Price of getting older

[southernlady]

Had my yearly eye exam on Thursday...looks like I am having cataract surgery soon.Was gonna schedule it for October but the cost of the Toric lenses is a bit higher than the glasses we had budgeted for me this year. So we need a bit more to get them...aiming for January.

Surgeon wanted to wait til they were worse...I think sooner is better. My risk factor is higher due to having been so MYOPIC for decades. Those who are mildly nearsighted or not nearsighted have a 1 in 500 risk of detached retina. My risk is 1 in 200. Told him a .5% risk was acceptable esp since I am in good health otherwise.

Medicare pays for the operation and BASIC lenses but the Toric lenses is the way to go cause other than reading glasses, the Toric would allow me to get RID of glasses for the first time since I was 9 years old. I have to pay extra for the Toric lenses, tho.

My surgeon is charging $1295.00 an eye. I looked them up and the typical range is 1200-2000 an eye so his price is not outrageous.

But it's not an amount we typically have laying around, esp in the middle of a bathroom renovation.

I am just glad that if I did have to have issues with my eyes,it is correctable. I could have had diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, or macular degeneration.

 

[KathrynK]

I'd pin him down on his success rate for eliminating glasses, since no outcome in medicine is guaranteed and since that is a lot of money. But, I love the idea that there is a good chance of not needing glasses! That would save the cost of glasses every year and would make paying for the procedure cost-saving over time. Cataracts are forming in my eyes, but they are early still. Between the dentist and the osteoporosis doc, I have learned that aging isn't cheap!

 

[DianaCox]

"Those who are mildly nearsighted or not nearsighted have a 1 in 500 risk of detached retina. My risk is 1 in 200. Told him a .5% risk was acceptable esp since I am in good health otherwise."

Um, getting cataract surgery and implanting toric lenses does NOT change your risk of detached retina - your nearsightedness is because your eyeball is elongated (which puts tension on the retinal membrane trying to adhere to the back of your elongated eyeball). That will not change because you get an implant to replace your lens - the implant just does a better job of focusing the image on the back of your elongated eyeball.

Diana, who has had >700 laser zaps to repair/prevent future retinal tears, and who is very nearsighted. And looking forward to getting new lenses someday to fix my early-stage cataracts, and maybe tossing my glasses as well.

 

[southernlady]

I'd pin him down on his success rate for eliminating glasses, since no outcome in medicine is guaranteed and since that is a lot of money. But, I love the idea that there is a good chance of not needing glasses! That would save the cost of glasses every year and would make paying for the procedure cost-saving over time. Cataracts are forming in my eyes, but they are early still. Between the dentist and the osteoporosis doc, I have learned that aging isn't cheap!

Actually I did...he has a great success rate with the Toric lenses. Over 95%. Not a bad percentage. And for it to only have a .5% complication rate, it's ALMOST as good as the DS, LOL>

 

[southernlady]

"Those who are mildly nearsighted or not nearsighted have a 1 in 500 risk of detached retina. My risk is 1 in 200. Told him a .5% risk was acceptable esp since I am in good health otherwise."

Um, getting cataract surgery and implanting toric lenses does NOT change your risk of detached retina - your nearsightedness is because your eyeball is elongated (which puts tension on the retinal membrane trying to adhere to the back of your elongated eyeball). That will not change because you get an implant to replace your lens - the implant just does a better job of focusing the image on the back of your elongated eyeball.

Diana, who has had >700 laser zaps to repair/prevent future retinal tears, and who is very nearsighted. And looking forward to getting new lenses someday to fix my early-stage cataracts, and maybe tossing my glasses as well.

I know, Diana...he was talking cataract surgery in general. Not the Toric lenses. He just prefers to wait til I can't see. I am NOT a fan of that option. My risk doesn't change whether I have them done this year or in 5 years. What MIGHT change the risk is the rest of my health.

 

[DianaCox]

Well, since my retinas are already multiply spot-welded to the back of my eye, my risk should be much less.

 

[southernlady]

Well, since my retinas are already multiply spot-welded to the back of my eye, my risk should be much less.

Never had an issue with mine (there is always the first time tho). I DO have a freckle in my left eye that thankfully has not grown since it was spotted in 2007.

 

[Larra]

Your freckle in your eye was...spotted??

 

[k9ophile]

I'd pin him down on his success rate for eliminating glasses, since no outcome in medicine is guaranteed and since that is a lot of money. But, I love the idea that there is a good chance of not needing glasses! That would save the cost of glasses every year and would make paying for the procedure cost-saving over time. Cataracts are forming in my eyes, but they are early still. Between the dentist and the osteoporosis doc, I have learned that aging isn't cheap!

Some people's prescription stays the same as they get older. That's what my optician told me and mine hasn't changed for four years. I decided to forego a new pair just for the sake of new frames and spend the money on something else. Anymore new glasses cost so much, I could easily spend a week-end in the Smoky Mountains for what they cost.

 

[DSRIGGS]

Sorry to hear you need cataract surgery but I would be like you and want it fixed ASAP.

 

[hilary1617]

Best wishes for 20-20 when you get the cataract fixed! Seems inevitable for most of us.

For hard-to-shop-for friends and family (like my overseas brother-in-law), I often give the gift of restoring a blind person's eyesight through seva.org ($50 funds one cataract surgery). Check it out. They do great work around the globe.

Also worthy of mention on the topic of eyesight, mine got *better* post-DS with the weight loss - that was an unexpected bonus.

 

[southernlady]

Also worthy of mention on the topic of eyesight, mine got *better* post-DS with the weight loss - that was an unexpected bonus.

Mine got better as far as the nearsightedness went. I had vision coverage thru COBRA most of that first year. So I actually ended up with two eye exams. One was in March only 2 months after surgery...the other was at 8 months (and I was at normal BMI by then). We billed one to the vision insurance, the other thru medical (they usually paid first anyway). But better is relative. Mine is so bad anyway, anything was an improvement,

Your freckle in your eye was...spotted??

I giggled when I saw this...sounds like something my dh would have said.

Liz

 

[Munchkin]

A friend here in Vegas had cataract surgery this week. She said it was no big deal at all and was out dancing the next night. And her vision is perfect out of the eye with the new lens. She is having the other eye done this coming week. She is very excited about getting rid of her glasses!

 

[southernlady]

A friend here in Vegas had cataract surgery this week. She said it was no big deal at all and was out dancing the next night. And her vision is perfect out of the eye with the new lens. She is having the other eye done this coming week. She is very excited about getting rid of her glasses!

My MIL loves being able to see. Hers were two weeks apart. Altho she hated having her reading glasses around her neck...

 

[JuliaDS]

Everyone I know who's had the surgery has been thrilled with the results and with not wearing glasses. Wishing you the same!