I'm really nervous about my upcoming cataract surgery

[bif]

I keep hearing it's no biggie, but the thought of someone slicing into my eyeballs is a bit disturbing.

[BComplex]

1. I get it, bif. I'm dreading the day I have to go through it, too.

I've known scads of people who have already gone through it, and in all these years and all those people, only 2 had a bad experience, but NEITHER of them went blind or anything.

I still don't like the idea.

[birdographer]

2. It's very fast

I was concerned as well, had both done but 2 years apart. I sneeze often, was told I sneezed twice during the process. If I can still come out ok, you will, too!

[Irish_Dem]

3. You are in a twilight sleep and pain free.

It is hard to tell when they are actually doing the operation.
It is over before you know it.

The thought of it beforehand is the worst part.
The actual operation is a breeze.

Safest surgery you can get.

[elleng]

4. It IS no 'biggie,' and I don't think I thought of someone slicing into my eyeballs;

similar with having a shunt inserted into my head/brain/blood vessels. Professionals do GOOD work, and with each procedure, I was hardly aware of it as they went on, and pleased shortly later.

Don't THINK! (I know, easier said than done.)

[LuckyCharms]

5. Please don't worry.

I have to get mine done soon.

My mother had hers done several years before she passed, and she had zero problems. The hardest part was keeping up with the post surgery drops. She couldn't get them into her eye properly, so I had to go see her 3 times a day and put them in for her...but the surgery itself was a piece of cake.

Good luck!

[Lochloosa]

6. My wife just had both eyes done. Shes now 20/20. It was no biggie.

The hardest part is I can't get away with as much shit as I used too.

[ret5hd]

9. you can still get away with it...

it just has to be farther away.

[jaxexpat]

7. Nothing to worry about, really. That is if you trust AI programmed robots and cyborg optics.

I'm kidding, of course. My wife had hers done a few years back and we get free internet service during Coronal mass ejection type solar storms. Also, she sees a lot better, too.

[Glorfindel]

8. I had both eyes done last year.

The surgery itself is not so bad. I assume they'll have you under anesthesia but awake. It's actually pretty cool. You can SEE the laser as it works on the eyeball. To me, the left eye looked like a green golf ball with a green snake coming out of it. The right eye was more of a kaleidoscopic blur. (The surgeries were two weeks apart.) You''ll be fine!

[livetohike]

29. Mine looked like the underside of a jellyfish with

tentacles hanging down . I wish my ophthalmologist told me what to expect as far as seeing things during surgery. Otherwise, it was a pretty good experience.

[MiHale]

10. I understand your feelings...

Not gonna say it’ll be ok…but it will. Remember when you first got your glasses and you flipped them up and down to see the difference? You’ll do that again after the bandage is removed. It was fun seeing the difference again…

[wryter2000]

11. I was, too

And it was truly no problem. You should be able to have sedation to calm your nerves. I think they only used half of what they got out of supply for me. It just really was no big deal.

And I woke up the next morning with the most wonderful vision. It felt like a miracle.

[demosincebirth]

12. I've had both eyes done a couple of years apart. Apprehension is worse than the surgery.

You will be in a twilight zone.

[Sneederbunk]

13. Like a colonoscopy, the concerns are highly overrated.

[bif]

14. Thanks all.

I told the doctor to drug the daylights out of me.

[XanaDUer2]

15. My SO said easiet surgery ever

And the results were amazing

[mopinko]

16. i had a corneal abrasion yrs ago that didnt heal well.

i couldnt believe they were poking around on my eyeball and i didnt feel a thing. a few yrs later the scar tissue started to peel, and i had to have it scraped off. again, couldnt believe i didnt feel it.

they’re good at this shit now. i’m thinking about getting lasik, cuz i’m sick of readers. about on the last diopter they sell otc. it doesnt stop the process, but does reset it.
if i didnt have bigger medical fish to fry, it wd b the top of my list.

[Amaryllis]

17. Its nothing. I had both eyes done. Suggest you come up with an alternate image to focus on when you start to think of

them slicing into your eyeballs. THat image will just make you VERY anxious.

[snot]

18. I wish my doc would do it,

but they said my cataracts aren't bad enough yet.

[keithbvadu2]

19. Cataracts pt 1

I watched Patty's right eye cataract surgery on 17 Dec. 2013
(I had both of mine done earlier this year.) They had a small viewing room slightly above the operating room and a window to look in. Couldn't see a thing; too many people around the table. Instead, they had it on a flat screen tv. A giant eyeball with some clamps holding the eyelids open. It had to be the same view the doctor was seeing.
They cut two tiny slits at the bottom and left side of the eye. The LPN said about point two millimeters (maybe it was two mm). Then they put a metal probe in there (sometimes two) with a rounded tip.
Then they smooshed around the organic lens and broke it up into pieces. It had covered the whole eye. They inserted a small (everything is small) hollow tip in there and vacuumed out the pieces of lens until the eye was clear of debris.
Then they inserted a flat, wide probe that had the new synthetic lens. It looked like a vacuum cleaner wand that's wide and thin.
The synthetic lens was folded over like a tortilla shell folded into the center from both left and right.
As soon as it was pushed out of the wand, it started to unfold into a circle.
The doctor used the rounded tip probe to guide it into place and help it unfold.
It does not cover the entire eye like the organic lens did.
He said the pressure of the eye holds it in place.
When I had mine done, the doctor said he put one in that had a focal point of about an arm's reach.
It doesn't take long at all. Some say eight to fifteen minutes.
My first one didn't take long but the second one seemed to drag and I was impatient/anxious for it to be over with. Don't know what made me feel that way.
They numb your eye with some drops and liquids.
One of them burns. You're not too keen on that one.
My anesthesiologist said that they gave me about two beers worth of anesthetic but I couldn't even notice it.
The patient cannot see diddly.
You cannot feel what they are doing and all you see are some bright lights looking down at you.
The place Patty went to did about 33 or 35 cataract surgeries that day. Big bucks for the partners that day.
Plus she had a laser procedure to help fix/lessen astigmatism. That did not take very long either.
She said it gave a little burn feeling in the eye.
It also gave a $1,400 burn feeling in the wallet.
The 'even better' laser procedure would have cost $3,900.
The laser was optional so Medicare does not cover it, of course.
She can tell that her vision is better and the astigmatism is better for the right eye.
Might or might not have the left eye done in six months or so.
.
We get touchy and protective about someone fiddling with our eyes.
.
Just plain FANTASTIC, AWESOME, INCREDIBLE that they can do such things and it's now routine.

[keithbvadu2]

21. Cataracts pt 2

patty's second cataract surgery

done on thursday may 08.

came out fine, maybe even better than the first.

she noticed a tremendous improvement the next day.

i watched this one also.
the doctor had to work a little harder on this one.
the cataract was a bit more developed and tougher to break up than the first.

i learned a new tidbit of knowledge about the operation.
the doctor is barefoot.
he sits on a special stool which does not look so special,,, after all, a stool is just something to sit on, right?

the stool has foot pedals. At least two pedals for water and suction and probably a third pedal to push the new, synthetic lens out of the wand into the eye.

he has to use his hands/fingers to control/position the various probes into and around the eye under the outer layer.
if he had to use his thumb or other fingers to control water and suction, the action of the finger movement would also cause the probe to wander.
NOT a place you want a lot of uncontrolled movement!

she says it still came out great and is now only wearing glasses for up-close reading.
she was seeing 20/20 out of the left eye the day after surgery.

this time, she did not have the laser surgery for the astigmatism.
that would have been out of pocket, just like last time.

when she declined the extra laser surgery, the heavy guns sales pressure kicked in.
not quite called foolish but leaning towards it and 'you really should have it done'.

will get an eye exam in about a month for a real prescription but doesn't look like it will be very strong.

coming out great so far!
.
(added later) ---- it seems that the second eye was a little bit tougher because she did not
have the laser treatment done.

[keithbvadu2]

23. Cataracts pt 3

Cataract surgery several years later.

Sometimes the artificial lens will develop a haze over it after several years.
It does not happen to everyone.
You can see but not focus.
My right eye had that happen about 5 years afterwards.
The left eye seemed fine. Key word; seemed.
The optometrist could see the haze and after a while it got bad enough that she recommended laser treatment.
The laser treatment is done by a doctor specially trained in the laser.
They dilate your eyes and really, really examine them.
They put a lens about ¾ of an inch deep on your eyeball with some sticky goop.
They hold your head very still and you look into the laser machine.
You see four quadrants of red.
Then she zaps your eye a multitude of times and she keeps zapping until she feels it is done.
She is looking at your eyeball all the while.
Sometimes you feel the zap and sometimes not.
It feels a little bit like a static electric shock when you grab the doorknob.
Not painful but noticeable.
My right eye took 39 zaps. I did not feel any of them.
The left eye took 50 zaps and I felt most of them.
Driving home each time, the eyesight was worthless in that eye.
You might see some floaters for a while.

The left eye seemed fine. Or so I thought.
The optometrist and the laser doctor both were amazed that I was claiming how well the left eye worked. It was not fine. It was just much less bad. It focused pretty well but was deteriorating at a slower rate.
It took about 8 to 10 hours for the right eye to work ok and I could easily tell the improvement.
The right eye was so much better that I could then tell that the left was not up to snuff.

Two weeks later, she did the left eye.
There is no set number of zaps.
It is her judgement call as she is doing it.
They thought the left eye would take less hits because it was not as bad as the right.
Actually it took more hits than the right and it did not take as long afterwards to clear up the vision. Next day – left eye good but not as good as the right yet.

Patty’s first eye hazed over in fewer years than mine. It took 55 hits with the laser.
Her other eye is not so bad so it might be six months or more before they do laser on it.

Supposedly it does not happen again.

It is so gradual that it gets pretty bad before you really notice it.

[RazorbackExpat]

20. I had iit last year

Both eyes, a week apart. It's no biggie. Provided you have a competent surgeon, you'll be happy you got the operation.

[rsdsharp]

22. I had mine done a little over a year ago. My pupils don't dilate beyond 2 mm.

When that happens, they have to insert a ring to expand it farther, and there is a risk of the iris tearing. As a result, I was veeeery nervous. When they did the first eye, my blood pressure was 208/90 before they started. For all of that, it was easy, and both procedures went very well.

The next morning, my vision was kind of fogged for a few hours, and then cleared up. The worst part were the drops after surgery; multiple times a day, and since I’m diabetic, two different drops. They made my eye lids itch unbearably. The only thing that helped was a warm washcloth.

Other than that, it was a piece of cake. I wore glasses from the time I was nine, with a very strong prescription. I have a pair, now, but I don’t wear them; I don’t really need them.

[AllaN01Bear]

24. i had mine during the covid era.

the eye dr was only taking ppl w preexisisting contitions .
i was already blind in one eye and going quickly in the other .
my health care worker nagged me to do it. first one done and the next one done after that.
i have had one dream, to answer the fire alarm when it went off in my apartment.
also had distance implants put in and i am still dealing w the wow facter meaning the things i missed seeing when i had glasses , and i was a glasses wearer since a child. i understand your concerns.

[Jeebo]

25. Coincidentally, I just had an e-mail exchange with my brother about this.

Just a few days ago. He mentioned that he might have to have cataract surgery some time soon, and I had to remind him of my cataract surgery in 2016, after he had apparently forgotten about it. Then, I had to have the surgery because I was not able to pass the vision test to have my driver's license renewed. So I just went into my "Sent" e-mails and dug out the e-mail I sent to him a few days ago. Here it is, copied and pasted for your information, I hope it will help you:



I don't remember the exact details now, it was a few years ago, but I was still able to drive. I think the woman who gave me the test at the license bureau gave me a break even though maybe she shouldn't have, but I had the cataract surgery right after that anyway. It was Dr. Barrett who sent me to Dr. McGarrity.

Of course you can't drive yourself to the cataract surgery. Dr. McGarrity's office won't let you, and understandably so. They require you to have somebody with you to drive you to their office, stay with you the whole time you're there, and then drive you back home afterward. Ted (our older brother) performed that service for me.

The recovery time was very short as I recall, just two or three days I think. As I said, that was a few years ago. There was no pain or discomfort of any kind. They did give me some kind of sedation, but I was awake the whole time and they said there are no pain receptors in that part of the eyes and you won't feel anything anyway. You will have some odd visual sensations, and I did. Sitting there I kept thinking, "When are they going to start?" And then Dr. McGarrity said, "We're done, Ron." I didn't even know anything had happened yet.

You can see before, during and after the surgery, but your vision and visual sensations will ... I don't know how to say it, but your visual sensations will change, or shift, or something, during the time of the surgery and during the day or two after.

Oh, and I forgot to say, going back to the before time, Dr. McGarrity's office did have me do some things to prepare for the surgery during the two or three weeks before. There was something involving Johnson & Johnson's Baby Shampoo that I was doing daily to my eyes, and there was something else involving an eye dropper, can't even remember now what all that was about.

And they had me start taking these fish oil pills. I kept taking the fish oil pills after the surgery and I am still taking them now, because of another benefit I noticed that has to do with another part of my anatomy, nothing to do with my eyes. Let's just say that the fish oil pills have the effect of ... sort of lubricating your innards so that everything slides through smoothly and facilitating what TV commercials call regularity.

During the six months John (family friend) was staying in my house just after Ted (brother who died in 2019) keeled over, John needed cataract surgery. His Missouri driver's license had expired during the six years he had been living in the Philippines but he couldn't pass the vision test at the license bureau to get it renewed. The cataract surgery would have cost him nothing because his Medicare and United Healthcare supplemental was going to cover it all, and I kept telling him he ought to have the surgery done so he could get his license renewed and then he could use Ted's car, but he wouldn't have the surgery. I think he was scared. So he had to keep depending on me for transportation around town, and on the city buses and his own legs, and all the while there was Ted's car sitting out there in the driveway not being used at all. Well, until I sold it in November 2019.

If reticence or trepidation is an issue for you, let me assure you, it shouldn't be. There's nothing to cataract surgery. Nothing to it at all. If you need it, go ahead and do it.

Oh, I just remembered, they didn't do both eyes at the same time. They did one eye, and then did the other one two weeks later. I thought at the time that they did it like that in case something went wrong, it would go wrong with only one of your eyes but not both of them. I asked them about that but they wouldn't admit that that's the reason they do it like that. One nurse, though, did tell me that it is very rare for something to go wrong, and in fact, she said she had been working there for years and there never had been a problem.

-- Ron

[rickford66]

26. The worst part is keeping track of all the drops you have to take.

Come up with a system so you know what and when to administer each one and confirm that you did it.

[nitpicked]

33. +1

[rampartc]

27. had my first eye last week

you'll feel a little pressure, but it is worth it.

[leftieNanner]

28. The thing that made me nervous before I had the procedure

Was that I didn't know how they would keep my head from moving.

This is what you can expect.

They will insert an IV.
They will put drops in your eyes, some for dilation and some anesthetic.
When you are fully dilated, they put a "donut" under your head. Now it can't move!
Then they wheel you into the operating room. They sedate you until you are almost out. You will be somewhat aware of the presence of the doctor, and very bright light. The only sensation I had beyond that was awareness of some light pressure on my eye. Zero pain.
The whole thing takes about 15 minutes. Then they wheel you into recovery.

Does this help?

[snowybirdie]

30. They don't slice

Hard to believe. Its done with light and you're mildly sedated. Try and relax, it'll be fine.

[Wednesdays]

31. I had mine done 3 years ago.

I was like you, about the "slicing into my eyeballs" thing. But it really was no big deal.

Afterwards, 95% chance you'll be astounded at the results (in a good way). For me, it was the first time I could see 20/20 in decades.

On edit: some posters above said they were conscious during the procedure. I don't think I was aware of anything during my procedures...I was totally knocked out.

[Colgate 64]

32. It's incredibly quick. My bilateral

took 10 minutes. You don't feel or see a thing while it's going on. Relax - and enjoy the newly cleared up vision afterwards.

[duncang]

34. I had both eyes done.

During mine I was fully aware and watched as it was done. They spaced surgery on each eye out.

I went through the same trepidation as you. Just follow the doctor’s instructions after the procedure and you should be fine. I did look up the doctor and the hospital I had it done in looking for any red flags.

It was well worth it. I went from asking what the clock said to seeing it clearly. I’ve got my cards with the implant serial numbers. I don’t have those floaters drifting across my eyes. I was able to get my new drivers license without any vision restrictions. Some of my cataracts were stable and some floated.

It was strange watching and I worried during the surgery I’d move my eye but they had numbed it out so it wasn’t a problem. It’s fast. The only thing that takes time is the wait between surgeries. After my first one and the patch was taken off I barely could wait until I got the second one done.

[Paladin]

35. My procedure was quick and easy.

And the results have been dazzling, ever since. So glad I had it done.

Best of luck to you.

[BOSSHOG]

36. Good luck to ya. No biggie per my wife, after the fact

My wife had hers done three months ago. She was nervous and not looking forward to it, but all turned out well. She says she can see much better now. Didn’t take long. She couldn’t drive for a day afterward but she’s now glad she did. Her brother and sister had the same positive experience. I’d rather have cataracts than floaters. Cataracts are fixable.

[applegrove]

37. My dad had it. They were wheeled in for surgery in the morning and

wheeled out a 1PM to the waiting room to enjoy muffins and juice because they had not eaten in the morning. Gotta love public health care in Canada. No complications. No pain. It will be fine.

[localroger]

39. Don't worry. Had both done last year a few weeks apart.

Mine appeared suddenly and were freakishly fast growing, went from 20/20 to too blind to drive in Dec to April. 20/20 again after the procedures. The benzos didn't put me to sleep so quite a nice little light show during the operation. When the new lens popped into place, hey that's a flourescent light fixture! As others have said, the doctors know what they're doing and have been doing these for years. If it wasn't for the anesthesia you could drive yourself home.

[Skittles]

40. I've known several people who have had cataract surgery

none of them regret it.....you will be fine!

[Hekate]

41. Interesting & informative thread. My procedure is coming up in August & September....

I’m a lot less nervous than I was when I had LASIK done 20 years ago — there was such a massive correction to be done that I was never even a candidate until they invented new equipment & procedures. I will always have to wear glasses no matter what, and no big deal, considering I’ve been wearing glasses since I was 9 yo. The cataract surgeon is the same guy who did my LASIK all those years ago — so I’m even getting a discount on what is considered the upgraded procedure.

Had a very annoying conversation yesterday with a woman who called her drug store reading glasses “cheaters” and was convinced my surgeon was being stupid and or moneygrubbing for making all the many appointments, because she just had to have her cataracts removed and tra la tra la. Sorry, but she’s the kind of person who leads me on with questions until I realize she has not heard a single thing I’ve said.

Anyhow, on a previous thread at DU about cataracts, I learned that everyone who replied was glad they did it — and that the world was suddenly bright with colors again. That cheered me up no end.

In talking things over with my surgeon I let him know I wanted to do birdwatching again, and he said with my new correction I would be able to use binoculars because my eyes would be working in synch. Hurray.