Question:
I'm a 40 year old male and need to have a cataract surgery in my right eye.
My aunt, a pediatrician, recommended an eye surgeon in my area. He has a
good reputation and 24 years of experience. I have high myopia, so he sent
me to a retina specialist to make sure my retina is fine. The specialist,
after examining my eye and doing OCT and FA, _convincingly_said to me, "You
don't have to see like this. Have a surgery and you'll see much better." In
contrast, my eye surgeon's take on my surgery is something like, "You MIGHT
see better." I think he's very cautious.
I know that at the end of the day it's the surgeon's skills that matter. I
guess my question is, "Would you be more comfortable with a cautious surgeon
or an assuring one?"
Answer:
I had cataract surgery a few years ago, and unfortunatley had *many*
complications. The end result is that I have very thick glasses and
still cannot see anywhere near 20/20, even in the one eye that still
works. Unfortunately this means that when it comes time to renew my
license it will be difficult.
Please be sure to get a cautious doc, but one who has done a lot of
these procedures.
In a real sense, every surgery is elective. People can choose not to
have retinal detachment surgery, not have malignant hypertension
treated, not be treated for a corneal ucler, etc. In those cases I
strongly recommend against not having those treated. I give them the
reasons why they should and what will most likely happen if they do
not. If they choose not to, I would do my best to insist they at
least see another doctor for a second opinion and do I everything I
could medicolegally to protect my rear.
>The end result of a cataract is loss of visual function. The only
>"elective" aspect is how much vision loss is tolerable to the patient.
Exactly. It's up to the PATIENT to decide when the visual function
has been degraded to the point where the patient DESIRES the surgery.
I do not say, "Your vision is 20/50, you can't pass the DMV test, I
recommend you have cataract surgery."
I essentially say (this is paraphrased, I go into far more detail that
this, but I hope you get the idea) "Your vision is 20/50, you can't
pass the DMV test, if you want to be able to see better, then cataract
surgery is required.
