(MUSIC) AT SOME POINT IN OUR
LIFE WE COULD ALL GET THEM - CATARACTS.
THEY'RE A NATURAL PART OF AGING THAT WILL
ULTIMATELY IMPAIR OUR VISION AND CAN AFFECT OUR QUALITY OF LIFE.
TODAY'S GUEST WILL HELP US SEE MORE CLEARLY - PUN INTENDED.
MEET EYE SURGEON, DR.
CATHLEEN MCCABE, AND SHARON ULISSI, A
CATARACT SURGERY PATIENT.
WELCOME TO THE SHOW LADIES!
THANKS FOR HAVING US.
IT'S SO GREAT TO HAVE YOU HERE TODAY.
AND JUNE IS CATARACT AWARENESS MONTH, SO IT'S PERFECT THAT
WE'RE DISCUSSING THIS.
LET'S START WITH - WHAT IS A CATARACT
AND WHAT CAUSES THEM?
SO, THE CATARACT IS YOUR NATURAL LENS IN
THE EYE, AND IT'S SITS RIGHT BEHIND YOUR IRIS, THE COLORED
PART.
AND, WHEN WE'RE BORN IT'S NICE AND CLEAR LIKE THIS AND
LIGHT CAN COME THRU AND FOCUS ON THE RETINA, AND YOU SEE CLEARLY.
BUT AS TIME PASSES IT BECOMES MORE AND MORE LIKE THIS, WHICH
IS CLOUDY AND YELLOW AND LIGHT HAS A HARD TIME GETTING THRU AND
YOU DON'T SEE CLEARLY.
AND, THERE ARE MANY THINGS THAT CAUSE
CATARACTS TOO, LIKE TRAUMA, CERTAIN DISEASE PROCESSES, LIKE
DIABETES OR DRUGS, LIKE STEROIDS CAN MAKE THEM HAPPEN EARLIER IN
YOUR LIFE.
RIGHT.
BUT EVERYBODY DEVELOPS A CATARACT BECAUSE IT
IS THE NATURAL AGING PROCESS OF THE LENS IN YOUR EYE.
WHAT ARE SOME EARLY SIGNS THAT YOU MIGHT
BE GETTING A CATARACT, IF I WERE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING?
CATARACTS CAUSE YOU TO HAVE FUZZY VISION
AND SO A LOT OF TIMES PATIENTS JUST THINK THEY NEED NEW
GLASSES.
BUT, IT'LL ALSO CAUSE GLARE AND HALOS.
SO IF YOU'RE DRIVING AT NIGHT AND YOU SEE
THOSE BIG LIGHTS AROUND HEADLIGHTS AND HAVE A DIFFICULT
TIME SEEING STREET SIGNS, FOR INSTANCE, THAT OFTENTIMES IS
CATARACTS.
IT CHANGES YOUR COLOR PERCEPTION - BLUES AND BLACKS
ARE HARD TO TELL APART, AND IT CAN MAKE IT HARDER FOR YOU TO
SEE THINGS, LIKE A GOLFBALL IN THE AIR, FOR INSTANCE.
REALLY!
I MEAN LIKE IT KINDA JUST
DISAPPEARS, YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE IT'S GONE?
THAT BRIGHT SKY JUST WASHES EVERYTHING OUT WHEN THE
LIGHT GETS SCATTERED BY YOUR CATARACTS.
AND THAT'S WHEN WE NEED TO SEE A DOCTOR, RIGHT?
EXACTLY.
THAT'S THE FIRST STEP, ACTUALLY IS TO SEE YOUR DOCTOR
FOR A COMPREHENSIVE EYE EXAM.
AND THAT'S USUALLY WHEN PATIENTS FIRST FIND OUT THEY HAVE A
CATARACT.
NOW SHARON, YOU HAD CATARACTS IN BOTH EYES RIGHT?
CORRECT.
WHEN DID YOU NOTICE, FIRST NOTICE THAT SOMETHING WAS
OFF WITH YOUR VISION?
I CAN'T REALLY SAY YOU CAN FIRST NOTICE
IT.
IT'S SILENT, AND IT'S VERY SLOW GROWING AND PLUS PEOPLE MY
AGE OFTEN SAY - I CAN'T SEE AS WELL, IT'S JUST MY AGE.
RIGHT.
BUT BECAUSE OF DR.
MCCABE TELLING ME THAT I HAD A
CATARACT, AS DR.
MCCABE EXPLAINED IT'S CLOUDY.
IT'S LIKE LOOKING THRU A STEAMED UP SHOWER
DOOR.
WOW, RIGHT.
THE LIGHTS ARE VERY HARD ON YOUR EYES, DEPTH
PERCEPTION WAS BAD.
SO IF I WAS GOING DOWN STEPS I WOULD HANG ON
AND SLOW EVERYBODY UP BECAUSE I WASN'T SURE THE STEP WAS THERE.
RIGHT.
AND DRIVING AT NIGHT, I JUST LITERALLY STOPPED DRIVING
AT NIGHT.
THE GLARE OF THE LIGHTS HURT TOO BAD AND AS DR.
MCCABE EXPLAINED, THERE'S HALOS AROUND THE ONCOMING TRAFFIC AND
IT WAS LIKE IF SOMETHING CAME OUT IN FRONT OF YOU, YOU
WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO SEE IT BECAUSE YOUR VISIONS IS THAT
BAD.
AND THEN YOU HAD SURGERY.
OH YES.
AND--- I HAD SURGERY AND I COULD NOT BELIEVE, YOU HAVE TO
GO TO THE OFFICE VERY EARLY THE NEXT DAY AND WE WERE ABOUT AN
HOUR AND A HALF FROM THE OFFICE.
SO WHEN WE LEFT IT WAS DARK AND AS WE WERE GOING DOWN THE SUN
STARTED TO COME UP AND I JUST STARTED TO CRY.
IT'S VERY HARD TO TALK ABOUT AND MY HUSBAND
SAID - WHAT IS THE MATTER?
I SAID, I CAN SEE.
IT'S JUST, IT WAS ABSOLUTELY A MIRACLE.
YOU THANK GOD, YOU THANK EVERYBODY,
AND IT'S JUST, IT'S JUST AMAZING BECAUSE I CAN SEE LIKE I WAS 6
YEARS OLD.
I MEAN THE CLARITY.
I SAID THERE ARE COLORS.
THERE ARE, YOU KNOW, DEFINITIONS TO
THINGS.
IT WAS JUST, IT'S JUST AMAZING.
THE DIFFERENCE IS MIND BLOWING.
AND, I MEAN HOW REWARDING FOR YOU TO HEAR THAT?
I TRULY HAVE THE BEST JOB IN THE WORLD, REALLY.
IT'S A PLEASURE THAT WE CAN DO SOMETHING FOR
SOMETHING THAT'S NOT, YOU KNOW, IT IMPACTS PEOPLE'S LIVES IN A
WAY THAT SNEAKS UP ON THEM.
BUT WHEN WE FIX CATARACTS, WHEN WE
TAKE CATARACTS OUT SURGICALLY, WHICH IS THE ONLY WAY TO TREAT A
CATARACT.
AND I WANNA STOP YOU THERE, BECAUSE SOME PEOPLE THINK
THEIR EYEDROPS OR MEDICATIONS.
YEH, THERE REALLY ISN'T ANYTHING ELSE THAT WILL MAKE THEM GO
AWAY, EXCEPT FOR TAKING THEM OUT.
LUCKILY THAT'S CURATIVE.
ONCE WE'VE REMOVED A CATARACT IT NEVER COMES BACK AGAIN.
AND WE CAN ACTUALLY PUT A LOT OF WHAT
WAS YOUR GLASSES PRESCRIPTION IN THE PRESCRIPTION OF THE IMPLANT
THAT WE PUT IN AT THE TIME OF CATARACT SURGERY.
THAT IS GREAT.
WE CAN ALSO MAKE YOU SEE BETTER THAN YOU'VE EVER SEEN BEFORE
WITHOUT GLASSES, WHICH IS REALLY, WHAT A PRIVILEGE FOR ME
TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT TOO.
ABSOLUTELY.
DOCTOR, CAN YOU EXPLAIN A ASTIGMETISM AND IF YOU
HAVE IT CAN YOU STILL UNDERGO CATARACT SURGERY?
ONE OF THE EXCITING THINGS ABOUT CATARACT
SURGERY TODAY IS THAT WE CAN ALSO ADDRESS ASTIGMETISM AND
WHAT ASTIGMETISM IS, IS IT'S THE CURVATURE OF THE CORNEA.
SO THE CORNEA IS THIS CLEAR WINDOW ON
THE FRONT OF THE EYE AND IT HAS A CURVATURE AND IF THE CURVATURE
IN EVERY DIRECTION MATCHES, YOU DON'T HAVE ANY ASTIGMETISM.
BUT IN MOST PATIENTS, THE CURVATURE
IS DIFFERENT.
IT'S DEEPER IN ONE DIRECTION THAN ANOTHER.
AND THAT WILL MAKE A FUZZY IMAGE UNLESS
IT'S CORRECTED.
AND IT'S CORRECTED WITH GLASSES BUT AT
THE TIME OF CATARACT SURGERY WE CAN ACTUALLY DO THAT CORRECTION
IN THE EYE WITH A SPECIAL KIND OF AN IMPLANT SO THAT YOUR
ASTIGMETISM'S ALSO CORRECTED, AND YOU CAN SEE BETTER WITHOUT
GLASSES POTENTIALLY.
DOCTOR, WHERE CAN WE GO FOR MORE
INFORMATION?
YOU CAN GO TO THE WEBSITE MYEYES.COM/CATARACTS
SPONSORED BY ALCAN.
YES, FANTASTIC.
AND YOU CAN ALSO VISIT OUR WEBSITE
THEBALANCINGACT.COM.
THANK YOU LADIES FOR JOINING US.
GREAT SHOW TODAY.
THANK YOU.