Bill P

I had both eyes done at one time. Surgeon was incredibly good. When visiting a specialist for something like this, I always ask "How many of these procedures do you do in a week/month/year." His answer was "Oh, I don't know, a lot. I can tell you I have done over 22,000 in my career." I was confident and it went well.

I got them done early in the process, so I didn't see a big change in color perception. I got both eyes corrected to 20/20. I have a friend that had his done, he's a graphic artist and his surgeon told him don't worry, I'll do one eye for close and the other for distance. He said he was almost on unemployment. He did all his art by hand and he simply couldn't with out binocular vision. He was son introduced to Adobe Illustrator, and he says if it wasn't for that he would be homeless.

k2edm Loc: FN32AD

shouldn't have mattered,your brain corrects for color shift,,,ever wear a yellow ski mask?, world turns yellow,then normal,,........ then turns blue for a second or so when you take it off. your brain at work.. however,meybe your normal eye is fighting with the other and confusing your brain....interesting.....b/k
I had both done years ago,thwy also corrected for severe nearsighted, I no longer need glasses.... really a winner...

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

You do have a choice about vision correction. The most common is a fixed-focus lens that keeps everything in sharp focus from around 4-6 feet to infinity. There are variations on that, including one that keeps you nearsighted and requires glasses for driving or other distance tasks. My sister has one of each, so she can go without glasses most of the time. There are some options for varifocal replacement lenses, but they get mixed reviews.

For several years after my surgery, I had trouble with a hazy flare around all bright lights, especially headlights at night. That improved greatly over time.

If you are sitting on the fence, and qualify for it, do it one eye at a time. Cataract lens replacement surgery is among the safest surgeries available. I was seeing four of every traffic light previously. Now I see one.

henryp Loc: New York, NY

Monet had a similar problem. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Monet#Failing_sight:
"During World War I ... Monet painted a series of weeping willow trees as homage to the French fallen soldiers. In 1923, he underwent two operations to remove his cataracts. The paintings done while the cataracts affected his vision have a general reddish tone, which is characteristic of the vision of cataract victims. It may also be that after surgery he was able to see certain ultraviolet wavelengths of light that are normally excluded by the lens of the eye; this may have had an effect on the colours he perceived. After his operations he even repainted some of these paintings, with bluer water lilies than before."

Dziadzi Loc: Wilkes-Barre, PA

I just had my cataracts removed this week and notice that I don't see the amber color as I did pre surgery. Am seeing a brighter picture than I have in the past.

Xpatch Loc: New York, Antigua, GT.

I am having surgery in a month or so and I have the same issue of my reality vs others realities and. The cameras settings. It’s. Good to know it will clear up

Bill P

I had mine done before the yellow was really a problem, and I'm not a bit sorry. Still wear glasses, but that's another story. It;s a choice not a requirement.

W9OD Loc: Wisconsin

I am a retired optometrist. Many years ago, they did not do cataract surgery until the best corrected vision was 20/40 or worse. Today, because we lead a more active life style, they generally do the surgery at around 20/30 or if the individual is experiencing problems with night driving. Most people in their late fifties and into the sixties have early cataracts. One thing you will notice is a flare around lights at night. This does not mean you need surgery but they are there.

W9OD Loc: Wisconsin

I am a retired optometrist. Many years ago, they did not do cataract surgery until the best corrected vision was 20/40 or worse. Today, because we lead a more active life style, they generally do the surgery at around 20/30 or if the individual is experiencing problems with night driving. Most people in their late fifties and into the sixties have early cataracts. One thing you will notice is a flare around lights at night. This does not mean you need surgery but they are there.

WAstinkbug Loc: Silverdale, WA, U.S.A.

I had both eyes done a year and a half ago and while I don't notice as much difference with onscreen viewing, I sure do in what I see outside. It's less annoying/distracting when you have both eyes done but it annoys me slightly when I know what I'm seeing is not quite reality (such as the mountains looking bluer than I know they really are). Blues are coming in at greater saturation than before. The trippiest part for me is during the blue hour when I'm seeing lavender in the sky ... especially during overcast weather. My doctor says that is not typical... maybe I'm color sensitive. I'm thinking that might be true. My sister and I have perfect pitch (pitch memory seems more accurate to my way of thinking ... you can call up the original key from your head if you've heard something enough) and I suspect there's something like that for color as well... having it imprint in your brain and be something you can access from memory. I'm sure I'm not alone in this. People who can be out at the store and buy something to coordinate with another favorite pair of shoes or clothing item in their closet and have it MATCH when they bring it home are probably like that.

Anyway... sorry for the ramble. There were a lot of benefits in getting the surgery. I chose the multiple focal length lens so don't need to wear glasses any longer for reading or computer. I did notice a little loss in distance on one eye though... but probably not enough to impact driving. What has been the hardest and maybe not the same for all is the amount of starbursting from single light sources. Night driving is something I'd not want to do a ton of without light filtering glasses. It turns out the best type is the one you'd use for the computer... that filters blue light. Not the yellow lenses that are often recommended. The other challenge is glare with bright overhead lighting. So... the irony is that you end up wearing glasses even after the surgery but for different reasons. People who get the single focal depth lens (usually for distance) and wear readers after might not have as much starbursting or glare ... not sure. One thing that did bear out... your vision continues to improve over some months after getting the new lens. Our brains adapt. Immediately after having the first surgery, I could hardly stand to be outside in the sunlight without heavy sunglasses on. I suspect my pupils had been in a wider stance for so many years to gather more light, they forgot how to constrict that much! :o I'd get a strobing effect while they were twitching and struggling to block out too much light. That gradually improved and I don't think much about it these days.

Sorry to blab on and on about this. :-P I'm going to turn this into a cataract surgery support group!

WAstinkbug Loc: Silverdale, WA, U.S.A.

Hmm... I've heard a couple of people refer to either or when it comes to laser surgery or cataract surgery. At least, I think that's what I'm reading. Those are actually very different procedures. While they both impact a person's vision, one (laser) involves modifying the surface of the eye (cornea) while the other involves the total removal and replacement of the now cloudy lens inside the eye (they break up your own lens and extract the pieces out of the lens capsule... then put in the artificial lens). I was fascinated by how they'd be able to get the artificial lens into the eye when the real lens had to be fragmented in order to get it out through the tiny incisions they create. My doctor explained that the intraocular lens was folded up like a tiny burrito. They inject it into the lens capsule with some fluid and when it warms up, it pops open! I talked them out of giving me general anesthesia and just had the surgery done with the numbing eyedrops... and when that lens popped open, I could temporarily see all of the concentric rings on it! It was pretty amazing. After that, my eye started to focus outside of the close range of the lens and the rings became invisible ... much like specks of dust on a lens when you are focused at long distance. Anyway... it was pretty fascinating to observe the changes as she did the surgery. I love my eye doctor. She's awesome... and the same age as our eldest daughter. :o ;-)

WAstinkbug Loc: Silverdale, WA, U.S.A.

Maybe I misread that ... you're saying some doctors make the cataract surgery incisions with the laser instead of just cutting the usual way? I'm guessing I had the traditional method. The cuts are so tiny ... no stitches or anything... just being careful and using the eyedrops post-op.

Bill P

My surgeon used a scalpel, and left one small stitch in. It came out of its own. I am unaware of using a laser for the incision.

WAstinkbug Loc: Silverdale, WA, U.S.A.

My doctor recommended I consider the multi-focal length "Tecnis Symfony" lenses and that's what I opted for. They cost some bucks out of pocket though when the single focal length lenses are covered by insurance. It varies by person ... but after surgery, I don't need reading glasses for close work or the computer. I did suffer a tiny bit in distance vision but nothing dramatic or obvious. I had some old bifocals from pre-surgery and found they helped me reduce glare and bring in more clarity at distance if I needed it (such as in church ... looking toward the podium). Before surgery, I never seemed to have enough light to see fine print or the ability to decipher if too small. Now I don't usually have problems with reading labels, etc. I think many people still use reading glasses after having the Symfony lenses put in ... but many, like me, don't.