When I was 4 years old I got a cataract in my right eye. At that time complete lens removal was the only option. For the past 24 years I have not had strong vision in my right eye due to lens removal. If I close my left eye I can see colors in the distance (15 feet) or able to make out how many fingers a person is holding up as long as there is light behind them (at about 8 feet). With my left eye open, I only see out of my right eye when I think about it. My brain seems to shut it off.
Here is what doctors have told me: I could receive the surgery with a 50/50 chance that my eye would become infected and complete eye removal would be necessary, they could do the surgery and I could not notice a difference, slight chance of success.
Lasik is not a possibility due to no lens in my eye. My eye is not deformed (it’s not collapsed). I am only able to visit doctors in the Houston area. If you know a mad scientist that would like to put a computer in my right eye..I’m game.
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I have seen patients in their 20s who had cataract surgery as children have no problems with getting the secondary lens. Even in a lot of those children who had cataract surgery and were aphakic, they wore a contact lens to help correct their vision.
Unless you have another ocular condition that would open you up to infection, the chance of infection is a lot lower than 50/50…more like 5%. And even intraocular infections (endophthalmitis) are quite treatable.
As with any surgery, there are risks, and never a guarantee for dramatic improvement.
Do check out Wheaton Eye Clinic. There is a Glaucoma and Cataract specialist there that I do have knowledge of by the name of Dr. Edward Sung (we have referred patients there who go to Dallas/Houston for the winter). There are also other very good cataract surgeons there.
Also Baylor College of Medicine's Ophthalmology Department-Cullen Eye Institute is very good in your area. There is a neuro-ophthalmologist we refer patients to.
It sounds like you may need a second (or third) opinion to help you make your decision on the surgery.
Best of luck to you…I cannot tell you if you should get surgery or not…that decision has to come from you and your family and close friends. But if you do decide you need another opinion, contact one of these two Eye Centers…they are recommended per referrals from my ophthalmology staff.
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