I had cataract surgery on both of my eyes over the past couple of weeks.
This was something that my Walmart optician recommended when I completed my annual eye exam in September. This was similar to the advice that I got from the previous Walmart optician last year, which I ignored because we were leaving town for 3 months.
Both opticians recommended the same ophthalmologist: Dr. Snow Slade of St. George, Utah. (I’m sure they get a kick-back for each referral.) Dr. Slade is the same guy who did Charlie’s cataract surgeries, and she was very impressed with him.
Dr. Slade examined me and recommended that I get the generic lens replacement in my right eye (100 percent covered by Medicare and my secondary insurance) and a fancier lens for my left eye (a Torric model that cost us $1,600). The surgeon told me that, after the two operations, I would see everything at a distance well but might need “cheater” glasses for reading stuff on my computer and cell phone.
“Sign me up!”, I said.
Doctor Slade does many of these each surgeries each day in a highly-choreographed “assembly line” fashion at a surgery center up in St. George. The patient is in pre-op for about 30 minutes, the operation takes about 20 minutes, and then it’s back to post-op for another 30 minutes. It is very professionally done.
Anyway, I did the surgeries within a week of each other (his idea) and came through in good shape. There was no pain or discomfort whatsoever during the operations or afterwards. You can see immediately after the surgery; no eye patch required. A regimen of eye drops is the only post-op treatment… easy peasy.
It’s probably too early to say for sure, but the result thus far is not what I expected. Colors are brighter, of course. However, there is still a significant difference in vision between my eyes and it seems as though the predicted result was the opposite of what Dr. Snow promised: I can now see very good up close (within a foot or so) while everything beyond 12 inches is blurry.
I am functioning now without glasses, which is a good thing, but I don’t care for the blurry distance vision beyond a few feet. I can see, of course, but I’m not comfortable with fuzzy images. Obviously, I can’t expect to see like a teenager, but I was hoping for a better result.
I have a follow-up visit scheduled with my Walmart optician this week where he will check out what Dr. Slade has wrought… and see what else he can sell me.
It would be a shame if I must resort to wearing prescription sunglasses when I’m driving around town. Right now, I couldn’t pass an eye exam at the local DMV if my life depended on it.
We will “see” how this drama plays out.