One never knows...

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Bill - 15 May 2005 22:34 GMT

I've watched and sometimes contributed to this forum for quite a few years.
Even back when Hal and RC would 'get into it'.
So I thought you might appreciate my recent experience.
My history is like Earle Jones's with trabs in both eyes after the many meds
and lasers etc. One cataract removal and waited a long time before opting
for this most recent one.

Waiting was due to not wanting to take a risk if not needed. Well time came
where the second eye was not contributing much vision and even interfering
with the good eye vision. Having learned that cataracts get hard in time the
eye doc confirmed it was like a rock.

So last Wednesday he operated and said on a scale of 1 to 10 this one was a
ten. Most difficult he ever had to remove. But he is a great technician, the
kind that other ophthalmologists send their difficult cases to. Managed to
do it with only a 3mm incision and the day after revealed the pressure held
at 13.
However the cornea became swelled which he said was not surprising under
these circumstances and would take a couple of weeks to get back to normal.

I have noticed the dense fog-like vision improves a little each day.
Wanted to test my vision driving with one eye so decided to give the wife a
rest from driving and got in the car for the experiment.
Now here comes the strange part. I didn't see any noticeable difference in
driving. I was flabbergasted. Finally it dawned on me that I have been
driving around with one eye vision for some time and didn't realize it. One
never knows, does one?

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Bill W.

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Earle Jones - 16 May 2005 06:02 GMT

> I've watched and sometimes contributed to this forum for quite a few years.
> Even back when Hal and RC would 'get into it'.
[quoted text clipped - 23 lines]
> driving around with one eye vision for some time and didn't realize it. One
> never knows, does one?

*
Bill:

Moral of the story: Why wait? When your Ophthalmologist notices
that you have a cataract on the way -- take care of it! The lens
replacement surgery is rather simple. And when your drops are not
doing the job they are intended to do (and you have been taking them
for ten - twenty years) ask your doctor about a trabeculectomy.

You know my story -- thirty plus years of drops -- everything from
pilocarpine to xalatan -- and then the magic of bilateral
trabeculectomy.

Now -- for the past five years -- no drops and no problems! IOP is
now 14-16 and central visual acuity is 20:20 with a small
(1-diopter) correction.

Good luck!

earle
*

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Martin Egerup - 17 May 2005 22:14 GMT

It is good to hear that trabs work good for some people.
I have a trab in my right eye, but even with Mitomycin the prognosis is that
it will grow over with fibrous tissue, thus needing a repetition of the
surgery.
If one is as young as I (28), the surgery part is quite a bit more tricky.
It is good to hear that the cataract surgery is helping you, I am getting my
bad eye fixed in a month or so.
How is the experience of acommodation after the surgery? They will take care
of a few synechias in the process, so I don't know how much accomodation to
expect from the pulpil. What is to be expected from the lenses that can be
made to help accommodate? How well do they work? And do anyone have
experience with adapting to this unilaterally?

All the Best,
Martin Egerup

>> I've watched and sometimes contributed to this forum for quite a few
>> years.
[quoted text clipped - 58 lines]
> earle
> *

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Bill - 18 May 2005 12:52 GMT

My sympathy goes out to you, Martin.
I hope Dr. Rick will see and respond to your inquiry. If not, a post to his
attention would be worthwhile indeed.
Experience of posters here as you may see shows different results per
individual.
In your case at 28yrs it really depends on good attention from your eye
doctors, both regular ophthalmologist and the surgeon if another is used for
the operation. I have been fortunate to receive very good attention from
professionals for 35 years of glaucoma treatment including surgeries.
My experience with the cataracts was different for each eye. They were both
performed on the eyes with existing trabs therefore the entrance to the
sight was from the side as opposed to the top of the eye in a normal
condition. The first was done when the trab was a few years old. The second
when the trab was about 10 or 12 yrs old. The first one was more 'normal' in
that it cleared in a few days and stabilized sight within 3 to 4 weeks. That
doesn't mean vision was bad in that period, only lens adjusting to new
environment to get ready for a new glass prescription.
This most recent one, because of the hardness of the cataract and the
difficulty in removal led to a plus 4 edema in the cornea. It is one week
old now and the foggy vision is clearing day by day. It is estimated to take
a couple of more weeks to get ready for a new glass prescription.
Accommodating is the keyword since the new lens not only has to adjust to
new surroundings but the other eye must get used to its new neighbor which I
find interesting. The good part is that sight improves on a daily basis. A
good place to review cataract information is http://www.allaboutvision.com
I wish you the best of luck in your operation and recovery and at the risk
of sounding like a grandfather, please follow all instructions and take meds
as prescribed in a faithful manner. It will make your chances of success
much more likely.
Bill

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