info on cataract surgery

hello,

I am a 49 year old woman. When I was 29, i suffered a retinal
detachment in my left eye. This was repaired with a silicon buckle.
Two years later, \i had a detachment in my right eye, once again it
was repaired witha buckle. Two years after that, \i develolped an
allergy to silicon and had to have both buckles removed. \luckily,
the car tissue has held everything in place since. About 10 years
ago, i developed macular degeneration (wet form) in my left eye and am
bacically blind in that eye. \now, i have started to get cataracts in
both eyes. Aside from the fact that this all seems totally unfair for
one person, I am wondering if there ia anyone else out there who has
had so much eye problems!! The idea of more surguery is frightening
as every surgery seems to take away a bit more of my precious little
bit of vision. \i would appreciate any input from anyone who has
experienced anything close to this.

You are right, this doesn't seem fair to have suffered so many
problems with your eyes. My father-in-law is a retinal specialist and
I asked him about your problem. He said it isn't that uncommon to see
this combination of problems - he has several patients who have
similar medical histories. He combines the surgery with medicinal
treatments. He's based in Italy and developed Phototrop, which is an
omega-3 based formula that improves the healing of the retina, plus an
anti-inflammatory composition. Unfortunately, Phototrop is currently
unavailable in the States. I myself am trying to get his formula on
the U.S. market along with his new anti-inflammatory product, but that
won't be until the Fall of this year, so I don't have an immediate
solution for you. I hope you can use some of this information to help
your doctor provide you with the best treatment.

What's really surprising is that you got wet mac degen at age 39. I
would think that is very uncommon and would recommend you do everything
possible to keep yourself healthy (careful diet, regular exercize,
etc). The early cataracts may have resulted from the other surgeries,
but are relatively easy to fix. I would make sure the retinas are
firmly "down" before going in (maybe a second retinologist opinion), but
the surgery for cataracts is pretty simple and safe. Don't let them
talk you into any kind of multifocal or "focusing" IOL.

As bad luck as you've had, it's not the worst. Consider my patient,
about your age, who went in for lower back surgery a couple of years
ago. She had 20/20 vision both eyes. Came out of surgery totally blind
in both eyes (4+ hours face down under general anesthesia apparently
cause extremely low blood pressure that killed her optic nerves). Now
she has a guide dog and is learning braille, but at least her house was
paid for by the settlement. There's always someone in worse straits.

w.stacy, o.d.

laggerlady wrote:

>hello,
>
>I am a 49 year old woman. When I was 29, i suffered a retinal
>detachment in my left eye. This was repaired with a silicon buckle.
>Two years later, \i had a detachment in my right eye, once again it
>was repaired witha buckle. Two years after that, \i develolped an
>allergy to silicon and had to have both buckles removed. \luckily,
>the car tissue has held everything in place since. About 10 years
>ago, i developed macular degeneration (wet form) in my left eye and am
>bacically blind in that eye. \now, i have started to get cataracts in
>both eyes. Aside from the fact that this all seems totally unfair for
>one person, I am wondering if there ia anyone else out there who has
>had so much eye problems!! The idea of more surguery is frightening
>as every surgery seems to take away a bit more of my precious little
>bit of vision. \i would appreciate any input from anyone who has
>experienced anything close to this.
>
>
>

> I would make sure the retinas are
> firmly "down" before going in (maybe a second retinologist opinion), but
> the surgery for cataracts is pretty simple and safe. Don't let them
> talk you into any kind of multifocal or "focusing" IOL.
>

The cataract consent form that I am looking at has the following
statement, "The doctor has explained to me that there is even a
possibility of some other complication occuring, which has not been
specifically listed in this consent. In addition, as in any operation
there is the rare possibility of drug reactions, serious bodily harm,
or even death".

It is nice to know the operation is "pretty simple and safe",
otherwise.

Don W.

In article <(E-Mail Removed) .com>, Don
W <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> The cataract consent form that I am looking at has the following
> statement, "The doctor has explained to me that there is even a
> possibility of some other complication occuring, which has not been
> specifically listed in this consent. In addition, as in any operation
> there is the rare possibility of drug reactions, serious bodily harm,
> or even death".
>
> It is nice to know the operation is "pretty simple and safe",
> otherwise.

It is usually safe but they will cover themselves with disclaimers. And
after all it is surgery. That is why you don't want to have it unless
your quality of life is affected, like for example you can't drive.

--
Charles

>
> It is usually safe but they will cover themselves with disclaimers. And
> after all it is surgery. That is why you don't want to have it unless
> your quality of life is affected, like for example you can't drive.
>
> --
> Charles

Yup,

Death would affect my (as they say) QoL.

Don W.

In article <(E-Mail Removed) .com>,
"laggerlady" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> hello,
>
> I am a 49 year old woman. When I was 29, i suffered a retinal
> detachment in my left eye. This was repaired with a silicon buckle.
> Two years later, \i had a detachment in my right eye, once again it
> was repaired witha buckle. Two years after that, \i develolped an
> allergy to silicon and had to have both buckles removed. \luckily,
> the car tissue has held everything in place since. About 10 years
> ago, i developed macular degeneration (wet form) in my left eye and am
> bacically blind in that eye. \now, i have started to get cataracts in
> both eyes. Aside from the fact that this all seems totally unfair for
> one person, I am wondering if there ia anyone else out there who has
> had so much eye problems!! The idea of more surguery is frightening
> as every surgery seems to take away a bit more of my precious little
> bit of vision. \i would appreciate any input from anyone who has
> experienced anything close to this.

Been there and done that.

I've had retinal detachments in both eyes. The buckle in my right eye
is fine, although, there is astigmatism that isn't correctable. I've
had cataract surgery in both eyes. I didn't get a buckle in my left
eye, since it would worsen my vision. I see well. A good surgeon will
not take away from your vision.

In article <(E-Mail Removed) .com>,
"Don W" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> > I would make sure the retinas are
> > firmly "down" before going in (maybe a second retinologist opinion), but
> > the surgery for cataracts is pretty simple and safe. Don't let them
> > talk you into any kind of multifocal or "focusing" IOL.
> >
>
> The cataract consent form that I am looking at has the following
> statement, "The doctor has explained to me that there is even a
> possibility of some other complication occuring, which has not been
> specifically listed in this consent. In addition, as in any operation
> there is the rare possibility of drug reactions, serious bodily harm,
> or even death".
>
> It is nice to know the operation is "pretty simple and safe",
> otherwise.

Crossing the street is simple and safe. Still, people die. Cataract
surgery is pretty minor, but the consent form isn't.

> > otherwise.
>
> Crossing the street is simple and safe. Still, people die. Cataract
> surgery is pretty minor, but the consent form isn't.

Cataract surgery is known to accelerate the onset of macular
degeneration. Or make a present MD shituation worse. The operation
may be simple but the surrounding conditions may make it unsafe.

Don W.

Don W wrote:

>Cataract surgery is known to accelerate the onset of macular
>degeneration. Or make a present MD shituation worse. The operation
>may be simple but the surrounding conditions may make it unsafe.
>
>Don W.
>
>
>
>
Those are strong words. I don't think it's been established that cat.
surg. accelerates the onset; in fact how would that be proven? It
would have to be quite a study. And most MD patients end up with better
vision post cataract surgery. The last sentence may be true for some
special conditions, but the procedure remains very safe in good hands,
and pretty risky in bad hands. You might be jumping to some conclusions,
as you could say the incidence of death among cataract surgery
recipients is higher than the incidence of death in the general
population. That would be a true but meaningless statement, due to the
age gradient. What would also be true but perhaps more meaningful is
that people with cataracts live longer if they have IOLs installed than
if they don't.

w.stacy, o.d.