[Maine Mariner]

About 30 years ago, a friend of my parents had cataract surgery. As I recall it required an over night stay in the hospital.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

That was then. I had one in 1962 for a traumatic cataract. They cut the cornea open like a tin can and removed the entire lens and membrane.

Nowadays they make a tiny slit on the side of the iris, slice open the membrane, slide out the clouded lens and slide in an artificial lens. Minimal damage to the eye. Heals in a day. The eye is the fastest-healing organ in the entire body.