The Eyes Have It

In 2001, I had Lasik procedures done on both of my eyes. Before that, I couldn’t see the big E on the eye chart without my glasses which I had worn for more than 45 years. I received the mono-vision version, which basically meant that I would see for distance with my left eye and close-up with my right eye.

Being free from glasses was wonderful. My vision was not so sharp in the intermediate ranges (say 2-8 feet), but overall, this was an acceptable trade-off.

Unfortunately, my eyesight began deteriorating a few years ago. Reading was okay, but I preferred large print books from the library rather than those with normal print size. When driving, I had to get much closer to street signs before I could read them. And even when I could read the signs, the writing on them was somewhat distorted.

So I decided it might be time for a touch-up. In Lasik, they actually do some cutting; consequently, it’s not completely reversible. They can cut more, but they can’t put back what they’ve already removed. I was hoping that my eyes had deteriorated in the right direction so that a fix was possible. I did NOT want to return to glasses.

I asked several people who they believed to be the best eye surgeon in greater Las Vegas. The name Surjeet Singh, MD of Westfield Eye Clinic was the one most often suggested, so he’s the one I selected.

Dr. Singh is a young man — perhaps 30 years old. He doesn’t have the experience of older doctors, but he is a lot more up-to-date on newer technologies than the doctors who have been doing it “forever.” I felt I could trust him.

I was surprised when Dr. Singh told me that I wasn’t a candidate for Lasik. I asked why. He said I had cataracts (lens cloudiness) in both eyes and that while my vision would improve a little with Lasik, I would not be happy post-surgery because the cataracts would still be there. And the cataracts would, over time, increase in size and density.

Dr. Singh recommended lens replacement. This procedure permanently removes both the cataract and the rest of the lens and replaces it with one of several types of “plastic” lenses. The Cadillac of lenses today is called “Crystalens” and allows for close-up, intermediate, and far-distance vision from the same lens — although, for a variety of reasons, the use of Crystalens is not appropriate for all patients. There were cheaper options, but I didn’t want to wear glasses again if I could avoid that. So I signed up for the Crystalens replacement.

I was charged $2,500 per eye — which included some sort of discount because I have Senior Dimensions as a Medicare provider. (Senior Dimensions is a subsidiary of Health Plan of Nevada and is only available in Nevada. There are many other Medicare providers. Some plans may or may not cover vision.) I don’t know how much it would have cost if I didn’t have insurance.

They do the eyes one at a time — with at least a three-week interval between surgeries. The first procedure was done on my right eye — which was the one I used for reading. I don’t remember anything about the surgery itself. I remember going into the room and I remember waking up later. What happened in between, I can’t say.

The next day I went in for my post-op checkup and found my right eye was about 20-50. Dr. Singh was ecstatic. He said it would continue to improve over the next week or two and would very likely improve to 20-20 or better. In a few weeks, it did. I couldn’t read as well as I did before the surgery, but that’s because my left eye was “distance only” and therefore useless for reading. I could read pretty well with my right eye now, but I carried around a magnifying glass because small print was out of the question. When my left eye would also become useful for reading, I expected to be able to read quite well.

My left-eye surgical experience was completely different from my first. I remained conscious during the procedure. There were lots of eye-drops in my eye so that my pupil was very dilated and insensitive to pain. I could see a bright light overhead and could feel very slight pressure on the eye, but I couldn’t see what the doctor was doing. There was no pain whatsoever.

After returning home, I added three kinds of eye drops every few hours to my left eye, but I could see almost nothing out of it. My left pupil was probably five times the diameter of my right pupil. This certainly wasn’t how it went the first time. I had no idea if this was a problem and, if it was, what the fix would be.

At the post-op the next day, I could see the big E and the line below with my left eye. That was it. I noted that I could see better than 20-20 with my right eye, but my left eye was now essentially worthless. Dr. Singh said not to worry. He told me he had added some atropine drops to my eye the day before. This dilates the pupil for up to two weeks, but it also paralyzes certain eye muscles so they can heal better before they start working. “On a scale of one to a hundred,” he told me, “I’m worried about minus 100. You’re going to be fine.” Music to my ears.

As I write this, I’m still in my healing period and I can’t say for sure how good my vision is going to eventually be. But I can tell you that so far the procedures have been pain free and trouble free.

I know this article has nothing directly to do with gambling. But most people eventually develop cataracts as they age, and my readers tend to be middle-aged or older because people younger than that usually don’t have the time and money to spend gambling. Perhaps I hadn’t been looking in the right place, but I had not previously seen any articles about this procedure.

Since I have considerable leeway regarding what I write about in this blog, this is one of the times I decided to write about something off-topic. If you mind very much, don’t worry. You can be sure that I’ll be back to writing about video poker next week.