Do you know anything about cataract surgery?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Have you had it recently? My late husband had it about 15 years ago, and it was very fast-- only about 15 minutes. But I think it’s improved even more in recent years.

I have a small cataract in my right eye that is in the center, and my vision in double in that eye and* it’s making me nuts*. It is my understanding that you have to wait until they are a certain size or something? IOW it can’t be removed while it’s still small?

Yeah, I do intend to ask my eye doc about this… but it’s Saturday night… sooooo where do I come for authoritative info? (Trick question.)

If you have had it recently, how incapacitated were you and for how long. Will I need someone to drive me home? Do you get the bandage off the next day? Whatever you can tell me-- thanks.

2

I had my last one about 15 years ago, so things may have changed a bit. The anesthetic is local, but you will be most-of-the-way knocked out anyway. You absolutely will need somebody to drive you.

The big eyepatch bandage can come off the next day (your surgeon will do a thorough post-op exam at that point.) There will be a few weeks of eye drops and you may need to wear a plastic shield at night to stop you from rubbing your eye in your sleep.

I haven’t heard anything about waiting for them to be a specific size – theoretically there’s no reason why they can’t remove the lens and replace it with an implant at any time. It may just be that they don’t want to perform unnecessary surgeries if the cataract is still small. If it’s interfering that much with your vision then it certainly sounds like a good candidate for surgery to me. But mine were congenital so they didn’t change size.

The surgery itself is generally very fast. Mine was over in less than half an hour and then there was a couple hours waiting for the drugs to wear off a bit before I could go home. The newest lenses are a folding type that can be inserted in a very tiny incision and then unfold in place. The sutures will dissolve automatically after about a week.

It’s a routine surgery and not a lot can go wrong.

3

I’m looking forward to getting cataracts so I can get new lenses! :smiley: It’s my understanding that they are pretty willing to go ahead and do the surgery early on, since there’s no real point in waiting until the cataract is large and debilitating.

4

I used to work at a clinic that specialized in cataract surgery. When the patients came back the day after surgery, they were all so happy. I really enjoyed it.

You don’t have to wait until the cataract is a certain size anymore. If it’s bothering your vision, its time to get rid of it.

A friend had cataract surgery at that same clinic about 6 months ago. When he came out, he was talking and joking. I had to drive him home, but I didn’t feel like I needed to stay with him.

The only reason he would have needed me was to slap his hands when he wanted to take the guard off. He had a metal eye shield that had holes in it so he could see, but couldn’t accidently bump or touch his eye. The doctor took it off the next morning.

The doctor made him wait for 2 weeks before they would do the other eye. I think this is pretty standard, they don’t like to do both eyes at once due to fear of infection and/or complications. Those were a very long 2 weeks because once Tony saw the improvement in his first eye, he couldn’t wait to have the other one fixed.

I worked at that clinic for almost 3 years. The doctor did over 1,000 surgeries during that time. There was only one infection and to be honest, everyone was sure it was caused by the patient’s horrible hygene.

Sometimes there are floaters left after the surgery. The doctor zaps them with a lazer. That procedure is painless and the patients report seeing pretty colors. Most patients only have to do that once. One lady had to do it 3 times.

Those were the only complications. Cataract surgery is safe and the results are instant.

Good luck!

5

Says a guy named flatlined. :stuck_out_tongue:

6

I had one eye done last November, so here’s my experience.

You do not have to wait for it to get bad. I don’t know who started that idea, but it’s false.

I don’t know how long the surgery took, because my sense of time was altered. I was semi-conscious during the procedure, so I could concentrate on keeping my eye still. A few times I started to go under, and the surgeon had to remind me to “focus.” And I remember beginning to snore a little at these times.

You are not allowed to drive there, or home afterward.

You’ll wear a transparent eye patch with holes in it, mainly to keep your hands away, especially when you sleep.

Follow your doctor’s instructions with the eye drops. This is very important.

There will be random after-effects of the surgery, sometimes permanent. I was seeing rays shooting out of everything bright, at certain angles. This is very gradually reduced over time, but still there. And in my right peripheral vision, I was seeing reflections of bright lights that were to the left of me. This was actually light reflecting off the incision itself, and went away as it healed.

(If you want to see these “special effects” enhanced, have your surgery in the xmas season, like I did. Xmas tree lights will be spectacular!)

THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT: Be sure that you and the surgeon are in agreement as to whether the lens will correct your vision, in addition to getting rid of the cataracts. I thought my doctor understood that I wanted a corrective lens, but she said I had not made a definite decision. Now, if I want my vision corrected, I’ll need it done at my expense.

7

My wild guess is that doctors used to recommend waiting for cataract surgery when the procedure wasn’t as common and/or well-established. These days, the ophthalmologists that I work for say that if you live long enough, anyone would probably be a candidate for cataract surgery, and that if it’s bothering you, then it’s a good time to do it.

8

These comments have been very helpful. Thank you. :slight_smile: