I had it about 5 years ago and opted to also have my opthamologist implant a new lens while he was at it. I was a little nervous, but it really was a piece of cake and quick. No pain at all. It was laser surgery of the cataract. It was a little weird because I couldn't feel a thing, but I could hear a crunching sound (not sure how to describe it) which I guess was when he was breaking up the cataract (?). Had a sedative for the lens bit. No issues at all. I do see halos around outside lights at night when I look directly at them which can be annoying, but I see much better now and no glasses.

Best of luck to you rubyclaire. I have never regreted it and have never met anyone who did.

Ruby, I'm right behind you! Still figuring out steps to take as Inalso gave -angle glaucoma.
Wishing you the best.

Cyn, I have heard that a certain lens has a tendency toward halos.

Thanks cyn & eld!

I had the surgery in January. My vision is still complicated by my specific, odd vision issues and the fact that I had astigmatism corrective lenses installed so I am not going to talk about that at all -- you wont face the issues.

The surgeries themselves were EASY. It was 2 surgeries separated by a few weeks. They don't do them at the same time because of risk of infection. The surgery itself was easy... I believe I had both topical and twilight anesthesia ... but I slept through most of it. I do remember hearing myself snore LOL.!! I do not snore normally but I did then :)

The worst part of the whole process is the regime of eye drops. I had 3 medicines to be delivered in each eye about 32 x a day. KIDDING. I think it may have been 3 x a day? I was also to sleep with a plastic cup over my eye that was held on with tape. I'd never tell you not to wear it but I stopped after 2 days.

I had no issues with infection and really very little discomfort. I did have dry eye for a few months after but not at all anymore. I used tea tree wipes to help with dry eye in morning.

I saw the difference in colors immediately-- as our cataracts build up, we don't notice how gray our world becomes. That was super cool! The biggest thing for me is that I USED to be nearsighted ... which worked great for me reading in bed. But now, because of my specialized lenses, they could not keep my nearsightedness-- not even in one eye. I believe you can have the option of having one eye be nearsighted and one farsighted? I am not sure to be honest so someone else can speak to that. I am now fully farsighted and have never seen as much or as well. I do still have other issues but they are specific to me. Not a concern for you or anyone else.

Really, you've got this, Rubyclaire! You will be amazed!

(I have had 2 other eye surgeries (unrelated to cataracts) and these surgeries were SOOOO much easier. A a walk in the park!)

ETA ... I dont have any issues with halos.

Also, best wishes to both you and Eld!

I had cataract surgery much younger that most people; i may have been 50? I do recall the nurse saying it is rare that they need to ask if a patient may be pregnant, haha..

They say blue eyes can get cataracts earlier?

Operation was soooo easy.

I do recall that about a week later I woke up in intense pain due to hyper-hyper-sensitivity to light. Even with my eyes closed. This was at dawn! My DH taped up trash bags to block the light so I could rest.

It had something to do with pressure and they just gave me a new round of drops.

Good luck Ruby and Eld!

Thanks Funky & mtn - you both had some relatively minor complications/issues yet both describe the surgery as easy. This is comforting!

I also had both eyes done in 2024. Surgery was very easy and painless (laser) . Implanted lenses and one is for distance and other close up. I have 20/20 vision now and do not wear glasses. The hardest part of cataract surgery is the prep of all. the. EYEDROPS.!!! My DH made a speadsheet of which drops when and how many times for how long . I NEVER used any drops before and had to rely on DH to administer…makes me squeamish …but I flew through the surgeries with no issues. No halos!

I had my cataract surgery 16 years ago and it really was a piece of cake! I got the corrective lenses for driving distance and consequently use reading glasses for close up computer work and reading— just 1.25 strength though. I was just 53 and one of my eyes was much worse than the other. I did so well that after my day 1 post op visit they rescheduled my next surgery for just a week later instead of two weeks. I am the poster child for great cataract surgery outcomes. Last year one of my eyes developed a secondary cataract on the artificial lens and a quick 2 minute laser procedure took care of it. I would say good luck but you don’t need it, thenprocedure is easy, quick and the medication protocols are well established and very effective. Enjoy your new vision!

Wishing you the best.

I am starting to develop them so I am a few years away from needing to do anything. He said on 1-4 scale I am barely a 1. Just something to watch.

I wear multi focal contacts and get a good correction but they don’t quite work for a lot of people who can’t get good balance between close and distance.

Had mine done nearly 18 years ago. The procedure and recovery were fast and easy. However, I made the mistake of getting monovision, one eye for distance and one eyefor close up. My brain could never adjust. I should have tried it first with contact lenses. Consequently I still have to wesr glasses. I wish I had just gone with distance in both eyes. I wouldnt mind wearing readers when needed.

Haven’t had mine yet but I’ve been pondering the choice of lenses as it may not be too far off. I don’t mind glasses and I actually like fun frames. My vision isn’t terrible now and I can get by near and far in a pinch without them. I’d be happy if I was the same as I am now after surgery but it doesn’t work that way. Monovision never worked for me with contacts but I tried multifocal right before I stopped wearing contacts and that wasn’t too bad. I like to see perfectly and can do so with glasses. I’d hate to muck it up with the lenses. Halos at night would drive me nuts. Good luck - let us know how it goes.

oh yeah i think i went with close up in one and distance in the other?

i dont even know

I dont wear glasses and never have

I have heard (don’t know for sure if true) that near sighted people tend to do better with monovision. Ive had monovision contacts for years and adapted almost immediately. Before that I’d tried out bifocal contacts and hated them. I have bifocal glasses that I really only use for distance, I prefer reading and sewing unassisted.

A sister, who was not nearsighted, got multifocal lenses when cataracts were treated and she is very satisfied.

I had my surgery in 2016 at 66 yrs old . I had worn contacts for 50 yrs first hard for decades and then gas permeables . My contacts for many many years were near/ far. My eye Dr agreed that I should keep that for the new lenses placed during the cataract surgeries.

I had each eye done with a waiting period between. My vision without contacts was really really bad. With them it was perfect 20/10.

With the cararact surgery my eye Dr said he would do the best he could to make sure I didn’t need any glasses.

He did an exquisite job. I still have 20/10 corrected vision and never have needed glasses. I can read the caution insert in prescriptions without any trouble! He was amazing.

DH had his surgeries a couple years before me. He told me to be sure and get something to help relax. I did and I was glad. The Dr gives you instructions to look up look left etc so I was awake and aware but not nervous at all.

Drops were easy and I had no issues at all. Highly recommend having the surgery and of course the best surgeon available. c

I envy people who can tolerate the monovision! I had tried it with contact lenses and my brain, like Ded’s could not adjust, even over a period of a few months. I had no depth perception with them and when I fell down a flight of stairs because I didn’t know where to out my foot I abandoned that experiment. So I knew years later that monovision lenses were not for me, even though they were the simpler solution. I would encourage anyone considering it to try it out with contacts first, as others have suggested.

I had mine done several years ago. My doc, Ukrainian but trained in Russia many years ago, does them a week apart. I have a long distance lens in one eye and a middle distance lens in the other. For the first time since I was 13 (81 now) I no longer needed glasses, though I use dime store readers when my eyes are tired or the print is small.

The most difficult part for me was keeping track of when it was time to use the eyedrops--I think there were two different kinds, but it was long enough ago that I'm not reallys certain.

Funky, I also have astigmatism. What should I be concerned about with that also in the equation?

My husband’s friend didn’t look at the pre-op instructions until the NIGHT before his scheduled surgery and discovered he was suppose to be using eye drops for the past three days. Needless to say, the surgery had to rescheduled, and he was annoyed they couldn’t get him in sooner. His disorganized, needlessly complicated life gives me secondhand anxiety.

I had my Mum and her friend in my car, and we complimented the friend on her pretty coat. She said this is my new green coat. I thought, but didn’t say, that is not green. She added but then I had my cataracts fixed and now I see it’s blue.

My eye doc recently told me I’ll probably be in my 80’s until I need it (I’m late 60’s now), so no personal advice, but every cataract person I know said how easy the procedures are and how surprised they are by the improvement in colors.

I had early onset cataracts at 50. Runs in my family. The surgery was like a miracle. I looked out the window the next day and actually saw individual leaves on the trees instead of big green blobs. He didn't give me monivision lenses because when I had the first surgery, my other eye was fine, but I quickly developed a cataract in that one and had the other done a year later. Wish I had monovision, but, oh well. Still a vast improvement.

This is all very reassuring. I do wear monovision contacts and the plan is to do the surgeries in the same way. One decision yet to be finalized is whether to correct my astigmatism. Apparently, I am just under the threshold for needing the correction and overcorrection can be problematic. The current recommendation is to assume correction (and pay the out-of-pocket costs for the laser technology) and then the surgeon will make the final determination during the procedure. I clearly need more information about this.

While my cataracts are not particularly large, I am most bothered by the increased "haziness" in my vision. Otherwise, I am very used to my contacts and glasses and wouldn't mind continuing to wear them. I'm curious if I am going to see things in the mirror with my "unfiltered" vision that will then have me runniing to the plastic surgeon next!

Thanks all - so very helpful!

The only reason i got the surgery was because it was harder to see signs when I drove at night in the rain. It fixed that, but I don't recall any other improvements? Does it help people who have poor vision generally, aside from cataracts?

@mtnrdredux_gw the correction in poor vision so that glasses aren't required is due to the insertion of new lenses. I wasn’t aware that anyone would have cataracts removed and not have their vision corrected simultaneously. I guess some folks choose that option.

Because I wore contacts exclusively for so many decades I actually can’t ever be fitted with glasses. That is due to some change over time that isn’t reversible . I don’t care as I hate glasses . Others really like their glasses and for them it is great to just have the cataracts removed.

It is wonderful that technology is so incredibly advanced where vision is concerned. c 🙏

I have had cataracts for several years. I have worn contacts for over 50 years and currently wear multifocal. Because of this, I know that there are tradeoffs to be made with those lenses between distance and close up vision.

I am -6 /-6.5 , so not the best vision! Like Funky, I like being able to read my phone in bed without glasses and will be sad if I lose that. I do not mind wearing glasses and contacts and would not be disappointed to have vision corrected where I had minimal correction in them. It would be nice to be able to select frames without taking my Coke bottle lenses into consideration!

Do you hear stories of people not being happy with the outcome? That is what I am afraid of.

It's a piece of cake. I had been wearing monovision contacts (one eye for distance, one for close up). In 2019 I had the distance one done and wore one contact in the other eye. In 2024 I had the second eye done for close up. Some folks can't do monovision but it's worked for me. I got a pair of Warby Parker readers for extended close work, but I rarely use them.

I have Kaiser.

I had 4 eye surgeries in 2024. The first was cornea surgery on my left eye. Painful but quick recovery. Then I had retina surgery in my right eye. Not painful but difficult recovery because you have to stay face down at all times. Retina surgery causes cataracts. So later that year I had my right eye done first and then one month later I had the left eye done. No pain. Easy recovery.

I was very nearsighted, and loved being able to close work without my glasses. My ophthalmologist didnt want me to do monovision because I hadn’t trialed it, but when I came in for my post operative appointment the next day with one eye at 20/20 and the other at -7.5, and it didnt bother me, she decided I’d be fine with monovision. . It was great until a few months ago when I started needing readers. I’ll ask about at my next appointment, but even if there’s nothing they can do, I’m no worse off than if they’d gone with the original plan to just correct for distance.

Its such an easy surgery. You’ll be fine!

Eld, my issues arent from the typical astigmatism. I believe a LOT of people have some degree of astigmatism but mine was extreme. My vision was never able to be corrected with lenses and after 50+ yr of struggling to focus, my muscles went bad. As a result of that, my brain had issues processing the images so I had double vision and also my depth perception was lost. That's in a nutshell. You would have known all your life if you had major issues with your level of astigmatism... or at least more recently if you had age-related vision issues beyond cataracts.

I did have astigmatism lenses inserted as part of the cataract surgery -- I dont know how mine compare to the lenses that are inserted in a normal operation so I'd consult your dr. My lenses were considered "cosmetic" even with all my issues (and my prior 2 surgeries). I dont remember the exact price but I think it was in the 8K range. I get the impression that it was more than a typical cataract lens but not sure. I have good insurance and the cataract portion of surgery was well covered -- but no insurance covers what they consider "cosmetic".

I definitely recommend you talk to your dr about your level of astigmatism and eye correction. You do not need to have corrective lenses inserted. so you can decide what is best for you together. Good luck!

Monovision patient here who never had to wear glasses. My brain was accustomed to seeing that way and my opthamologist agreed that it would work for me. Prior to cataract removal i had the ”halos” around lights at nightime which was bothersome for me. I paid $1500 oop for each eye done 3 wks apart.

rubyclaire, I'm heading for the surgery but not there yet. Wishing you an easy experience with the best results. So many I know say they can't believe how wonderful their new vision is!

@texanjana The vivid colors were the most amazing thing. It's like before I'd been looking through a light amber filter and hadn't realized it. When my first eye was done, the next day I had occasional discomfort, as if a little speck of something landed in my eye, but it only lasted a day. With the second eye there was zero discomfort after. It's a wonderful thing. Thank you, Kaiser, and my $10 copay for each eye.