Age & Eyes

I've been seeing a lot of guys in the 60's, 70's, 80's, giving up because of poor eye sight.
A lot of guys and gals will just say  they need stronger prescription glasses, until finally the stronger prescriptions don't work.
Many say they can't drive at night because it's hard to see.
The fact is you may have cataract problems.
I had all the above and am 75. At night I had a hard time driving because everything was darker. I actually thought I needed brighter headlights and readjusted. Even with glasses things in the distance were kind of blurred and at a distance I'd see 2 power poles instead of one, until I got closer. I couldn't read the menu on the tv even with my glasses, and they are progressive prescriptions. Even reading close up was beginning to be a problem. Now here's the kicker, quite a few years ago I was told that I had the start of cataracts, but not bad, and my glasses corrected distance, intermediate, and near vision. As time went on I thought just get stronger prescription glasses.

Well I'm here to tell you I didn't know just how bad those cataracts were messing up my eye sight.
From the time I went in for the surgery to the time I left the surgery center was approximately 1 hour. The surgery itself was less than 15 minutes. You are entirely awake for the whole process and you feel absolutely nothing during the surgery. After the surgery, you have a very short recovery period, and you have to have another driver. I myself, had no headaches, or any type of eye pain. The only requirement was I had to wear dark glasses which they provide for me.

Now this is just a few hours after the cataract was removed and the new lens was installed in my eye.
On the way home I removed my sunglasses and was amazed at how much brighter the world was. Colors were so vivid. I closed my right eye and just looked with my other eye which still had the cataract and noticed the difference immediately. My bad eye was like looking through a yellowish filter. Everything was less bright and darker and blurrier than my eye with the new lens. When it got dark, again I removed my dark glasses and already noticed why everything was so dark before. The cataracts made everything darker. So now I noticed how much better I could see at night.

Now I should mention that they only do 1 eye at a time. 2 weeks later they did my left eye. My distance vision is now phenomenal. Even my near vision has improved. it truly is like a new world. I've had my new eyes just over a month now, and the world is so much clearer and brighter. My hunting & shooting should greatly improve!! LOL!!

So, what I'm saying is it doesn't hurt to get checked for cataracts. It is a painless event. And the surgery is totally painless.

SD, I think you are correct on this. On my last visit for a new exam, the doctor said "You have the start of cataracts but just forget about it because it is so slight.". I can see pretty well but as I was walking out of the woods tonight I kept checking how well I could see my sights. This time of year the days a growing slightly longer and so at quitting time it is a bit brighter. I installed an aperture rear sight to help then wrapped the front sight in fluorescent orange tape to make it brighter. The problem is, I can't see the target object just the front sight, unless the target is something bright like a no-hunting sign. I believe as you say, the issue is the "slight" cataracts. Thanks for the suggestion.

Kurt wrote:SD, I think you are correct on this. On my last visit for a new exam, the doctor said "You have the start of cataracts but just forget about it because it is so slight.". I can see pretty well but as I was walking out of the woods tonight I kept checking how well I could see my sights. This time of year the days a growing slightly longer and so at quitting time it is a bit brighter. I installed an aperture rear sight to help then wrapped the front sight in fluorescent orange tape to make it brighter. The problem is, I can't see the target object just the front sight, unless the target is something bright like a no-hunting sign. I believe as you say, the issue is the "slight" cataracts. Thanks for the suggestion.

Kurt, you are welcome. I can see my sights clear and distance is phenomenal.

That is a wonderful result. Good for you!

Rustycorvair wrote:That is a wonderful result.  Good for you!

Thank you sir. I'm happier than a pig is s#@t.

What does rustycorvair refer to?
I had a 1964 convertible.

I had a '65 Monza convertible. It slowly dissolved into the ground.

Rustycorvair wrote:I had a '65 Monza convertible.  It slowly dissolved into the ground.

They sure were fun to drive. Unfortunately mine developed blow-by
really bad. Looked like a steam locomotive going down the road. Used more oil than gas...LOL!
Wish I had kept it and rebuilt the engine.

Yes. Still a very cool car.

Rustycorvair wrote:Yes.  Still a very cool car.

Buddy of mine had a 65 Monza. Installed the radiator in front. Tore out the back seat and modified it. Then he installed a 350 engine with standard tranny. That thing would run down the track.

You know, I had a 66 Corvair Monza. It had a 110HP engine I believe. I and my uncle rebuilt that engine. It was a good car. I believe there was a model called a Spider. Those had an even bigger engine. Mine was dark green with a black simulated leather interior. 4speed.

Kurt wrote:You know, I had a 66 Corvair Monza. It had a 110HP engine I believe. I and my uncle rebuilt that engine. It was a good car. I believe there was a model called a Spider. Those had an even bigger engine. Mine was dark green with a black simulated leather interior. 4speed.

The corvair was a neat little vehicle. Mine was a convertible with the 102hp engine.
You are correct. The Spyder was turbo charged and I believe put out 150hp.
If you can find one in a field, they still bring a big price tag.

This is bringing back memories. Mine wouldn't steer on winter roads because the front end was too light with the engine in the back. It would go on the bad roads but not always where you wanted it to.

Kurt wrote:This is bringing back memories. Mine wouldn't steer on winter roads because the front end was too light with the engine in the back. It would go on the bad roads but not always where you wanted it to.

I also had a '62 VW bug that would do the same thing. Lived in Cleveland, Ohio at the time, and worked in downtown. On a day with snow on the road, the high winds off Lake Erie would blow that front end around.
Now the Corvair was pretty good, but, one day I tried busting through a small snow drift. Well I did pretty good for about 10 seconds. That flat pan on the bottom crawled right up on the drift and left all 4 tires hanging off the ground...LOL. There were a lot of not so nice words going on. Walked to the house, got a shovel and proceeded to dig out until the tires were back on the ground. Never tried that again.

Unbelievable! A 62 VW Bug was my first car. I paid $100 for it and then went to work on it. Your antidote about riding a snow drift I did in an International Scout riding up the wedge of snow left by the plow between the right lane of the highway and the off-ramp. I didn't see it till I was on it. Next thing we'll find out we both shoot muzzleloaders! What's that expression? "brothers from another mother".

Kurt wrote:Unbelievable! A 62 VW Bug was my first car. I paid $100 for it and then went to work on it. Your antidote about riding a snow drift I did in an International Scout riding up the wedge of snow left by the plow between the right lane of the highway and the off-ramp. I didn't see it till I was on it. Next thing we'll find out we both shoot muzzleloaders! What's that expression? "brothers from another mother".

You're right....we do both shoot muzzleloaders. Johnathan built me a beautiful ML for Christmas a few years ago. Him, his brother, and me ML hunt every year. Have loads of fun together.