract, but over the course of two years, it had grown to the point that I'm aware of glare more than I was previously, especially at night. I don't do highway driving at night anyway, but I do drive around town.
The optometrist said he could get me up to only 20/40 vision with glasses in the right eye, and he wanted me to schedule the surgery with the eye surgeon that he works with right then. I'm thinking, "Not so fast. 20/40 is not bad, if I see 20/20 in the left eye." My vision in the right eye still seems pretty good to me. I'm a little (not a lot) phobic about invasive medical interventions. I know what the surgery is like, because I watched on TV with a microscopic camera when my mother had the surgery. A tiny slit in the eye, the break-up of the lens by ultrasound, the pieces suctioned out, and then the placement of the new folded lens through the slit, and - voila! - it's done.
I want to check around to see if the optometrist's eye-surgeon associate has a good reputation around town. It seems to me that there's no rush, and I can take a little time to inquire about the surgeon and see if there is another surgeon in town who does the surgery who has an outstanding reputation. So that's what I shall do.
You are exactly right. Always check around about your doctors.
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing more important any patient can do for herself than to ask: "What's the rush?" Then realize that if the answer "there is none" is self-evident, ask many more questions.
ReplyDeleteIf your health care providers seem offended by your reasonable questions and/or self-advocacy, its time to shop around. You're ABSOLUTELY correct on this one, Mimi.
In this case, my minor phobia pushed me to do the right thing. Of course, an emergency or life-threatening situation is a whole different matter.
ReplyDeleteI wish you well, Grandmere. My mother and stepfather both had the surgery last summer. After a lifetime of eyeglasses and contact lenses they are both seeing well without now. I am next in line but, like you, I am not in a hurry. Something about having my eyes operated on makes me appreciate what they do all that much more and scares me a bit. Good luck!
ReplyDeletePriscilla, welcome and thank you. My mother had both eyes done in two separate surgeries. After that she was able to read the newspaper without glasses, something she had not done for years. Yes, I'm particularly squeamish about eye surgery.
ReplyDeleteVery smart to wait and check out doctor reputations. My Mom had hers done many, many years ago when you had to be kept in the hospital with your head in sandbags to prevent any movement. We've come a long way, baby, as they say. However, like you, I am very squeamish about anyone doing eye surgery on me.
ReplyDeleteGood luck, pray and take your time making a decision.
Go for it, Mimi!
ReplyDeleteWhiteycat, thanks. I'm so glad that we've come a long way from those days.
ReplyDeleteOrmonde, I will go for it in my own time.
Good on you Mimi, Don't be bullied.
ReplyDeleteDear Grandmere,
ReplyDeleteI am another Grandmere,and I have had cataracts removed from each eye-done separately. I am glad that I had it done and feel more secure when I have to drive at night. Checking around is a good thing, but cataracts are a work in progress, that is, they sneakily contine to grow, so your vision will not stay where it is now. jest sayin'
I love your blog, (but not your Louisianna Governor, ye Gods):>)
Nij from NE
Nij, welcome. I will definitely have the surgery, but I'm not in a great hurry. I don't even want to think about it until I return from my trip to England which begins on March 18. And, no. I won't be driving on the wrong side of the road over there. ;o)
ReplyDeleteMy mother had cataract surgery a couple of years ago. The change was tramatic. Befor her handwriting had deteriorated enourmously (think Q E I), after it was the same perfect teacher's writ as it used to be.
ReplyDeleteAnd it isn't even very expensive - and it has been done for thousands of years.
I highly recommend it!
But it seeems that it has to be a kind of laze thing doen a year or so after.
Göran, I'll probably have the surgery done before year is over, after I've done my investigations.
ReplyDeleteI think that's for the best. No reason to sit about in gloom.
ReplyDeleteMimi, after you've checked out the doctors go for it. I had both eyes done (6 months apart) about 20 years ago and I am so grateful. There was no pain with the surgery and I went from bottle thick glasses ( I was also very near-sighted) to a minimum prescription. I do not wear any glasses at the computer and I can read in good light without glasses at all. I must admit though that I was very nervous before the first eye was done, but I could no longer drive at night and that pushed the decision. My very wise doctor said I'd know when the time was right.
ReplyDeleteYes, the idea of eye surgery makes me squirm so I understand your feelings but many friends tell me the results are amazing. Best Wishes and prayers.
ReplyDeleteI hope you find a surgeon you can trust for this--it makes all the difference to know you are in good hands.
ReplyDeleteI guess the time is right, although, except for the glare at night, I think I see pretty well. I know my mother did very well after her surgery. Her cataracts were much worse than mine. By the time she had her surgery, she could hardly see. Thanks for all the information, prayers, and good wishes.
ReplyDeleteSong, for a small town, we have very good doctors and many more specialists than would normally be found in a town this size. It's just that I haven't needed an eye specialist for a number of years, and I've lost track of who are the best ones. I'm confident that I can find a good one.
By all means check out the eye surgeon. Then do it. I too am phobic about cutting into my body. Let me offer my testimony.
ReplyDeleteI kept putting off the procedure in spite of declining vision. One bright October afternoon, I almost drove up the rear loading ramp of a moving van parked inn the shade. The next morning I called the eye clinic my internist had recommended years ago.
I was of two minds as I started down the examination road to surgery. This clinic was set up to make money. It was efficient in capital letters. On the other hand, I’ve been going to the same internist for more than twenty years and the Docs at the clinic were all Board Certified.
‘Cut me’ day arrived. The nurses and techs were kind and gentle as they prepped me. Properly strapped and swathed on the gurney, they wheeled me into surgery. I never saw my Doc. He talked not to me but to the staff. I had a brief moment of panic. Then he started. His machine sounded like an Irish Bag Pipe. I focused on our two weeks in Dublin. Presto! It was done. I walked out with a twenty-four hour eye patch and then better vision than I had enjoyed for five years.
Welcome, Funky Grandpa. Don't worry. I won't put the procedure off for long. I'll get serious about planning for it when I return from England.
ReplyDeleteDoctors who won't talk to me really disturb me. I called off surgery many years ago with a doctor who would not communicate and found another to do it, one who would talk to me. I thought I might be ostracized by all the doctors in my small town because of it, because back then, they all stood together.
I'll be on the gurney, pretty much a wreck, wanting to call the whole thing off, but I won't, short of gross mistreatment. And I know that I will be better off after the surgery.
You are right to take your time. There is no rush with cataract surgery and deciding on what surgeon to choose is critical. I have created a document for my cataract patients to help them in choosing a surgeon. Perhaps you will find it helpful:
ReplyDeletehttp://sgveye.com/en/resources/35-about-your-eyes/233-10-things-you-must-know-before-choosing-your-cataract-surgeon
The advice in this document can be applied to choosing any surgeon in any specialty, not just cataract surgeons.
Sincerely,
David D. Richardson, M.D.
Medical Director
San Gabriel Valley Eye Associates, Inc.
207 S. Santa Anita Street, Suite P-25
San Gabriel, CA 91776
626.289.7856
Dr. Richardson, thank you for your good words and the link. I read the information there, and it is excellent. I knew there was no hurry to have the surgery, and I knew that I was being pushed because the ophthalmologist was concerned that I would choose a surgeon other than his associate, which I may well do - or not - but it will be my choice and not because I was pushed.
ReplyDeleteOne doctor here is well-known for his surgical skills, but he is aging, and I wonder how long the eye-hand skills continue. I suppose it differs for different people. He has no bedside manner. He's brusk and doesn't take kindly to questions. Your information will be quite helpful.