"I couldn't get
the garden bed level with my rake. It looked bowed,"
Cole said. He's worn eyeglasses for 20 years, but
they limited his active lifestyle of mountain
climbing and snow skiing.
He decided to turn to his family eye doctor, Dr.
Larry Olsen of Edmond, when his driving ability was
becoming impaired. What Dr. Olsen found were
visually significant cataracts, common among people
over 60 years old.
Cole was surprised because he had no family history
of cataracts nor any indication of cataract
development. The standard cataract surgery was an
option, but eyeglasses would still be needed. With
woodworking, he needs to see distance and up close,
and "thick glasses are not too attractive in my
profession."
Cole was a perfect candidate for a new cataract
replacement lens surgery, said Dr. Brad Britton,
founder of BVA in Edmond. Cole is one of only three
people in the state to have both artificial lens
surgically implanted. It's the most innovative
technological advance in eye surgery since Lasik was
introduced in 1995, said Britton.
"My vision is beyond expression," he said Wednesday
just a week after the second-eye surgery. "I can see
the pores in your face, the threads in your jacket –
and count them."
Dr. Britton is the first in the state to perform
what is called the crystalens ® procedure, or cataract
lens implant procedure. In 1996, he was one of the
first three ophthalmologists in the state to perform
the revolutionary Lasik surgery.
Oklahoma joins the ranks of 35 other states with a
physician performing the crystalens ® surgery.
It is the newest technology impacting people who
develop cataracts and who want to be able to see
clearly, near, intermediate and far without
corrective lenses, Britton said. They are people who
can't see their computer screens, for example,
without a corrective lens. It impacts those facing
bifocals, who don't want to hassle with glasses and
contact lenses. Traditional cataract surgery leaves
you still having to wear glasses.
The procedure actually removes the lens, and
replaces it with an artificial lens, which moves as
the muscle contracts.
The heavy amount of reading in the legal profession
taxed Cole's patience. "You don't go anywhere
without your glasses. You might go without your
briefcase. You might go without your best friend,
but not your glasses."
"In the courtroom, trying to glance down and up to
find your place, reading the material, it becomes an
art form," said the attorney who has practiced for
32 years. In more recent years, he would practice
what he was going to do, with a great deal of
memorization. "I can track the material now, much
better."
"You can't imagine the restorative power of the new
lenses. It's better than the old type of cataract
surgery with the single focal, limited vision. … If
I knew where to buy stock in the company, I'd buy
it."
The evolution of cataract treatment has gone through
many phases -- from having to wear very thick
glasses to lens implants, but patients still had to
wear glasses or lens, said Dr. Larry Henry with BVA.
Cataract treatment then evolved into mono-vision
lenses, where one lens allows you to see up close
and another at a distance. Not everyone can adjust
to that, physicians say.
Lasik surgery is for younger people who wear glasses
and contacts to see clearly in the distance. This
impacts about half the population, but only 2
percent utilize the procedure.
The crystalens ® procedure is for the older
population, age 45 to 65, who get cataracts. That's
something we will all experience some day, but it
depends to what degree.
"It's a godsend for cataract patients, just in time
for the baby boomer generation to start coming of
age – an affluent generation wanting to remain as
active and viable as possible," said Dr. Britton.
"They want to be able to do whatever it takes to not
have to wear bifocals."
Unfortunately, Medicare patients cannot receive the
benefits of this surgery as yet, so thus, the cut
off of age 65, Dr. Britton said. Medicare won't even
allow its beneficiaries to pay for it out of pocket.
But medical leaders say they hope that will change
any day, as the issue is at the top of the list of
Medicare's concerns.
"The ones most excited about this technology are
those who have been farsighted all their lives. They
want to not have to keep up with their glasses," he
said. "crystalens® is for patients who were going to
cataract surgery anyhow, but the traditional
cataract surgery gave them the distance sight, but
they still had to have reading glasses."
"If you're going to have cataract surgery, this is
the type of implant I would want in my eye. Most
likely my parents will have it done before their
65th birthday."
For Cole, when he spends time with his three
grandsons, "gran'pa doesn't have to fiddle with his
glasses when he has to tie the hook on Ethan's
fishing line."
crystalens ® is a cataract replacement lens that works
naturally with the eyes’ muscles to give you the
quality of vision enjoyed when you were younger.
crystalens ® "hinges" are designed to allow the lens
to move, or accommodate to focus on objects near,
far and all distances in-between seamlessly. Unlike
old-style fixed focal lenses, which didn’t move, crystalens ® has the ability to move, thus focusing as
your eye’s natural lens did when you were younger.
And the best part about the new implants, Cole said,
is the more you read, the more your vision improves,
as the muscles that move the lens strengthen after
years of atrophy.
BVA, or BVA, includes seven
ophthalmologists and several optometrists. Its
mission is to serve the rural areas, with hubs in
Edmond, Ada, Tulsa and Elk City, and satellites in
Clinton, Hobart and 30 other places in state.
What Are
Cataracts?
Cataracts are a progressive condition where your
eye’s lens becomes cloudy, and eventually opaque due
to dead tissue cells that get sloughed off over
time, but are retained inside the capsule of the
lens, much the same way your skin sloughs off dead
cells. But since the lens is enclosed in a capsule,
these cells have nowhere to go.
The exact cause of cataracts is unclear, but they
occur in everyone as they age. Cataracts may be the
result of a lifetime of exposure to ultraviolet
rays, like the sun's rays, and other factors such as
cigarette smoking, diet, and alcohol consumption.
Cataracts can also occur at any age as a result of
other causes such as eye injury, exposure to toxic
substances or radiation, or as a result of other
diseases such as diabetes. Congenital cataracts may
even be present at birth due to genetic defects or
developmental problems. Cataracts in infants may
also result from exposure to diseases such as
rubella during pregnancy.
Since cataracts take a long time to develop,
noticeable changes in your vision happen slowly.
However, because they’re progressive, symptoms are
more apparent over time and can include:
- Gradual
deterioration of vision over time
- Objects
appearing dull, hazy, blurred or distorted
- Dramatic
reduction in night vision
- Vision
in bright light or sunshine may be obstructed by
glare
- You
might see halos around lights at night
- Whites,
blues and purples become gray
- Loss of
the ability to focus on near objects
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