Refractive Surgery Consultation Scheduled!

My Polar Cataract
(see the white dot in the middle?)

I've scheduled a consultation for refractive (corrective) eye surgery, which is tomorrow! I've been searching and reading blogs about the process, and figured I would write about my own experience too.

Here's some background about my eye situation. I was born with a polar anterior cataract in my right eye. It's very small (but still visible if you look hard enough), completely opaque, and right in the center of my eye. The cataract hasn't ever changed shape or size. I had an eyepatch over my left eye when I was 3 or 4 since the eye doctor was worried that I might develop a lazy eye since not as much light can get into the cataract eye, making it much weaker.

Then, in sixth grade around age 12, my eyesight started to deteriorate in both eyes and I became myopic. I started wearing soft contacts around 13, which I wore everyday. I got my first pair of glasses at 16 or 17, to wear when I was too lazy to put in my contacts.

My Glasses

My vision continued to get worse throughout my 20s, and I'd have to get a new exam and prescription
every year. I had a consultation for refractive surgery when I was 22 or 23, before I went to grad school. I knew my vision was not stable but I wanted to see what my options were, since I was already completely blind without contacts or glasses. The ophthalmologist then told me that I could have clear lens exchange (cataract surgery) in my right eye, and an implantable contact lens (Visian ICL) in my left eye since the vision in my left eye was too poor for LASIK.

My vision continued to get worse every year until I was about 28. Now I'm 30, done with grad school, live in a city with fantastic health care, have a real job with a good salary and an FSA, and so I've scheduled a consultation to see what my options are! I'll update as I go through this process.