So I think I have cataracts

[freespace]

Finally found time to go observing tonight, and everytime I look at something bright, like Saturn, there is this one spot in my field of vision that makes everything go blurry.

I can actually see this spot when I just point at a blank patch of sky. It is centred on my vision and appears darker than the background (I live in the suburbs of Sydney so blank sky glows gently).

First I thought it was my EP, so I took it in doors and looked through it at a lamp. The patch is there, and doesn't rotate with the EP, ergo it isn't in the EP. It looks like those worm-esque things you sometimes see in your vision, except it is much bigger and net-like in appearance. Both eyes have it, left worst than the right.

I am pretty sure it is cataracts or something like it. I am only 26, but I had radiation therapy when I was 21 and they warned something like this might happen... the price of beating cancer.

So this sucks, and I am posting here in the hopes someone will read my rambling above and can hit me over the head with "stupid, we all have that" (unlikely) or something similar so I can ease myself of the thought of undergoing more surgery (already had both hips replaced and scheduled for wisdom teeth in July).

Cheers,
Steve

[Waxing_Gibbous]

Well done on telling the bid C to get ******! :D
Check with an Opthamologist, but no need to panic.
My mate got cataracts when he was 23.
Surgery sorted him out no problem.
Good Luck!
Peter

[freespace]

Thanks Peter :)

Reading more about it, they might be able to reduce my short sightedness while they are fixing my cataracts, so that's something I suppose :)

[blink138]

hello steve a real bum rap youve been dealt there mate
anyhow i am an optician in perth and i just want to make sure of the description of your vision
i want to make sure that you dont actually have a "black patch" in your central vision as this is eye pressure related and is very bad
with the onset of cataracts your vision would be more like trying to look through a dirty window
if i were you i would not go straight to an opthamologist instead go see your regular optometrist
the reason being eye surgeons specialise in certain areas like glaucoma or cararacts and your optometrist SHOULD do your shopping for you
i have a good friend and iis member that is very excited about the onset of his cataracts because the new intraocular lenses can fix his 1.5 diptres of astigmatism - no glasses
by the way i am 48 this year and i am on my second replacement hip the first was when i was 23 though misadventure was the cause
good luck steve
pat

[morls]

I've had a cataract removed from one eye. The procedure is simple, painless, they give you very nice drugs while it happens and the improvement to vision afterwards is miraculous.

[freespace]

It is only "black spot" when I am looking at nothing but sky glow. If I look at saturn say through this spot, it looks out of focus and like seeing through a dirty window.


Don't really have a regular optometrist, I might call up my cancer doctor and maybe he can recommend someone he knows.


That seems to be the only upshot: my short sightedness can get fixed! Mine is pretty sever.


Hope your new hips are doing well :) Mine are pretty good, sometimes I forget I have them. If they lasted for 20 years 25 years ago, these ones these days should just about out last us :)

Thank you for the advice Pat,
Steve

[freespace]

That's good to hear moris :)

Mine hasn't impacted on normal every day viewing yet - if it wasn't for astronomy I won't have picked it!

If you don't mind me asking, how much was the procedure? Should start saving for it...

Cheers,
Steve

[netwolf]

Steve,

Sorry to hear about your situation, I have a family member who also has cateracts. But good to hear you beat the big C, and I am sure you will beat the cateracts. The cateract surgery has been around for a long long time.

Anyway about a month back I herd of a new simplified cateracts process using some new machine. This was on 2gb radio night program, there was a chap one who had been to some Confrence in Sydney on new technology in Eye surgery. Then more recently I was told that the current affairs programs on TV were talking about it.

http://aca.ninemsn.com.au/beauty/8237657/sixty-second-surgery

This is the mob who have the system in Australia now, and aparently its a fast treatment.

http://www.laserlenssma.com.au/the-breakthrough/

Best wishes and Regards
Fahim

[freespace]

Hi Fahim,

That's really interesting! Haven't found that in my googling yet, so thank you :)

I am sure the cataracts surgery will be *peanuts* compared to everything else, I just feel some what... less me with every surgery that replaces something that is me with something that isn't. Bit hard to describe.. but I will get over it :)

Cheers,
Steve

[morls]

I'm not sure...it was a while ago now, and there was some laser correction and other surgery done at the time, so it's hard to remember the exact break-down of costs. I'd be guessing, and I really can't remember how much medicare covered and how much private insurance covered.

One thing I thought of, there might be clinics, or maybe the eye and ear hospital, that provide the service in a similar manner to bulk-billing GP's, but again I'm guessing and really don't know...sorry...

[netwolf]

Steve, best to get yourself checked out it may not be cateracts could be one of many other possibilities. I think Diabetics also get spots in there vision and these are burned off by simple laser treatment.

[freespace]

No problems! I thought it was recent, so thought I would ask :)

Cheers,
Steve

[Lasereye]

I saw you talking about "Laser Lens SMA", The foremost expert in this field is Dr Michael Lawless (http://drmichaellawless.com.au), If you have visited laserlenssma.com.au you would know of Dr Lawless! He works for the vision eye institute, in Chatswood. He is amazing and a cataract expert.

Also Fahim, did you work for HP at one stage??

[cybereye]

Steve,

Get it checked out.

I had a similar experience with discovering my first cataract thinking I was looking through a dirty EP or Barlow. It turned out that I had inherited my cataracts from my mum's side of the family. At a relatively early age (48) I had my first cataract removed and the second one done about 3 months later. I had no idea that I had them until I tried to clean a "smudge" from my barlow!

The op is painless and except for having to put drops in for about 6 weeks and not lifting anything heavy in the first week there was no hassle at all. And the one thing I remember after having the first cataract removed was the amount of colour that I'd been missing out on. Everything was so vivid!!

It's worth having your eyes checked anyway - they're an important part of astronomy.

Cheers,
Mario