My Cataract Surgery Experience

[dell]

I am 2- and 4-weeks post-operative for cataract surgery. They did my left eye first and then two weeks later they did my right (dominant) eye. I paid $8,000 for the prescription lenses and am very happy I did. No more glasses for seeing things at a distance. However, I lost my nearsightedness and need reading glasses now. Anything within about 2 feet can get blurry. Trifocals were not an option for me due to my glaucoma and astigmatism. Good trade off in my opinion, but I didn’t really have a choice as my optometrist said that glasses could no longer correct my vision issues due to the cataracts. I needed the surgery.

The recovery phase for both surgeries was good, but I had a few mishaps. Five or six hours after my second surgery (on my right and dominant eye) there was what could have been a serious incident. But not the way you would think. The eye was fine, but you have to wear a protective shield over your eye for 24 hours or so. I think since it was my dominant eye that was covered is why I walked straight into a wall that I never saw. I put my right foot into that wall really hard and damn near broke a toe. And I said a few words not allowed on this forum. Good golly miss Molly it really hurt for a while. The anesthetic probably hadn’t completely worn off by that point either, so I wasn’t firing on all cylinders. I guess I never realized how dominant that eye was for avoiding objects. My advice is to take it really easy until the surgeon takes that shield off.

And it takes a little getting used to your new vision as well. Shortly after they removed the shield I started to walk between some chairs and froze momentarily. I was afraid I was going step on someone's foot or trip over them. I recovered quickly, but it was very odd. Thankfully that sensation never recurred.

During my post-op visit the pressure in my right eye was pretty high the day after my surgery. I get tested every time I see my optometrist and it is usually in the 11 to 13 range. The day after the second surgery it was 42 in my right eye. I admit that I freaked out a little, but my surgeon said it was a common side effect. Apparently, the pressure regulation mechanism in your eyes can sometimes get clogged after a surgery. They gave me a few pills, and more eye drops of course. The one-week post op visit pressure was down to 16 in both eyes. She told me that trauma from surgery plus the daily steroid drops were likely the reason the pressure was still higher than normal for me.

You get tired of putting eye drops in your eyes. During week 3 it was 16 drops a day between the two eyes (4 left, 12 right). And you have to wait at least 5 minutes between drops in the same eye. Ugh. Tonight is the last night for drops in my left eye other than the once a day drop that I have been doing for years. I won’t miss that steroid drop one bit.

They give you something for the surgery that keeps you awake, but you don't remember much of it. The stuff I do remember is pretty weird and hard to describe. Anyway, I don't trust my memories under anesthesia after my last colonoscopy where I talked to my wife the next day and said that in recovery, I did this, that and the other thing. And she said no, I was wrong, it didn't happen that way.

Post op you are limited to lifting only 5 pounds or less for a week. And no bending at the waist. They raised that to 25 pounds for me after a week and I can bend at the waist. These restrictions are because they want you to minimize the pressure in your eyes while you heal. And avoid dust, so no lawn mowing or other dusty experiences until the three-week post operative visit for the second eye (five weeks total as the same restrictions for both eyes). I did a little sanding on a rocket, but I had safety glasses on. I actually had safety glasses on a lot just to be safe. I wore my old glasses so my right eye could see, but I popped the lens out for my left eye as I didn't need that.

Another odd thing was that before both surgeries I had to sit up on the gurney and stare at an assistant at the end of the bed while the surgeon leaned into my field of vision and used a marker to make four marks on the eye getting the new lens. Since it was a prescription lens, she needed to mark my eye to allow her to align the registry marks on the lens to my eye. At this point I only had a numbing agent in my eye, so I can clearly see her leaning into my still intact nearsighted vision and stick a marker on my eye – four separate times. Actually, it was 6 times on the right eye as she didn’t get a dark enough mark the first two times. It is hard to ignore someone that close with a Sharpie pen (or whatever they use)!

That was my experience. Hopefully you found it helpful if you need cataract surgery sometime.

[BiffPow]

Thanks for the input, Dell! May come in handy.

[Lounge lizard]

My eye examiner tells me I will probably get cataracts in the future so that was a useful read for me. Thanks for that Dell. Hope your eyes continue to improve.

[BiffPow]

Same here

[dell]

Since people found my first thread on my cataract surgery useful, I wrote down some more information that people might appreciate.

Pain Medication
They will likely recommend Tylenol for pain/discomfort. They said it was very common to have discomfort in your surgery eye for a few days after the procedure. They described as like having an eyelash in your eye. I had it in both eyes just as they described it, not pain, but a mildly annoying itch. The discomfort goes away after a day or two, but sometimes I still feel it right after I wake up. I used Tylenol for a day or two and it worked fine for me. You may want to have some on hand before your surgery.

Eyedrops
I had to start using one of my eyedrops three days BEFORE the surgery. The surgeon's office forgot to call in the prescription for me, so I didn't have time to shop around. However, I did get it in time. I checked on it later and the price using GoodRx at local pharmacies ranged from $45 to $335. So, ask for a list of medications in advance and check pricing. Two of them were less than $10 each, but the one was $86.

Eyedrops part 2
The surgeon wanted me to get refills on the eyedrops for the second surgery. She wanted me to use a different set of eyedrops for the second eye to avoid cross contamination. So, I ordered the refills on the website and quickly got an email saying they would be ready for pick up the next day. However, the next day I got an email telling me insurance had denied the refill on one of them as it was less than 30 days since I filled it the first time. So, I called the pharmacy and I told them I needed the refills as I had a second surgery in less than a week. She said I could call the insurance company and explain the situation.

Instead, I asked what the cost for the eyedrops were with insurance. The reply was $86. Then I asked how much it cost if I just paid out of pocket. The reply was $86. Now at this point I really wanted to say I had a witty or sarcastic comment for the pharmacy technician, but she was just doing her job and had no control over pricing or policy. For a long time I have made it a point to be nice to people in these jobs as it is utterly pointless and mean to be nasty. I simply said I would pay out of pocket, and she said it would be ready for pickup in a few hours.

Eyedrops part 3
The eyedrops have different colored caps; white, pink, grey or tan and blue. The surgeon's office gave me a checklist for each eye and used both the name of the medicine and the cap color. That made it really easy.

Glasses
Since I had corrective lenses put in during the surgeries my glasses didn't work anymore. I popped the lens out of the one side so that there was nothing in front of my "new" eye, but the other eye could still use the corrective lens in my glasses. Popping the lens out also made it easier to put on my glasses with the shield in place over my surgery eye which I had to wear for a day.

Safety glasses
I was quite paranoid about touching or rubbing my eyes after surgery, so I wore safety glasses all the time for at least a week after each surgery. I got the ones that go over glasses as I still needed to wear my glasses for the two weeks between surgeries. I also got sunglasses that went over glasses for the same reason.

Physical limitations after surgery
No bending at the waist for a week. No running. I was also told to avoid dust after EACH surgery - so no lawn mowing, cleaning kitty litter boxes or sanding anything until your surgeon will give you the OK to resume normal activities. I expect to be cleared 4 weeks after my second surgery; a total for 6 weeks. Plan ahead. I mowed a day or two before the first surgery and hired someone to mow after that.

Weight limits - I was limited to lifting no more than 5 pounds for the first week after each surgery. And then 20 to 25 pounds for up to 5 weeks after the second surgery. Plan ahead if you need to move heavy stuff or even do things like grocery shopping. Five pounds isn't much when grocery shopping; especially with several items in a shopping bag. I cooked some big meals right before both surgeries and we had leftovers for days after.

[AndyFish]

I'm glad it worked out for you-- my Dad had it done a few years before he passed away and he said it was such a relief to be able to see again.
For myself, currently I only wear reading glasses (over the counter type 1.50 correction) and when I do the eye chart I come in at 20/20-- not sure how that works really since I do need reading glasses. But this is valuable intel for many of us who will surely face the same journey.

[rsaffle]

Glad it worked out for you Dell. I had a young friend mid 20s go to Mexico for eye surgery because it was way cheaper. He was messed up pretty bad and even had to have his father go get him. They burned them up and scarred them. It's been years since but he says his eyes see light like those Christmas glasses you put on and see multiple reflections and colors. I'm not trying to scare anybody away, this was in the early days of surgery. I 100% don't recommend going the "discount route" for your eyes though.

I'm curious if you will find yourself reading less now that you can't see upclose as much. It's happening to me now that I wear readers.

[BiffPow]

I have a friend who is an eye surgeon. Again, as Randy says, this was years ago, but he recommended against eye surgery if you can avoid it. Especially unnecessary eye surgery (i.e., can be corrected with glasses). But, if the cataracts are bad enough, eye surgery may very well be necessary.

My dad had it, but his vision only improved for a short window and then got worse. So he was blind for a few years before he died.

Wholeheartedly agree with Randy: never go with discount surgery.

[dell]

My optometrist was the one who told me that new glasses would no longer improve my vision. I needed the cataracts removed. It is actually a fairly simple procedure.

My reading habits have not changed.

[BiffPow]