Is pretty darn good.

Three years ago I had cataract surgery in both eyes which made a dramatic difference in sight; blurry, cloudy vision became clear and sharp literally overnight. As happens sometimes,vision in the left eye - my dominant eye - started getting blurry again since a secondary cataract can grow on the backside of the replacement lens. You ophthalmologists can explain it fully but that's the short answer.

Starting noticing it some 3-4 months ago, no matter how I adjusted a scope the crosshairs never seemed totally sharp, even with a spotting scope the targets never seemed to be completely in focus.

Cut to the chase - went back to the eye doc two days ago, they diagnosed what was happening and said they had an opening the next day, yesterday, for a YAG Laser Capsulotomy which sounds complicated but isn't. Couple of eye drops to dilate the pupil, sit in the standard chair where they do the "is 1 or 2 better?" stuff, zap zap zap, all done. No pain or discomfort at all, just some pretty colors while the laser did its thing. Took about 1 minute total.

Woke up this morning and looked through a scope to find razor sharp crosshairs. Checked out things down the street with the spotting scope, also razor sharp.


There's a ton of stuff to complain about these days, but living in a time when a 71 year old man can have the same visual acuity he had 30 years ago isn't one of them.

I had that done around 3 or 4 years ago - the differnce was amazing. My opthamogist equated it cleaning the windshield on a vehicle, which I thought was a pretty good analogy.

drover

I also had YAG done, about five years after cataract replacement. First eye, shooting eye, was done by residents at VA. Ran into a problem, couldn't complete the job. Probably good judgement, conservative, didn't want to crank up the power. Went to a private ophthalmologist, very senior guy, opened up the first eye, got the capsule loose, then did the other eye. Only problem is a lot of floaters, big ones. Can really see the crap floating around looking through a scope at a white target.

I was told by another doctor that at VA the residents pretty much run the show, may not have senior doctors on site supervising. Don't know how accurate that is or if it applies to all VA hospitals.

BTDT. Including the follow-up zap. Corrective lenses for distance, cheaters for close, now.

One fall I was cussing my el-cheapo Cabelas binocs for bad lens coating- differential from left side to right side. Left side was noticably yellower.

Then I had an eye appointment..... that was a good 25 years ago.

Still using the binocs, too.

^6 AM on the 14th for me.

Yes if you're talking about surgery and procedures. No if you're talking about our over-reliance on pharmaceuticals and MDs whose go-to is prescriptions.


Saw and article today that was talking about the potential fiscal impact of Ozempic. The cost is $15,000K/year/person and if Novo Nordisk can convince the government that the cost should be covered as treatment for obesity, we're all screwed because we'll be paying the tab for fat m'fers who can't get off their ass or push away from the table. The impact could be in the trillion dollar range.


One more reason to limit the reach of the federal government. Paying for obesity prescriptions was not what the founding fathers had in mind.

I needed it about 5 years after my original surgery. Quick and easy. I don't see that anyone has mentioned the smell of burning flesh, though. They are burning it off and you get a whiff on occasion.

I decided to post an “eye-stuff” addendum to Jim’s cataract post here. Mine is a different entity but related and may help somebody looking in here. I hope posting here is ok.

Among the various maladies like cataracts eyes can fall victim too are what are euphemistically termed “floaters.” They are pretty common and vary from barely noticeable to debilitating. It’s a consolidation of vitreous matter within the eye ball that moves and wafts, floating freely inside your eyeball. They can intermittently obscure your vision or maybe more than intermittently. Mine were like cumulus clouds or wads of cotton. I had to move my eyes from side to side to float them to one side or the other. They effected me greatly including in my work.

Mine also came on very quickly and I’ve often wondered if recurrent heavy recoil was a factor.

Eye MD’s have not had an answer other than, “oh, you’ll get used to them.” For hard core cases they offer a vitrectomy, a procedure right out of a feverish nightmare. Suck the vitreous matter out of your eyeball with a large needle and replace it with a “similar” fluid. Risks are things like retinal detachment requiring more invasive procedures.

Here’s where the YAG laser’s other capabilities come in. They can be used to laser them out — disintegrate them. The eye doc community was dogmatically opposed to this treatment back when I looked into it 15-18 years ago and I found only 3 doc’s in the whole nation doing it. Understandably, people were flying in to them from all over the US and the world.

One was in D.C., one in Florida, and one in L.A. I went twice for the initial treatment and then for a “touch-up” a little later. Each took several days as the procedure was limited to 15 min per day over say four days and neither would do both eyes on the same day.

Cost was only about $1500/eye back then and my insurance picked up part of it which surprised me as it was not a recognized, accepted procedure. Perhaps it was due to how their offices coded them.

If you are plagued as I was, I would Google some form of “laser treatment of floaters.” Maybe things have changed for the better. It was not in the least bit uncomfortable requiring only the usual dilating eye drops and was life-changing for me.

I’m glad the cataract surgery went well Jim. I’ve almost hoped for those to get in on some of the new vision-correcting lenses. But alas, I’ve not developed them..yet. As for the floaters, I have a few fine threads again but nothing even remotely as bad I had.

In fairness, Americans want to take a pill instead of make lifestyle changes. The market is responding to what we want to a large extent.

Yes. Seems most of us are living far longer than our grandparents and having all kinds of worn-out parts replaced. We were not designed to go this long. Cookie's just got a new hip and will do a knee in a couple weeks. To date, I've only done the cataract deal with the follow-up laser thing. Amazing stuff.

Yes amazing times we live in, undiagnosed diabetes led to a heart attack, then both cataracts done, then both eyes retinas detached, at different times, lost vision and was not able to drive or do much for about a year, now have good vision in right eye, had to have a cornea transplant in left eye so still a bit blurry that may improve with a corrective lens, but still have two stitches in it.

Monthly injections in both eyes to try and keep eyes healthy, pretty interesting what they can do now.

In fairness, Americans want to take a pill instead of make lifestyle changes. The market is responding to what we want to a large extent.[/quote]

My problem, lifestyle would not have changed anything, unless I wanted to be wheelchair bound!
Ain't into pills!
Orthopedic surgery is NOT a cure all! You'll never regain full ROM. But I can now walk pain-free! Both hips replaced!

No, not always. My wife brought home a cat once, I thought I might be allergic to it. Went to my PCP and told him about the cat, told him I wanted an allergy test to see if I was allergic, and if so we'd get rid of the cat. He handed me a prescription for allergy meds. I told him I didn't want to take allergy meds. if the cat was the problem, I would just get rid of it. But he would not order the allergy tests. I came to find out later that the health plan discouraged referrals to specialists, because that costs them and they gave their PCPs a financial incentive to avoid referrals. So "just give him a pill" was their answer, not mine.


And just last month my wife went to a gastroenterologist for some digestive issues. She's been having them for a while, has tried available remedies, and is actually losing more weight than she should be because of them. The MD wouldn't order any tests and told her to take a bunch of facking laxatives, even though my wife told the MD she'd already tried that.

Again, it was the MD's solution, not my wife's.

Yeah, because we all got together one day and decided to just have them invent pills for us instead.


Dumbass.

Recent eye check shows zero issues. I have always worn glasses. Got a new Rx. 20/15 in both eyes with the hew glasses. I am satisfied.

Not sure about ‘good’ but it sure is pricey

Today’s juice-box on the pole is $12,000 for a 30 minute inf.


image hosting sites

Cataracts made me quit competing in the Alvin York "over the log" muzzleloader target shooting matches. Two years after getting lens implants, I'm building a new chunk gun. It's going to be interesting to see if I can get back to my former scores after taking some time off.

Our healthcare system, like our government, is run by professional criminals.

Cialis, tellum about the cialis.

My Dad who's 83 and luckily in great health says "you're sick til you're financially broke, then you die" .

I'm more of a essential oils kind of guy try this recipe.
3 drops of frankincense essential oil
3 drops of lavender essential oil
2 drops of peppermint essential oil
2 drops of lemon essential oil
1 drop of rosemary essential oil
Carrier oil (such as jojoba oil or coconut oil)
In a small glass bottle, combine the drops of each essential oil. Add a carrier oil to the bottle, filling it to the top. Close the bottle tightly and shake well to mix the oils thoroughly.
To use, apply a few drops of the blend to pulse points such as wrists, temples, and neck, or add a few drops to a warm bath for a relaxing soak.

Insurance companies control our medical profession. Every doctor I know works for some healthcare system, and they all receive a “salary”.

Generally, a great surgeon cleans all the crystalline lens cortex cells off the Central part of the posterior capsule of the capsular bag the Intraocular Lens Implant is placed into. The haptic feet expand in that bag and hold the IOL in position after fibrosis occurs peripherally in the old crystalline lens capsule.

No follow up laser capsulotomy shud be needed, but if the guy wants to leave the bag with some cortex cells from the cortex of one's cataractous crystalline lens it's generally good easy money to laser the posterior capsule open later when the cells left behind grow to form something like microscopic oil dots on the capsule which is then sometimes called Elshnigs Pearl's or After Cataract.

A fine, thin coating of posterior cataract isn't really bad other than obscuring vision but trashy docs who leave too much end up with thick, heavy plaque which doesn't vaporize with the laser and chunks of posterior capsule are cut off to make an opening for light to reach the retina without being difracted (scattered) by the capsule.

This can result in large pieces of capsule floating in the vitreous in the posterior chamber which cast shadows on the retina and those look like dark spots in one's vision and are from the vitreous floaters.


Floaters can also be a sign of vitreous debris from posterior vitreous detachment or loose blood in the vitreous chamber from tears due to trauma or tumors tearing the retina or bleeds from diabetic retinopathy.

Also, though Posterior Vitreous Detachment (PVD) is normal as we age and the vitreous contracts, pulling thie thicker vitreous attachments away from their anchor points around the optic nerve head or the retinas macula or at the periphery of the anterior retina, called the Ora Serrata, they can occasionally result in retina tears.

As we age the vitreous contracts and liquifies. If that vitreous seeps under the retina at the point of a retinal tear the retina can become detached from its outer vascular supply called the Choroid.

Retinal vessels supply the inner layers of the retinal layers while the Choroidal vessels supply the outer layers..

If that outer layer is separated by fluid as in a Retinal Detachment (RD) the outer layers of the retina die and loss of vision results. Therefore, if one ever notices sudden vision changes like a curtain blocking some peripheral vision in one eye it is important to be seen as an emergency. If retinal treatment is successful, such as laser tacking of the retina peripherally to the macula, then central acuity can often be saved. If the Detachment extends through the macular area sight can't be saved.

So, Dilated Peripheral Fundus exam should be performed when one notices an initial or sudden change or increase in Floaters.

Too often, and unfortunately too late, I've e heard people say they were told by others the Floaters were normal and from normal vitreous Detachment. True, but they sometimes result in retinal tears peripherally or retinal traction at the Macula which can result in macular edema or tear or scarring.

Also, an initial retinal tear may not be visible to the OD or MD if fluid from the vitreous doesn't enter and separate the torn surfaces.

I usually rechecked PVD patients a week then 2 weeks then 4 weeks later.then 2 months later.
Tears that don't get fluid separation by that time normally have had the torn edges scarred down to the posterior Choroid and there is no risk of Detachment without further trauma.

I haven't kept up with current changes in treatment protocol since retiring.

I developed some floaters about 23 years ago. Went to the ophthalmologist and got an examination. He said my retinas were fine and the floaters were due to some fractures in the gelatinous vitreous humor. He said I could just live with it if I wanted to. So I have. Doesn’t really bother me anymore. I’ve become used to em.’

I was remeasured for cataract surgery the morning.

Yeah, if I found no retinal holes or tears I would tell patients the floaters would settle down in about six months.

Mine came on strong like a thousand specks of black pepper and took a year to settle down and were miserable

The vitreous is the jelly in the back of the eye which contracts and liquifies as we age.

I had to Dx PVD without Retinal Breaks to be covered legally unless I found a tear, hole or Detachment.