A bit of depressing news

[Ryewolf]

A few weeks ago I started experiencing a blurry spot in my left eye, after a check up at the opticians it turned out the blurry spot was cataracts starting to form in my left eye. I do now have glasses whch has helped quite a bit, except after a normal day infront of the computer. The optician also said the left eye is sensitive to light which causes glare spots, when I look at bright things for a long time.

[Clicker]

Rye... i am so sorry to hear your news and obviously it has shocked you  but the good news is  that cataracts can be fixed by replacing the lens in a  straight forward operation that thousands of people have every week ..I have  the start of cataracts too and it makes driving at night a little bit uncomfortable if it's a long journey  in wet conditions I don't know what  age you are  and that can determine  sometimes  when it is deemed necessary to  offer the operation on the NHS .. I have 5 friends who have had it done in the past two years ...two paid privately  to get it done and the other three  were offered it   free. All have been incredibly successful . One who is an artist has said the difference is so astounding , she hadnt realised how sudued the colours had become before  as well as the clarity. Now she has had to tone down her palette because paintings she'd done for two years look far too bright and gawdy to her now ...and even the tv colours she had adjusted over the past few years  have had to be pulled back ... so take heart... talk to your GP  and take it from there  ...I wish you all the best  ..the very best ...

[Denis]

I agree, treatment is so much more available and relatively routine these days for the condition. I'm sure you will take it in your stride Rye !

[Kobione]

Stay positive Ryewolf - as already said treatment for conditions like this are now so advanced the procedures are 'routine'. May be a bit annoying for you as it progresses though. Hang in there

[Phil]

Bugger! The joys of getting older I guess. Keep smiling.

[CanonChrissy]

Sorry to hear this it must be a worry. Hopefully treatment will help.

[FUJI]

Hi, Rye,

Many of you know that I too required cataract surgery a couple of years ago now......please let me assure you that there is nothing to worry about, and the results are truly amazing, it like lifting a heavy veil from the eyes, colours look amazing again after years in a dulling fog.

The surgery is pain free and very quick....not more than 20 minutes for each eye, with at least three months in between, I would honestly rather have a cataract done than anything done at the dentists.

The other HUGE bonus, is that the lenses the surgeons inserted, completely reversed my lifetime years of chronic short sight, I hardly need specs for distance now, whereas before, I needed help to cross the road if I lost my specs.....a surgical miracle I call it.

The NHS eye and hearing clinics a are the best.....I can't fault either at WARWICK Hospital.

Even my later problem of a retinal scrape was relatively painless, once the procedure got under way I became fascinated by all that was said and done around me, I was awake for the whole two and a half hour procedure.

Cataracts?.....Have no fear, just go with the flow, of attending clinics for a few months, ensure that you take a friend or relative, because the investigative drops they use fuzz up vision for a few hours.......

FUJI

[colinb]

Hi Rye - as everyone is saying cataracts can easily be sorted but go see your Doctor and get the ball rolling. As for glasses make sure they are for a computer and not just reading glasses as the focal length is different.

I'm suffering from a problem with my left eye, loads of 'floaters' and a kind of lightening flash around the edge which I'm told is a kind of glue coming off the back of my eye - another 'age' thing to look forward too 

[Korky]

Growing older can really be a pain in the neck, but it can also be very liberating.

Stay positive, take the advice the medics give you, keep enjoying the photography and do what has to be done. Good luck!

Korky

And if your images start to get a bit fuzzy, we'll understand why 

[Ryewolf]

Thanks everyone. It did come as a bit of a shock, and without any warnings, one day there was no blurriness and the next there was. At the moment the blurry spot it's more of an annoyance and distraction particularly on bright days.

I did have to go and get some different glasses for when I use the computer - which is every day - as the reading ones I had to lean over the desk and the distance ones I had to sit so far back I couldn't reach the mouse and keyboard.

[Clicker]

Go see the doc Rye and get a referral to the eye people ..  Eyes to too precious to procrastinate with ...  And as it happened quite suddenly  I 'd even consider  going to A and E ...   I did that. And they found a small retinal tear.   Just a thought  for what it's worth ..

[ChrisLumix]

Everyone I know who's had the op says how amazingly improved their eyesight was once the effects wore off. 

[NannyFerret]

If the cataracts are bad enough to be done, the optician should refer you to the docs or hospital.

I have cataracts in both eyes in the reading area, but not bad enough to be done according to the optician when I had them tested almost two years ago.

They won't do the op here until they are ripe.

[Guest Judy]

Geoff, you really do need to see an opthalmologist rather than an optician. I went to a 'new' high street optician a few years ago.The optician really  scared me by saying that I was going blind in one eye.  I have high pressure in my eyes (sub-glaucoma) and am seen once a year by an opthalmologist at  the eye clinic at the RVI (have beeen attending these clinics since the early 1990s). I was referred back to the eye hospital only to find that the optician had misread the readings. My eye pressures are stable but the hospital has detected very very early signs of cataracts (they said that I might start noticing in 15 years or so). I've also had a slight retinal tear about 10 years back which seems to have healed. 

So do get a referral to a hospital eye clinic and if you do have cataracts, as others have said, the operation will sort things out.

[NannyFerret]

It was the eye specialist who picked up on my cataracts. I had gone to see him with something entirely different with my eyes, but the optician is looking for any drammatic changes every time that I go for my eye tests, but it was the optician who spotted my friends cataracts and got the ball rolling for an appointment at the hospital, but agree, It is best to get it all checked out with a specialist.

 

Edited April 4, 2016 by NannyFerret

[Ryewolf]

Thanks everyone.

Well, at the beggining of June I went back to the opticians as I thought the blurry spot had got worse - it had, the cataracts are forming around the center of my vision in my left eye. Anyway after a bit of a mix up, where I had to have the same tests done twice, the optician reffered me to an eye consultant, so I now have an appointment at the local hospital at the end of August. I've been told to bring all my glasses and not to drive as they'll be putting drops in my eyes to make to pupils dilate, however it does make your vision really really blurry - I struggled to see where I was going the last time.

So I'm hoping the consultant will refer me for surgery as it really is starting to be a hinderance now...

[Phil]

At least something's being done, fingers crossed they do get it sorted sooner rather than later.

[Ryewolf]

Yes, me too.

[Clicker]

 Hope that the waiting list isn't too long  if it's a cataract op you need Rye ... My neighbour has just gone in for his second eye  to be done  in  three months and is thrilled with the results .. Good luck ...  With a new lense  you'll notice a difference I'm sure ... 

[CanonChrissy]

Sorry to hear your news but at least you will have things sorted sooner rather than later

[Ryewolf]

Yes, I'm hoping the waiting list won't be too long, through just my left eye I can just make out members names above the avatars, but everything else it just a blur.

[Kobione]

Hope that goes well for you Rye, and it can get sorted soon. I know people who have had brilliant results from cataract surgery, so look forward to better vision.

[CanonChrissy]

8 hours ago, Ryewolf said:

Yes, I'm hoping the waiting list won't be too long, through just my left eye I can just make out members names above the avatars, but everything else it just a blur.

Don't critique anything lol

[Denis]

You are always welcome to critique my images Geoff, they might look better to you

Seriously mate, hope all goes well for you!

[Ryewolf]

1 hour ago, CanonChrissy said:

Don't critique anything lol

Thankfully I can still see very well through my right eye.... though I am having to rely totally on the 'Auti-focus Beep' (using the central focus spot) to let me know when something is in focus...

18 minutes ago, Denis said:

You are always welcome to critique my images Geoff, they might look better to you (

Seriously mate, hope all goes well for you!

Thanks Denis