Cataract left behind after surgery.

Posted , 5 users are following.

I had cataract surgery one week ago.  Immediately after my surgery, I could not see.  I just saw my surgeon (one week later) and I still cannot read his eye chart.  He cancelled the planned cataract surgery for my other eye and said he thought my cataract had not been removed because "it stuck to the capsule."  I don't see him again for two weeks and I want to have questions ready that will lead to a remedy.  For example:  Should I wait so long to try to correct the situation?  Will too much scar tissue develop?  I have heard that if the lens is in too long it can't be removed without extensive damage.  Right now the lens is kind of squishing the cataract down and to the inside of the eye.  

2 likes, 15 replies

15 Replies

  • Posted

    I don't know.  The illustrated booklet they gave me (which was called "Small Incision Cataract Surgery") just says an incision is made, sound waves break up the cataract and an instrument is used to suction the cataract out.  Apparently that didn't happen.  Should "what instrument was used to make the incision" be the first question on my list of questions?  I don't understand why the instrument used then would make a difference now.  Please explain.  Thank you for responding.
    • Posted

      Phacoemulsification is the process that uses ultrasound.

      As I understand it, an alternative is laser. Better but more expensive. It wouldn't make any difference to you now. It might to me or others. 

  • Posted

    I had the wrong lense put in my left eye so I found a better doctor and had laser cataract surgery and it came out perfect but it cost 2600 for the one eye  The laser pops the lense out instead of having it done manually.
    • Posted

      How did they get the "wrong" lens out of the capsule in your eye?  How long did you wait before the corrective surgery?  In my area doctors seem to use a laser for secondary cataract surgery but they are just putting a pin hole in the capsule to let more light into the artificial lens.  I'm not sure the latest equipment is available in my area.  
  • Posted

    i'm sorry i didn't explain that too well ,   I had surgery on my left eye and the wrong lense was put in but with glasses  I can get 20 30 vision.   When I had the right eye done I found an excellent doctor, paid more but well worth it and had the laser eye surgery and now i have one good eye.    The doctor i have is one of the top 40 in the world undr 40 yrs old..   By reading his reviews he has done glacoma surgeries fixing up peoples eyes that other doctors have boutched up.  I know there is one one there that i read where the wrong lense was put she needed one for astigmatism and they put a different one in., he replaced the lense and  It came out good.   People are referred here  that have low vision because i talked to a couple.     I really think i wouldn't want that doctor touching my eye again.   You can look on the internet for reviews of other patients for doctors and their ratings if you need another one.   Never just go where your referred  pick yourn own doctor.  They refer you not because its the best doctor only because they get a referral fee.    You have to take care of yourself.  My daughter found that out she got cancer and has to be her own advocate.

    • Posted

      You're right. I'm in California.  My health insurance is "managed care" with Medicare.  I went to the doctor they referred me to because my primary care physician made cataract surgery sound routine with a very low failure rate.  It never occurred to me he might not get the old cataract out.  The prices I am hearing for a better surgery is $5,000 but I feel like this information is intended to dissuade me from looking for treatment outside of my insurance.  I also have not heard from anyone who was able to get their cataract surgery corrected.  That's depressing!
    • Posted

      Maybe you should look on the internet for a top rated eye surgeon,   This surgeon that I had was a glacoma specialist.   Do they have laser cataract surgery there. Our surgery here is free i had to pay for the lense and an extra 1000 for laser and for the machines to check my eye out, there must have been 6 machines.   Don't give up you'll find someone.   If that doctor couldn't do a cataract surgery i'd be afraid to let him tackle this problem.  
  • Posted

    Your statement that the "cataract had not been removed" is ambiguous. What they actually remove is the natural lens, which has been clouded by a cataract. So your statement could mean that the lens wasn't actually removed for some reason, and that they didn't put in a replacement lens. Alternatively it could mean that the natural lens was removed and a replacement put in, but that not all the pieces of the original lens were removed. 

    When you say "the lens is kind of squishing the cataract down and to the inside of the eye" it could mean the natural lens, though that may mean that an artificial lens was placed and that you mean the IOL is squishing some remnant of the natural lens down and to the inside of the eye. 

    If there are natural lens fragments left,  then the issue will be to remove them, not to remove the replacement artificial lens (unless that is necessary to get the lens fragments). It appears that there is debate over how long is too long to wait for that, but that perhaps up to 30 days may be ok. A delay does seem concerning if this is the issue. If I include a link, the post gets sent to the moderator, so if this is the issue (pieces of the old natural lens left, but a replacement lens inserted) I'd suggest you google "Removing Retained Lens Fragments: Now or Later?" and things like "lens fragments after cataract surgery".

    It seems likely that the doctor wouldn't be waiting two weeks if he thought it would cause problems, but its understandable you fear the doctor may be making mistakes and it is best to confirm what is going on.

    It seems important for you to get a clear understnading from the doctor of what the problem is and what he proposes to do to fix it and why he thinks its ok to wait. Then if you are unsure you trust that doctor, to get a 2nd opinion. Perhaps he can provide this via email or phone if you can't get a new appointment soon, or one of his staff perhaps. Alternatively perhaps the staff can give you a copy of the records if you can get into another doctor sooner.

    • Posted

      Thank you for your email.  I am still learning the medical language.  When I asked why I could not see, I am quoting the doctor directly:  "The cataract stuck to your capsule."  I must guess that he is saying the lens clouded by the cataract was not removed because it wasn't broken up and suctioned out.  He did; however, insert the acrylic lens he ordered.  I will try "Removing Retained Lens Fragments:  Now or Later?"  
    • Posted

      The old lens needs to be mostly taken out before a new lens would be able to fit. If he did "insert the acrylic lens" that means he must have removed most of the natural lens, but that parts are left behind. In that case the article with the title I gave is relevant, as are others that show up in that search and if you search for things like "lens fragments after cataract surgery" or related keywords  like "lens pieces" or whatever other synomyms you can find to try to find relevant articles. It isn't a topic I know anything about beyond what those articles say, I   just took a quick glance out of curiosity since I'm used to doing net research. I did recall from other reading about cataract surgery that sometimes small remnants are not a problem and just are absorbed by the body over time, but it sounds like larger ones may be more of an issue.
  • Posted

    My symptoms are:  When looking at the doctor's eye chart with the eye he operated on, I can only see two lines (the other lines and the bottom of the eye chart is completely blocked (all black)).  Of the two top lines I can see I cannot make out the letters.  I know they are there but I don't know what they are.  There is a pie shaped area of my vision at the top of my eye that I can sort of see with.  Sometimes I can see the middle letter on the second line if I am given time to focus.  Yesterday morning I woke up to an all black field with little white dots.  It didn't last long but was very frightening.  Is there anybody out there experiencing this?
  • Posted

    I just found out I have me problem,

    part of cataract floating around in the back of my eye, had surgery 3 weeks ago.

     

  • Posted

    sorry about typepo keyboard actng up. but sorry to hear about your eye. I was told you have to go back to the doctor to remove

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