Hi
I am booked in for cataract surgery, but they are only doing one eye at the moment and the other one can take up to 12 to 18 months to get done.
I am very worried about this as i live extremely rural, doctors 30miles away, nearest hospital 60miles nearest large supermarket 50 miles, also a carer and have other health conditions which makes me immunosuppressed. So driving is very important to me.
I heard horror stories about people not being able to see properly or even drive with one eye done and one not, apparently the brain rejects it even if you get prescription glasses from the optician. i covered one eye up and i would not be able to drive just with one eye and i kept on bumping into things.
Any opinions or experiences would be appreciated.
I don’t know if this is helpful, as only one of my eyes needed doing and the other is not so bad. I currently have different sight in my eyes - with the untreated eye I can read without glasses as I always could (but the optometrists and doctors don’t believe me because I had bifocals with a very slight bit for reading). With the treated eye I can see in the distance.
I did not have to have an eye test for driving, I can’t remember whether I had to report it to the DVLA or not, but I am allowed to drive. I very much like having the two different focal lengths, as I don’t need glasses at all. I do wonder what would happen if I had a problem while I was driving. For example, recently I had to drive 25 miles on the M25 in daytime, OK, and back again at night. I could not see the figures on the satnav so well, although it was adequate. I would hesitate to drive a lot at night, I think.
I had this done about 5 years ago but I wonder if your horror stories are representative for you. I wonder if the brain doesn’t compensate. I don’t notice it most of the time - it is only when I try a new camera that I realize I have to think which eye to adjust the viewfinder for.
I don’t like the idea of having the other done and then not being able to read without glasses, being one of those people constantly taking their reading glasses off and putting them on, but I have met someone who has got a form of bifocals again, simply in order to keep them on all the time.