Cataract surgery and shooting.

[hps1]

I take flomax and was off it for 6 weeks with my surgery. It wasn't a problem.

Mine did, as well, and I was still on flomax up until the week before, IIRC. Fortunately my Dr. asked (I did not know) beforehand and used some sort of a clamp to keep my pupil dilated during the surgery. Apparently it is not a problem if the Dr. is on his toes and installs the clamp beforehand.

My surgery took a bit longer than my wife's, apparently to install the clamp. Came out just shy of 20/20 in both eyes, good enough to get eyeglass restriction removed on driver's license.

Unfortunately, the macular degeneration, which I have been fighting in right eye for years, has begun to progress, and I shoot right handed. Can't seem to shoot those bughole groups like I used to, but hey, still pull off a 1/2 moa 5 shot group now and again. Already making plans to shoot my scoped M1 by canting rifle on right shoulder/left eye next range trip as left eye still almost 20/20 after surgery. If that works as well as I think, may be looking for some higher mounts for other rifles if eye gets worse.

Not quite 1/2 moa, but it'll do.

I still shoot my 52C at 200 yards with iron sights.

Thank God they were able to save that eye, ms. You are fortunate that you shoot left handed. You're only the 2nd person I've heard of that shot (what he called) Rimfire Palma matches. Knowing what the wind can do to 22RF groups @ 100, I can only imagine!!

Prayers for your upcoming surgery, @d2wing.

Regards,
hps

 

[wiscoaster]

Wiscoaster, absolutely it is detectable before eye surgery....

Wow, sounds like @ms6852 has a malpractice case ... or is that an option vets get screwed out of in return for medical care? Thank goodness he didn't end up blind in that eye.

 

[d2wing]

One thing that has not been mentioned is that if you have ever taken Flomax, your surgeon needs to know before doing cataract surgery.
https://consultqd.clevelandclinic.org/managing-complications-of-flomax-in-cataract-procedures/

Regards,
hps

Wow. I will have to check my meds. Thanks for all the advice.

 

[ms6852]

Isn't this something that can be detected and diagnosed before the surgery?

Yes it can. I had been seeing a civilian optometrist and my final exam with him he still did not think I needed the cataract surgery . Disagreed with him because I had to be driven day or night. I could not distinguish an 18 wheeler in front of me. Anyway I got a second opinion and went to the eye doctors at BAMC and they too were hesitant but they performed different exams that my civilian optometrist did not do. When they were done with testing my army doctor an opthomollogist surgeon met with other fellow surgeons and finally agreed to do the surgery. They warned me that it could happen because my cataract was not the normal type they were accustomed to seeing. They also knew I suffered blast injuries and the concussion from the blast could have accelerated the Cataract . They assured me that I would still be able to see and by putting the lens in the sclera I don't run the chance of the lens detaching from the membrane as many have done so requiring a second surgery. After 3 surgeries to my eye I can read what I am typing now with no overhead lighting or glasses just with my right eye. So no, doctors were not experimenting as some one stated and I take offense to that statement. Military medicine is always on the forefront in medicine. Some of the best doctors in the world were military docs first before they went into the public sector. Anyway my vision is 20/20 and I passed my visual acuity test to get my drivers license without glasses.

 

[ms6852]

Thank God they were able to save that eye, ms. You are fortunate that you shoot left handed. You're only the 2nd person I've heard of that shot (what he called) Rimfire Palma matches. Knowing what the wind can do to 22RF groups @ 100, I can only imagine!!

Thank you very much. It was scary for a while even with my left eye I could not read road signs or a Walmart sign. I knew it was Walmart but I could not distinguish the letters as big as they were. My cataract was real bad, could not handle the sunlight nor the headlights at night. After the right eye was completely recovered from the 3 surgeries 2 weeks later I got my left eye done that only took 40 minutes to do including prep time.

 

[cfullgraf]

Thank you very much. It was scary for a while even with my left eye I could not read road signs or a Walmart sign. I knew it was Walmart but I could not distinguish the letters as big as they were. My cataract was real bad, could not handle the sunlight nor the headlights at night. After the right eye was completely recovered from the 3 surgeries 2 weeks later I got my left eye done that only took 40 minutes to do including prep time.

It is good that things worked out but I understand the scary moments.

Surgery on my first eye was done without anesthesia due to an upset in my blood chemistry at the time of the surgery. It was interesting being able to watch but things were mostly flashes of lights and a blur here and there. The medical staff offered the option of proceeding without anesthesia and I wanted to get on with the improvement in my vision. I'm not recommending doing the surgery without anesthesia but it was not painful as one might worry about. I did work hard at keeping my eye and head still during the procedure.

As an aside, in the period between the surgeries on then two eyes, I popped the lens of my glasses out of the side that had corrected surgery so that I could see things reasonable well until the next surgery. It worked well enough that I could drive to a family gathering between the two eye surgeries.

Finally, I have cheap readers scattered about the house so that I'm never far from glasses that I can use for close reading. I've found some full lens reader safety glasses that I keep in my shops for working on projects.

 

[hps1]

So no, doctors were not experimenting as some one stated and I take offense to that statement. Military medicine is always on the forefront in medicine. Some of the best doctors in the world were military docs first before they went into the public sector. Anyway my vision is 20/20 and I passed my visual acuity test to get my drivers license without glasses.

Agreed; I, too, have been very happy with the care and the VA doctors I have been fortunate enough to have over the years. In fact, my opthalmologist was a naval flight surgeon before going into private practice, and he has kept my macular degeneration at bay for at least 20 years. Thanks to his dedication and hard work, managed to make high master classification in NRA XTC highpower rifle at age 60 with iron sights, and that was a race against the clock, believe me! At 84, I'm very pleased with his work.

As an aside, in the period between the surgeries on then two eyes, I popped the lens of my glasses out of the side that had corrected surgery so that I could see things reasonable well until the next surgery. It worked well enough that I could drive to a family gathering between the two eye surgeries.

Same here. I'm thankful for being able to see iron sights on a rifle for the first time in over 20 years, unfortunately the macular degeneration is dipping into that ability since it has begun to progress at a bit more rapid pace recently.

Regards,
hps

 

[loose noose]

BTW I was the one that made the disparaging remark, supposedly about the VA, and did not intend to bad mouth the organization or you for that matter. I was just thinking about my direct exposure to Agent Orange, and the effects it had on my body due to the military's experimenting with the chemical, in order to kill the vegetation to better open up a kill zone. Believe me I've got the deepest respect for the VA, as I've had the best of care ever since I got out of the Marine Corp. Including quadruple bypass surgery, throat cancer, and stage II diabetes, cataract surgery, as well as congestive heart failure. My care has been second to none, and it has allowed me to shoot my vast collection of firearms from the 17HMR to the 45-70 with out trouble. So I am very sorry if I hit a nerve with you ms6852 or anyone else, so please except my sincere apology.

 

[hps1]

Have a number of friends who had less than stellar results after exposure to agent orange. I don't think VA or anyone else, for that matter, had all the answers regarding various effects of exposure to AO at the time and that resulted in poor results in treatment. I do believe the VA has improved visibly in recent years, as well.

Thanks for your service to all who have served!

Regards,
hps

 

[d2wing]

I agree about agent Orange, it has caused health issues for myself and my family. It took 30 years to get help. But I am very thankful for the help I am getting now.

 

[wiscoaster]

... Anyway my vision is 20/20 and I passed my visual acuity test to get my drivers license without glasses.

Kudos to you for going through all this and coming out OK on the end, and especially with your good attitude still intact.

 

[Flatbush Harry]

I had cataract surgery in Dec. 2012 on both eyes, two weeks apart. Six weeks later, I suffered posterior vitreous detachments with retinal bleeds in both eyes. It took a three months to heal up, and at 6 months post-op, I was at 20/20 in my left eye (improved from 20/40) and 20/25 in my right, dominant eye (improved from 20/30 pre-operatively). I laid off shooting until June 2013 and did sell my .375 H&H and my .300 WSM to avoid shocks to retinas from recoil. Overall, my vision now, both eyes open as I shoot, varies between 20/20 and 20/25 depending on the day. I did ask my Ophthalmologist for driving glasses and, with them, have 20/15-20/20 vision, not as good as when I was 23 and had 20/10 vision as a pilot...my flight leader used to call me his Seeing Eye Lieutenant but not bad for 75.

I have no trouble with scoped rifles and red-dot pistol sights but when I shoot with iron sights or pistols with irons, I wear corrective shooting glasses that brings focal point to 30" in front of my eyes to get an absolutely clear picture of my front sights. My only shooting issues (aside from LOFT = Lack of F***ing Talent) are when I shoot sporting clays when some of the birds look like my floaters and my floaters look like birds. I found a neat solution to that problem...I quit shooting sporting clays, sold my 2 O/U shotguns, and bought a 20" rifled barrel for my Rem 1100 and only use slugs and 00 buck for defense and/or 3 gun competition. I still shoot IDPA with irons, as poorly as ever.

After your healing, even with some complication, you can regain your former ability or even improve on it with improved vision.

Good luck,

Harry

 

[ms6852]

I hit a nerve with you ms6852 or anyone else, so please except my sincere apology.

Water under the bridge! I provide medical care to many patients at Brooke Army Medical Center with agent orange symptoms and truly understand the anguish and disgust that certain aspects of the military provided to its soldiers and understand the context in which you made your remark. I thank you for your service and am deeply ashamed in how Vietnam Veterans were treated by this country that I cherish so much. You guys are real men that took it in the chin asking for nothing in return.

 

[doubleh]

Finally, I have cheap readers scattered about the house so that I'm never far from glasses that I can use for close reading

This also works for me.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

I will chime in too. I had cataract surgery in January and February of 2020, just before the Pandemic kicked in.

I was born incredibly nearsighted, wore glasses with lenses as thick as the bottom of coke bottles since I was six years old.

My cataracts had been progressing slowly for years. I see an eye doc regularly every year. Last year he told me that my cataracts had advanced enough that I should consider the surgery. For the record, he told me that the average age for men to get cataract surgery is 73.

The surgery was a piece of cake. Since my correction was so strong the surgeon recommended having the surgery for both eyes two weeks apart, so I would not be wandering around with one corrected eye and one uncorrected eye for too long. Luckily, I just got in for my second surgery just before the Pandemic hit, so I did not have to wait a long time for my second eye. Others were not so lucky, my surgeon told me she had one patient who had to wait months between eyes.

When we are young, the lens in our eyes changes shape so we can focus at different distances. We lose that ability over time. There are options today, expensive options, for lenses that can have different focal distances, but these are expensive options. Without going that route, I was given three options for lenses, close vision, middle distance, or far distance. Some folks choose to have one eye for close up for reading, the other for distance vision. A friend chose to have both eyes set for close (reading) distance and has never been happy with that. I decided to have both eyes set for distance vision. Basically everything beyond about 20 feet is in focus, I need reading glasses for reading.

My insurance picked up everything except about $200 for both surgeries. If I had chosen the more expensive variable focal distance lenses that would have been out of pocket.

Lots of eyedrops after the surgery, two different types, I forget exactly what they were each for, but I put them in less and less often as time progresses. I think I was using the drops for a few weeks, they overlapped from one eye to the next. My surgeon recommended no swimming, no open eyes in the shower for one month for each eye. I specifically asked her about the recoil of a 12 gauge shotgun, she must have thought they kick like a mule (they don't) so no shooting for a month.

Before the surgery I was subjected to a battery of tests to check my retina and my optic nerve, and to measure the inside of my eye. That allowed the surgeon to calculate exactly which lens to choose for me.

After surgery the vision in my right eye is 20/20, my left is about 20/25 or so. My cataracts were not so advanced that I noticed a huge difference in perceived colors. I have worn glasses all my life, and I found that I did not much like walking around with the wind in my eyes and nothing to stop it, so I am now wearing my old frames with new lenses. A 2 1/2 diopter correction for reading, no distance prescription for distance in the right lens, just a tiny amount in the left. I have been wearing progressive bifocals for many years, so I was quite used to them with my new lenses.

After my surgery I was a little bit over optimistic. I thought I would be able to count the individual needles on a pine tree from hundreds of feet away. Nope, I still cannot see like an eagle, but I can see pretty darn good.

About six months after the surgery I noticed halos around oncoming headlights while driving after dark. This is common. The bag, or capsule that contains the lens sometimes becomes cloudy after cataract surgery. It was worse in my left eye than my right. I had laser capsulotomy done in my left eye. It helped a little bit, but I still see some halos around lights at night with my left eye. We decided to leave well enough alone with my right eye.

One other thing. With my new corrected vision in my right eye, I can no longer focus on the front sight of a shot gun when shooting Trap. Please, no comments about focusing on the front sight. So for shooting Trap, I use an inexpensive pair of readers that have a correction of 1/2 diopter. This brings the bead of my front sight into slightly better focus without making the target too fuzzy. I will probably have a special set of shooting glasses made up with that prescription.

All in all, except for some slight difficulty driving at night, my cataract surgery was a great success.

 

[wiscoaster]

....I will probably have a special set of shooting glasses made up with that prescription....

My optometrist did this for me after I took some pains to describe what I wanted my prescription to accomplish. I suspect that not that many optometrists know what it is a patient wants when they ask for a "shooting prescription."