Anyone have cataract surgery?

[Gracie]

I am being scheduled to finally have it done in my right eye and to be honest...it scares the bejesus out of me. I mean..if he ***** up...I'll be blind in one eye. Being one less boob is livable. Being blind in one eye is not. I need my eyes. BOTH of them.

And...I read that they do not knock you out. They just give you that twilight shit, which does not work on me. I woke up in the middle of a colonoscopy ferchrissakes. I don't want to see that scalpel or whatever the hell it is to have them poking around in my eye and FEEL it...or the "twilight" wears off like it tends to do with me. Will they use anesthesia if they know my body does not take the twilight well?

In short...it's freaking me out.

 

[GiveMeATicketToWork]

I am being scheduled to finally have it done in my right eye and to be honest...it scares the bejesus out of me. I mean..if he ***** up...I'll be blind in one eye. Being one less boob is livable. Being blind in one eye is not. I need my eyes. BOTH of them.

And...I read that they do not knock you out. They just give you that twilight shit, which does not work on me. I woke up in the middle of a colonoscopy ferchrissakes. I don't want to see that scalpel or whatever the hell it is to have them poking around in my eye and FEEL it...or the "twilight" wears off like it tends to do with me. Will they use anesthesia if they know my body does not take the twilight well?

In short...it's freaking me out.

Sorry to hear this...hope your surgery goes well.

 

[HenryBHough]

Have had both eyes done.

The procedure has been done hundreds of thousands of times with extremely low failure rates.

You usually are given the option of general anesthesia or a local. Both times I went for the local and was able to watch. True, what one sees is very limited but is fascinating given the perspective. The view is by means of the eye on which the procedure is being done.

The follow-up use of several kinds of drops is a pain in the ass but not in the eye.

Choice to which you should pay attention is how you want the single-focus lens chosen. In my case I had natural "monovision" - in which one eye is naturally focused for long distance; the other for reading distance. I opted to preserve that and now can read and drive without glasses but do both better with them. Caution, though, that if you do not have natural monovision going in transitioning to it can cause some discomfort for several weeks. Even nausea.

Improvement will be very fast though not immediate as there is swelling that has to be allowed to go away and you should allow several weeks before being fitted for new glasses.

Your concern should be minimal - being relaxed will make things go more easily and the results better.

 

[Gracie]

They are gonna have to knock me out. Twilight doesn't work on me. I hafta tell the surgeon dude there is no choice, really. And no..I don't wanna see them poking my eyeball anyway, lol.

It will be so nice to see out of that eye again. I can now...but not very good.

 

[HenryBHough]

Gracie, the choice is certainly yours. Since you've made it I will sorta sternly tell you to take 100% seriously the admonition to not eat or drink anything for a minimum number of hours before the surgery.

If you do the danger of complications from aspirating something is hugely increased and, worse, any sudden involuntary movement (as by jerking as you choke) can make things to horribly wrong. The same would apply were you to opt for the local but some surgeons prefer that you do that because if you feel any sudden movement coming on you can tell them and they can pause until it passes.

 

[Dekster]

They are gonna have to knock me out. Twilight doesn't work on me. I hafta tell the surgeon dude there is no choice, really. And no..I don't wanna see them poking my eyeball anyway, lol.

It will be so nice to see out of that eye again. I can now...but not very good.

I have a relative's whose surgery went south on their first eye. They didn't lose their vision but there was an issue with the news lens. It required lots of needles and lasers to the eye to correct but none of it was particularly painful for them. It just took a few more months to recover than had been expected and several trips to a specialist. They said it was a very rare complication. The second one worked out perfect. I would say the probability of losing your ability to see due to the cataracts is likely much higher than losing your vision due to the surgery.

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

I am being scheduled to finally have it done in my right eye and to be honest...it scares the bejesus out of me. I mean..if he ***** up...I'll be blind in one eye. Being one less boob is livable. Being blind in one eye is not. I need my eyes. BOTH of them.

And...I read that they do not knock you out. They just give you that twilight shit, which does not work on me. I woke up in the middle of a colonoscopy ferchrissakes. I don't want to see that scalpel or whatever the hell it is to have them poking around in my eye and FEEL it...or the "twilight" wears off like it tends to do with me. Will they use anesthesia if they know my body does not take the twilight well?

In short...it's freaking me out.

Actually you’re fully awake during the procedure – your eye is anesthetized.

 

[Indeependent]

Are you getting a corrective lens?
If so, you will not get general anesthesia.
I was terrified and my Blood Pressure was 150/90.
It's quick and you will be very happy with the results.

 

[JakeStarkey]

Henry and I agree on almost nothing, including if the other is really more human than simian.

But on this, I agree with Henry absolutely.

Gracie, do it, you will be thrilled.

 

[Luddly Neddite]

Its very easy, you feel nothing an its over quickly. They'll do one eye than then the other a short time later.

You'll probably have 3 choices as to lens and expense. They'll tell you which you should have and you'll tell them what you can afford. You will probably have to use reading glasses but the improvement in distance sight is just amazing.

Follow instructions for before and after.

Tell your doctor/nursing staff of your concerns and research your doctor.

DO NOT even consider eating before surgery unless you want to wake up dead or in the veggie patch. This cannot be stressed enough. You can lie to a lot of people or just not tell people some things but never ever EVER lie to your doctor, surgeon or anesthesiologist.

You really don't care what he/she thinks of you but you do want to wake up. Right?

 

[Gracie]

Gracie, the choice is certainly yours. Since you've made it I will sorta sternly tell you to take 100% seriously the admonition to not eat or drink anything for a minimum number of hours before the surgery.

If you do the danger of complications from aspirating something is hugely increased and, worse, any sudden involuntary movement (as by jerking as you choke) can make things to horribly wrong. The same would apply were you to opt for the local but some surgeons prefer that you do that because if you feel any sudden movement coming on you can tell them and they can pause until it passes.

No, I won't eat or drink. I never do, when going to a doctor visit much less a surgery. And I have restless leg syndrome, so this guy HAS to knock me out completely. I just hope he agrees. If he insists on twilight...then I won't have it done.

 

[Gracie]

I did a research on this guy too. It scares me. But, according to my eye doc, he is the only one that accepts Medi-Cal (poor peoples insurance). When I said I was afraid of what I read (yelp review. I will see if I can find it for y'all), he said he trusted him and would not be worried if the guy did his own eyes. I trust my eye doc. Have been going to him for years. He insisted this guy is a good surgeon and to not pay attention to the ONE negative review (and that is the only review. Just one.) The other doc I wanted to see and that he originally recommended does NOT accept Cen-Cal (same as Medi-Cal).

I will talk to this surgeon, see if I can get some more info on him, and if I have any doubts..I will wait til I am 65, then go to the other surgeon and Medicare will pay for it cuz I will be off Medi-Cal by then.

 

[Gracie]

Oops. My bad. I just did another search and the review I found was a mistake. I spelled his name wrong. This time, I found many reviews...all 5 stars.

 

[Gracie]

They'll do one eye than then the other a short time later.

Only one eye has the cataract. So ....no clue what kind of lens I will get and only the one CenCal will pay for.

 

[Dekster]

They'll do one eye than then the other a short time later.

Only one eye has the cataract. So ....no clue what kind of lens I will get and only the one CenCal will pay for.

Do you wear glasses? If so you will probably get a monofocal lens because you would still need the glasses for the other eye.

 

[JakeStarkey]

You will see so much better, Gracie. It will be great.

 

[Gracie]

Yeah, my eye doc said after the surgery and the healing, he will fit me with new glasses for my left eye and possibly for my right as well. Mainly, he said my lens in my right eye is really foggy and I have a stigmatism as well, but all that shit flew over my head. I just want to be able to SEE out of that eye better and now that it is bad enough, CenCal will pay for it to be done. He said I had to be 40% blind in that eye for surgery..and I am way past that mark now.

 

[JakeStarkey]

I am glad for you Gracie that you are going to see well again.

 

[Dhara]

Cataract surgery is highly successful, very little pain afterward. The next day you see really well.

 

[Muhammed]

My mother had cataract surgery. I needed to drive her to the doctor's office and back to her house because of the drugs they gave her.

She says it worked great. She can see a lot better.

EDIT: And it was not painful.