I'm scheduled for eye #1 on Thursday. I have till Wednesday to decide what kind. My options are Toric to correct a astigmatism ($1k) vs. Advanced ($5k) with the goal of eliminating glasses. Just wondering if anyone has any experience with the latter surgery. That's the way I'm leaning. I know several people who have had either Standard or Toric with good outcomes.

 

I don't have any experience but good luck whichever you choose.

 

I had the advanced and while it didn't totally eliminate the need for glasses, I only use them for reading now.

 

Bea had the surgery to correct astigmatism only. She still needs glasses for reading only. She said hers cost about $1,600 per eye. She is happy with it, FWIW.

 

Dave, is the 1K procedure standard surgery for the procedure and the 1K is your out of pocket, with the 5K being the Cadillac surgery?
No experience in this, and not having to wear glasses for anything but reading, probably don't relate to the willingness to submit to a more involved procedure on my eyes and dish out an extra 4K in the process. Is the 4K for both eyes?

 

The standard normal cataract surgery is covered under Medicare (I think its after 65). There may be some fees, copays, etc. but for the most part its covered. The $1k is for putting in a special lens in the eye that corrects the astigmatism. Its actually a little more if you add the 3-types of eye drops, med. center costs, etc. The $5k is $2,400 per eye plus a few other costs - with objective to eliminate the need for glasses for computers, reading, etc. as well as distance. The others are for distance only correction. Our prices here are probably lower than you might find in your area (just guessing).

 

PS- You are lucky if you only need them for reading. Glasses are pain in so many ways even when you've worn them for ever and are use to them.

 

My distance vision has actually improved over the years. Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

Dave, is your ophthalmologist giving you any recommendation or is he/she saying it is just "personal preference" as to what your goal is, how much you are willing to pay, etc?

I had cataract surgery almost 5 years ago. The ophthalmologist discussed 2 options with me...the standard lens and a bifocal lens. The standard lens would have been no cost to me, and the bifocal lens (a premium lens) would be $1800 per eye/lens. He said that the bifocal lens would give me excellent vision for distance and excellent vision for close-up, but my intermediate vision would be compromised, and I would probably need glasses for all intermediate vision. I didn't think that sounded like a very good option for a total of $3600 for the lenses. I think that would have meant that I would have to wear glasses a good part of the day, for the computer, and doing other things during the day, so I chose the free standard lens. I asked him about reading at computer distance so he said that he would do it "slightly myopic." I also had mild astigmatism, but he did not think I needed the Toric lens since the astigmatism was mild.

I did not ever need glasses at all until I was in my 40's, and that was just for reading. Then gradually, a number of years later, I also needed a slight correction for distance, too. Eventually, I wore progressive lenses.

At the time I had the cataract surgery done, I don't think there was a multi-focal lens available yet. Is that what you mean by the "advanced" lens?

I have been extremely pleased with my results. I do still have a pair of progressive glasses. I wear those when I drive a car although I did pass the driving test without glasses after the cataract surgery. However, I know that I can see farther/better with the glasses on, so I wear them for driving even though I am not required to. I rarely wear glasses at all at any other time of the day. I can see most print even without glasses now, except for a very very tiny font. I don't need glasses at the computer. So, I am extremely happy with my results. If I am going to read a book for a long time, though, I do wear glasses just to make it easier to read.

goblue had cataract surgery last June. He had worn glasses probably since he was about 8 or 9 years old, for distance. When he was a teenager, he got contacts. He has worn mono-vision contacts for a long time...that is, one contact is for distance and one contact is for close-up.

For his cataract surgery, the ophthalmologist did it as mono-vision since goblue had been successfully wearing mono-vision contacts for many many years. The doctor would not have done mono-vision lenses for the cataract surgery if goblue had not already had mono-vision contacts because some people cannot get used to the mono-vision. goblue needed Toric lenses because of astigmatism, but each of his lenses is just one focal length...one is for distance and one is for close-up so he did not need to have the premium multi-focal lenses. The ophthalmologist charged him $2600 for both lenses, but actually our insurance company actually paid for part of the lenses, which the ophthalmologist did not expect, so we were reimbursed $828, so he actually paid only $1772. (When you said your Toric would be $1,000, is that for one eye or for both eyes?)

goblue does need to wear reading glasses, for reading books, but he does not usually wear them for the computer, but he is still very happy with the results, after having to wear glasses for probably over 65 years. The morning after his first cataract surgery, he was ecstatic because he could see without putting on glasses!

I do have a friend in one of my line dancing classes who had cataract surgery about a year or two ago. I know that she had very expensive lenses put it in. I think they were multi-focal and maybe they also corrected for astigmatism. She told me that she paid about $8000 for the lenses! I don't remember all of the details, but I know that she was not completely happy with everything, maybe because she paid $8,000! I'm going to send her an email, and ask her more about it.

I think that goblue and the ophthalmologist were hoping that goblue would not have to wear glasses at all after the surgery, not for distance nor for close-up, since one eye would be corrected for distance and one for closeup, but he does need to wear reading glasses for most reading. As I understand it, the eye doctor has to make an educated scientific guess using a formula to figure out what lens to use, depending on your eyes, and things do not always turn out exactly as expected. I don't think the results can ever really be "guaranteed."

Although both goblue and I were both sort of scared going into the surgery, for the first eye anyway, both of our surgeries went very well, and our recoveries went very well, too. I know that it is very important to use all of the eye drops that they tell you to use, and the eye doctor told me that my healing went so well, and that he could tell that I was very diligent with using all the eye drops as per his instructions.

However, after saying all of this...it probably all depends on the person, your specific eye problems, your goals, whether you think it is worth the extra money, etc.

Good luck with your decision and good luck with the surgery, too.

 

Hope your choice produces the best expected outcome, regardless of which way you go.