Pick 19 - Cataracts

Next week I have an appointment with my Ophthalmologist. Many people my age see their Ophthalmologist because they have developed cataracts but that is not my situation. I was fortunate enough to develop cataracts in both eyes when I was 50 something. I say fortunate because my father was 60 something when he had his cataract surgery.  Unlike many of his older contemporaries, he was able to take advantage of a new surgery process developed in 1960 by Svyatoslav Fyodorov who performed the first intraocular lens replacement operation. The key word in this operation is replacement. Before Fyodorov, the lens was just cut out forcing the patient  to wear thick lenses or be declared legally blind. Even with the special glasses, driving a car was out of the question and reading the daily newspaper was a struggle.  Lens replacement was not just an aid for cataract victims. It was a cure.  My father claimed that with his lens implants he could actually see better than he had most of his life. Even though the operation was considered risky and not fully covered by Health Insurance in those days, my father said he would not hesitate to have the operation again if needed. He encouraged all of his friends to consider it too although at that time  most Ophthalmologists were still performing the older surgery because they had not been trained in the new procedure.  Like him, they would have to travel a good distance from home to get it done. Those who listened to him were never disappointed with the results. Neither was I.

For me there was also hidden value that I discovered almost by accident thanks to my Optometrist. I had worn glasses for near-sightedness since 7th grade. At the time I developed a cataract in my left eye I was a regular patient of an Optometrist attached to a Discount Eye Care store at the local mall. He would give me the basic test for Glaucoma then determine if I needed any change to my prescription using the time-honored method of changing movable lenses while asking me if each change made my vision better or worse. If a change were in order, he wrote a prescription and I went over the the Eye Care Store and got new glasses. Simple as that.  But this one time none of the lenses he tried improved my vision. That triggered a closer look into my eye with a special instrument. The result was a referral to an Ophthalmologist. The first time in my life that happened. It was a cataract. Within a few weeks I was prepped for surgery and left with the latest, much improved replacement lens. A few years later I had my right eye done. Now my Optometrist informed me that I had 20/20 vision but that, unlike my natural lenses, these were fixed at one setting like an old fashioned Box Camera. He could have continued giving me prescriptions for reading glasses but soft contact lens were coming on the scene and he had become an expert helping his patients learn to use them. It was then he suggested something that, in my mind, was both crazy yet laden with hidden value. He called it monovision. Since I had 20/20 vision in both eyes, if he corrected one eye for close vision using a contact lens, I would be able to read and drive without glasses. It worked! For the past 20 years I had what amounted to near perfect vision. No glasses to fog up. No reading glasses to lose. Initially I had to soak my lens every night. Now with extended wear lenses I simply put in a new lens every couple of weeks.

This hidden value was driven home to me a few weeks ago when I learned that a film was growing over my implanted lens. Before the advent of lazier surgery, my Ophthalmologist would have had to replace the old lens. Now all he has to do is zap the film with the lazier--a five minute procedure--and I will be able to lose my reading glasses again. I can't wait.

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