Installing a scope on a No. 4 Mk 1*

[lyman]

wife is young , only 54

but has had bad eyesight for a long while,

first 2 docs told here she had cataracts, but would not do anything until she got worse, unless she wanted to pay,
$8K an eye,, insurance would not cover unless the doc said it was needed,


we traveled to see her mom's doc, who did a great job with her mom's cataracts, and he said they were bad enough for insurance to cover,

still has to pay for some , depending on what lens she decides to get

[JB White]

The most evident advantage of laser is that it can be programmed to work at the precise depth and only the exact area involved. Humans can't whittle that good.
Haven't needed cataract surgery yet. I'm the youngest of the old guys in my crowd being in my mid 60s. Many of my friends are half bionic man though. I listen closely as they tell their medical war stories.
To repair my hernia, my doc called a friend out of retirement to sew me up since I opted not to go with mesh. I heard the horror stories long before the ambulance chasers began advertising the class action lawsuits.

A Japanese friend had cataracts for long time. Now he drive a Rincoln.

[Art]

wife is young , only 54

but has had bad eyesight for a long while,

first 2 docs told here she had cataracts, but would not do anything until she got worse, unless she wanted to pay,
$8K an eye,, insurance would not cover unless the doc said it was needed,


we traveled to see her mom's doc, who did a great job with her mom's cataracts, and he said they were bad enough for insurance to cover,

still has to pay for some , depending on what lens she decides to get

This is an old thread but I sing the praises of cataract surgery every chance I get.

Optometrists tend to tell you your cataracts aren't "bad enough yet" because they want to sell you glasses. My cataracts were bad enough that I was afraid to drive at night but my Optometrist still told me I didn't need the surgery. I went to see an opthamalgist and he told me they looked bad enough to him. The surgery was a piece of cake, five to seven minutes total each eye for the surgery. They don't do both eyes at once, at least my doc didn't he did them a week apart. The difference was dramatic, I could see true colors again. If you have cataracts you are basically looking at the world through what amounts to smeared up amber sunglasses. Even though I was corrected for far vision I can read normal print without glasses in good light (your mileage may vary) and not having to wear glasses in bad weather is a true blessing.

As I understand it there is no laser surgery for cataracts. Cataract surgery involves removing the lens of the eye and replacing it with an implant. Sort of glasses on the inside. To do the surgery the anesthesiologist "gives you a little margarita " LOL because you have to be able to focus on the little light over your head for the doc to work. There is no knife as such. The surgeon makes a small punch incision at the edge of the cornea, pulverizes and extracts the old lens with a tool, inserts the new lens (which is rolled up) through the incision, unrolls it and you're done. I didn't feel a darn thing, zero pain or discomfort. Eye drops are necessary for a week or so but that's it. While I don't have the superior vision I did in my 20s its still pretty darn good.

If you're over 65 Medicaid will pick up a big chunk of the bill. If you have good supplemental insurance the cost to you will be minimal. In my case it was no out of pocket at all.

I recommend the surgery highly. Being able to shoot with iron sights again alone made it worth it .

[JB White]

Hello Art!

Regarding lasers, they approved the laser for cataract surgery a few years ago. Probably closer to ten years ago, but the procedure has become more popular with the increase in availability. Perhaps within the last five years or so? Said that because that's when I began hearing more about it.
There are restrictions though. Not everyone is a candidate.
Betting there is a cost differential which likely explains it not being covered by certain insurance carriers.

[Art]

Thanks for the info. Science and technology march on.

I do know that one of the reasons insurance companies don't cover new (and more expensive) procedures is the idea that the older method is just as good. Sometimes yes....sometimes no.

[Merc]

I had the laser surgery on my right eye on 11/10 and will have the left eye done on 11/23. Huge difference in my ability to see. After about 15 eye drops (don’t know what they were but I suppose they were dilation and anesthesia meds), I actually had 2 laser procedures. The 1st procedure uses a laser knife to chop up the old lens into small pieces. The 2nd procedure uses a different laser to make the precise incision at the exact area and at the exact depth in the cornea. The surgeon then uses a device to remove the old lens fragments and he installed the implant. Total time from start to finish is probably less than 5 minutes.

Edit: I had no post surgery pain or even mild discomfort. Semi-normal vision returned in about 24 hours after all the eye drops wore off and continued to improve over the next few days, especially my ability to see details and to read. The Dr. says it will continue to improve for about a month. I was given Prolensa drops which is an anti-inflammatory agent to use once a day.