Yes, cataracts can make night driving difficult as headlights light up the cataracts. I have no trouble with nighttime driving after cataract surgery with implants.
Retired. So no company insurance. And the surgeon isn’t recommending surgery yet, so our ACA plan almost certainly won’t cover it. (Medicare is probably better than our ACA plan, also.)
Yesterday I had my second eye done. The first eye now has excellent distance vision, something I have not had since I was a child. Looking forward to when the 2nd eye heals, which should only take about a week. Now I just have to get used to using reading glasses.
My two brothers and I all lost the genetic lottery with the vision we inherited from our parents. Mom had macular degeneration, dad had glaucoma. We all got both. Glaucoma can be held at bay. Macular degeneration is a bigger problem; as of now, no really effective treatments.
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Sounds like you are getting good care. Best wishes. I had severe astigmatism. Completely corrected w implants. My grandfather had glaucoma. So watch eye pressure closely but so far no problems.
For now more concerned abt diabetic retinopathy. Watching closely but no symptoms. Some previous high blood pressure issues seem to have healed w better control of bp.
Seeing Dr once per year to monitor per insurance recommendations.
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I get my eye pressure checked at least twice a year; so far it is kept in check by eye drops.
Just had cataract surgery in both eyes. That seems to have worked out well. Macular degeneration is the big problem, or probably will be eventually.
From a recent thread here:
Dab Buettner THE SCIENCE OF BLUE ZONES:
Validated Hotspots of Longevity
https://discussion.fool.com/t/exercise-variation-and-longevity/123303/5
https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_buettner_how_to_live_to_be_100
What Are Blue Zones?
Blue zones are special geographical areas where people live measurably longer, healthier lives. First identified in the peer-reviewed journal Experimental Gerontology by Dr. Gianni Pes and colleagues, these regions have gained international attention for their extraordinary concentration of nonagenarians (90+) and centenarians (100+). They are like nature’s laboratories for unlocking the secrets of a long, vibrant life.
Scientifically Validated Blue Zones
Through rigorous demographic research, scientists have fully validated the four primary blue zones: 1) Sardinia, Italy – Mountain villages with the world’s highest concentration of male centenarians, 2) Okinawa, Japan – Home to some of the world’s longest-lived women, 3) Ikaria, Greece – Where people “forget to die” and live 8 years longer than Americans, and 4) Nicoya, Costa Rica – Where men have twice the chance of reaching 90 compared to men in developed countries.
From the OP’s cited reference;
The states with the best quality of life for seniors
2. Hawaii | Score of 8.17 out of 10
Hawaii’s older adults live longer than anywhere else in America. Life expectancy after 65 reaches 20.6 years, over four years longer than in West Virginia. Obesity affects a fifth (20.5%) of older adults, and cardiovascular disease is relatively rare at 17.0%.
Seniors in Hawaii have plenty of support to age well, while still being able to stay at home. The Hawai‘i Community Foundation runs a multi-year grant program, called Kūpuna Aging in Place (KAP), which funds organizations that help older adults with services like community programs, adult day care and health, and caregiver support.
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While Hawai’i is not a validated Blue Zone, my Native Hawaiian/German father age 90, my Hawai’i-born Japanese Nisei (second generation) mother age 96 and Ilocano (Filipino) father-in-law age 96 were 90+ nonagenarians, and my Hawai’i-born Cantonese mother-in-law age 104 was a 100+ centenarian. All passed away peacefully in their sleep without any long-suffering, painful, debilitating maladies like cancers, diabetes, Alzheimer’s Disease and obesity. My father was the only one who had heart by-pass surgery at age 75 and managed to live comfortably to age 90. My lucid mother-in-law at age 104 announced to all immediate family members that she was ready to go and stopped eating.
Their generation was truly amazing at a time in Hawai’i when both parents had to work to get by in a socio-economic-political environment controlled by the powerful “Big Five” family companies that paid low wages and controlled just about everything throughout the Hawaiian islands. Things got a lot better after the end of WWII when the following major events happened:
• The 1946 Hawaiian sugar strike was a landmark 79-day labor dispute (September 1 - November 17,1946) where some 26,000 ILWU (International Longshore and Warehouse Union) represented workers and their families (76,000+ people) struck 33 of 34 plantations. Led by the ILWU, it successfully ended the “Big Five” corporations’ oligarchy, replacing the oppressive “perquisite” system with higher cash wages, a 40-hour workweek, and improved living conditions.
• In January 1959, the first PanAm Boeing 707 passenger jet landed in Honolulu, jump starting the explosive growth of Hawaii tourism.
• In August 1959, Hawaii become the 50th State.
Both my father and father-in law maintained year-round, large home-grown vegetable gardens with banana and papaya plants, and both loved to spear fish and catch octopus on the reefs for exercise and to provide fresh seafood on their family tables. My father was also an enthusiastic year-round shoreline fisherman with a goal to land a 100+ pound Ulua (Giant Trevally, a large, powerful highly prized apex predator game fish). He made his own Hawaiian sling spear guns and 10-12 foot long bamboo fishing poles for attached PENN fishing reels. However, both men had the same unhealthy habit, i.e., smoking unfiltered cigarettes. During WWII, my father entered the U.S. Army as a non-smoker and returned home from the Pacific War smoking Pall Mall until age 50 when he stopped cold turkey. My father-in-law also quit smoking Camel cigarettes in his 50s. My father took up golf, walking for exercise on public golf courses. He also loved studying and playing chess and solving crossword puzzles. My father-in-law loved tennis and continued to play into his early 80s.
My mother-in-law was an amazing hard worker. usually with both full-time and part-time jobs. All her life she “disliked” seeing physicians, e.g., my wife told me that her mother never went in for routine pap smear screening tests. Her first son was born in Hilo, Hawai’i using midwives. She and her husband traveled to the Philippines for a short-term stay. She had a second son there delivered by village midwives prior to the outbreak of WWII and got stuck there and bore my wife and another son using midwives. Life and survival became a highly stressful struggle during the Japanese occupation. When I carefully queried her about this part of her life, she told me that Japanese soldiers favored and sought light-skinned clean Filipino women. Being white skinned Chinese, she would darkened her exposed skin with dirt and charcoal and applied strong smelling shrimp sauce on her clothing whenever she reluctantly had to go into the town occupied by Japanese soldiers. She wore a large round hat and purposely keep her head down to avoid eye-to-eye contact with enemy soldiers. When the war ended, she immediately sought and got passage for her family aboard a U.S. cargo ship headed for Pearl Harbor, Hawai’i. My mother-in-law later bore two more daughters for the first and second time at a maternity hospital in Honolulu.
[As a side note here: Since my mother-in-law was a U.S. citizen born in the U.S. Territory of Hawaii, my wife and her two brothers at birth in the Commonwealth of the Philippines were U.S. citizens. Missing, however, were any birth certificates. The only documentation were Roman Catholic Church baptism papers that could not be found in church records when years later my wife first applied for a U.S. Passport. My father-in-law’s family Bible had the written baptism dates of his 3 children that the U.S. agency accepted as proof. After the end of WWII, when the Philippines became an independent country, my father-in-law lost his non-citizen U.S. National status and had to go through the U.S. naturalization process for U.S. citizenship.]
While my and my wife’s parents were highly intelligent, they had no opportunity to pursue higher education. So, like many other Hawai’i parents in their generation, they made higher education a top priority for all their children. All 4 of my siblings and I graduated from colleges on the U.S. mainland. All 6 children on my wife’s side also graduated from either the University of Hawai’i or mainland colleges.
Mahalo nui loa (thank you very much in Hawaiian) to our beloved long-lived parents for all their hard work and sacrifices, overcoming substantial struggles and challenges.
Aloha,
Ray
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Sorry to hear that. 1poorMIL has that (as well as RP…double-whammy). She says she can see light, but I’m not sure that isn’t just wishful thinking on her part. She’s totally blind now. MD and RP are -basically- untreatable at this time. Always hold out hope for the future, but that doesn’t do us any good right now.
Here’s hoping your progression is slow enough that you’ll expire naturally before your vision goes.
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Yes, that is the hope. My mother was almost blind when she died, but still managed to get around her managed care facility.