Most of her life, Ellie Labajetta “needed my glasses to find my glasses.” Still, she resisted corrective surgery.
“Nobody’s going to mess with my eyes,” she would say. “My vision is too precious.”
Then, she needed surgery to correct cataracts. With today’s options, she chose to have new lenses implanted that actually correct vision deficiencies. It meant paying more for specialized lenses that correct both nearsightedness and farsightedness, but the results were worth it.
Since the surgery at Memorial Eye Institute, Labajetta can see perfectly (www.memorialeye.com). Night-vision problems have vanished. Glasses don’t come on and off when she’s doing cross-stitch. She easily reads, in print or on Kindle, books by Stephen King and Dean Koontz or assignments for her continuing education classes on Shakespeare, movies and great biographies.
Labajetta, of Masonic Village, Elizabethtown, is a retired nurse who remembers the brutal recovery from past cataract surgery, when patients’ heads were immobilized by sandbags. Today’s surgery is an outpatient procedure. Labajetta tells friends to forget the old horror stories.
“As soon as your doctor says it’s time, get it done,” she says.
Like Labajetta, Edward Proctor chose corrective replacement lenses during his cataract surgery, also from Memorial Eye Institute. After 57 years of glasses, he needed “a long time to get adjusted.”
“I’d be looking for my glasses or putting my hand to my face to see if they were on,” says Proctor, a state retiree from Linglestown.
Proctor and his wife bowl and golf together, and with her pending retirement, they plan to travel often. He’s looking forward to a Florida golfing trip, because the doctor promised he'd see the ball better, “so I guess it’ll help me golf better.”
Proctor, too, tells friends not to fear cataract surgery.
“The modern technology that has come along in this day and age is incredible,” he says. “It’s a miracle.”
Quick Quiz
Many of us don’t know much about cataracts or glaucoma unless a parent or grandparent had them. But here’s something you should understand–medical advances mean that the experience of previous generations can’t compare to today.
Take this quiz and learn how to protect your eyes from cataracts and glaucoma:
1. Cataracts and glaucoma are related.
FALSE. Both usually come with aging, so they often happen to the same person. However, they are unrelated. Cataracts are a clouding or yellowing of the crystalline lens, which focuses light entering the eye. Glaucoma is a gradual deterioration of the optic nerve, which sends messages from eyes to brain. “The more advanced glaucoma becomes, the more difficult it is to control,” says Dr. Stephanie Riggi, Weaver Eye Associates (www.weavereye.com). “If you’re able to diagnose the disease early on, you can control it with prescription eye drops, and there’s a better chance of not losing vision in your lifetime.”
2. People with normal blood pressure don’t get glaucoma.
FALSE. Glaucoma can be associated with high pressure in the eye, but it’s different than the blood pressure measured with an arm cuff. “Somebody with normal blood pressure can still have glaucoma,” says Dr. Adam Thode, Manning & Rommel Associates, Lancaster (www.manningrommel.com).
3. The onset of cataracts and glaucoma cause noticeable vision loss.
TRUE AND FALSE. Nighttime glare, blurry or hazy vision, and things looking less colorful can all be signs of cataracts. Glaucoma patients rarely notice their deteriorating vision, in part because it starts on the periphery.
4. A basic eye exam finds glaucoma.
FALSE. The results of a puff test might simply call for a closer look. Doctors diagnose from evidence compiled by checking the optic nerve, eye pressure, cornea thickness and peripheral vision. “If we see enough risk factors, a lot of times we’ll start treatment, usually with prescription eye drops,” says Riggi.
5. My mom had glaucoma, so I can get it.
TRUE. Glaucoma is genetic. “If you have a family history of glaucoma, you should have it looked at,” says Dr. Eric Chotiner, of Memorial Eye Institute.
6. Recovery from cataract surgery is brutal.
FALSE. Cataract surgery takes minutes, and the patient goes home that day.