OP, I’m in the same boat and am nervous as well. Had cataract surgery in 2015 and lost my retina in 2019 and am now blind in that eye. Major cataracts have developed in remaining eye and now need surgery. Drs are optimistic but cautious. Best of luck to you!

Hey there, I believe I went through cataract surgery - where they remove your natural lens and put in an artificial lens - in 2017 to treat glaucoma. I'm also completely blind in one eye. The surgery went fine. For me, I struggled reading (often joked I had dyslexia, mainly at a distance), needed high-contrast and large print (magnifying on my phone became my best friend), I had pretty bad photophobia and my depth perception dropped off the face off the earth. However, that was just my experience and yours may be different. Best of luck.

I was born blind in my left eye and had cataract surgery on my right one 10 years ago (I was 34). I also have severe nystagmus and retina damage to my right eye, so that combined with only having one eye meant they wanted to do it under general anesthesia instead of just the numbing drops like they normally do. It went fine and recovery only took a few days.

I had to have a couple of little revisions via laser surgery, once about a year after because some of the anterior chamber tissue that had been removed started to re-grow (more common on cataract surgery in younger patients) and one about a year and a half after that for posterior capsule opacification. Both were quick, simple procedures.

All in all, the IOL implant wasn't able to improve my vision any compared to what it was pre-cataract due to my other eye conditions, but it's no worse now, either. Getting rid of the cataract helped a lot.

I lost my left eye to bilateral retinoblastoma when I was 2 years old, and developed a radiation cataract when I was 15 in my other eye. I couldn't read the chalkboard/whiteboards in class, was getting hard to read books and see computer screens, ended up getting cataract surgery in the summer after dealing with the vision issues throughout the school year.

The surgery as a whole was fine, done with conscious sedation. I was given a mixture of morphine and valium, so I didn't feel anything, and if I did I just didn't give a care in the world about it. I remember being able to speak with my nurses while the doctor was performing the procedure. Recovery was a little tough because the sutures they used were clipped a little long and ended up abrading my cornea, but after taking care of that, it was amazing having super clear vision again. I had to wear bifocals since the intraocular lens doesn't deform like our normal lenses do for focus, but I'm sure technology today has improved the materials. It took a little getting used to, and I needed separate computer glasses, but my vision measured at 20/15 and was insanely crisp and sharp for several years.

One thing to note is that my body tried growing epithileal cells over the new lens, so after a few years I had to go to my doctor to get YAG laser surgery, where he just zapped the skin off the lens in a very quick procedure. I remember walking down the long hallway to the laser room and not being able to focus or see all the way down the hallway due to the cellular obstruction, and literally after a 5 minute procedure, I went back into the hall and was able to read the text on the door all the way down on the other end. Something to pay attention to if you notice your new vision faltering a bit a year or so after the lens is put in.

Good luck with the surgery and I hope all goes well!