Friday, July 23, 2010

Tough call...

So, I have been to NIH, in Baltimore, MD,
twice now. Both times I was so impressed by the
entire staff there.
The 1st time I was there, the doctor at the eye clinic,
determined that I have a large cataract in my left eye.
So, I went to my eye doctor here, in San Diego, to have
cataract treated/removed. Both doctors agree that removing
this cataract will greatly improve my vision.
HOWEVER, there is a very small risk (5%) that the procedure
may not be successful, and could cause immediate
(irreversible) blindness.
No big deal right? After all, it is only a 5% risk,
with a 95% success rate.
Those are good numbers, that is a tiny, minimal risk, right?
Not to me. I am completely blind in my right eye.
So that tiny risk seems enormous to me.
I don't think I want to chance it. I would love to improve
my vision, but....not at the risk of losing the vision I have left.
The eye doctor also said that,
"yes, leaving it be is an option, BUT you are risking eventual
blindness by doing so."
WTF? "eventual" or "immediate"
What would you do?

2 comments:

YB said...

I would get more details:
- Is there another way (LASIK maybe as opposed to surgery?) to treat the cataract?
- If not, why?
- How long, exactly, is "eventual"?
- Will a corneal transplant help at all and will your insurance even pay for that?

Cindy said...

I wouldn't do it. NF2 stuff rarely works out to our advantage. any risk is too big unless u have perfect vision in other eye.