Having 2nd eye cataract in 2 days. One covid19 ER patient tested positive
Posted , 8 users are following.
hello..so nervous to have 2nd eye done in 2 days. first eye done 4 days ago. news came on tv that the hospital had first corona ER tested positive patient on monday..yesterday.
I know things will get worse..maybe even drs cancelling all elective surgery.
so should I get this done thurs (2 days)..
we are only going to have more confirmed as daysgo by.
the 10 min is not all the time in hospital. they have u check in 1.5 hrs before surgery etc. then recovery time.
nervous as I am I really do need this otherwise I wont be able to drive at night (which I do every night for like 15 min)
what do you all think? go for second eye in 2 days right? (vision in unoperated eye is basically legally blind without glasses, which I cant wear glasses now because good eye tested 20/20 day after surgery and 4 days after.
0 likes, 17 replies
RonAKA ayeaye
Posted
Assuming you are in a modern US hospital, with negative air unit isolation wards, I would not be concerned at all with COVID-19 patients being in the hospital. Not everyone that tests positive is checked into the hospital for treatment also.
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I would be concerned about having the second eye done so soon after the first, and before the first eye heals up. I think the normal practice is to wait 4 to 6 weeks between eyes.
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For eyeglasses in the interim period one option is to just go to an optometrist and have them take the lens out of the eyeglass frame for the now good 20/20 eye. Another option is to get a contact lens for the second eye. This is quite inexpensive at places like Costco.
ayeaye RonAKA
Posted
hi...had the op eye eyeglass lens popped out. put my old glasses on - terrible. felt like I was seeing and walking with 2 diff sets of glasses.. it was better to actually have nothing on the unoperated eye ( which is soooooo myopic) and look thru like that..the good eye compensated for the bad eye and things are very manageable! actually am.able to drive in daylight!
nighttime diff story..haloes starburst galore in cataract t eye..much much less haloes..some starburst I. op eye..so the 2 at night dont compensate each other due to those headlights and lights.
Chris53317 ayeaye
Edited
I would not be concerned about the hospital, as outlined by Ron. My eye were done two days apart which was just fine for me as I could not imagine going 6 weeks with IOL in one eye and needed glasses for the other.
Not sure where you are but if you postpone it could be a long time to find replacement slot. Wait times where I live could be up to 6 months.
Sue.An2 Chris53317
Posted
wow 2 days between surgeries? Did you have this done privately? I don't think many places do that. Surgeons generally want to know where first eye winds up so that any adjustments to target can be made. Takes a full 6 weeks for eye to heal after uncomplicated cataract surgery. I would say if all is well a 4 week wait would suffice
Chris53317 Sue.An2
Edited
Yes, private clinic that does a lot of procedures. They are very experienced and successful with their pre-op measurements. Their strategy is to do them days apart to avoid the challenges of one eye requiring glasses. There were really no practical adjustments to make as I was being implanted with trifocal lenses.
ayeaye Chris53317
Posted
hi! my eye dr surgeon does everyones eyes 1 week apart. I'd rather deal with all.the drops within the same time frame!
Mutti3 ayeaye
Edited
take all precautions. wash your hands and them away from your face. everyone in the OR will be gowned up. stay away from others in the waiting room. get it done as scheduled.
ayeaye Mutti3
Posted
thanks! will do..I'm wearing gloves for the whole time minus when I'll b told to take it off in or
crista83503 ayeaye
Edited
I'm scheduled for March 23rd in Philadelphia Wills Eye Hospital. I have already had to reschedule twice in the past year - one was the dr rescheduling and then i put it off. The second because i was a chicken.I just had my pre-surgery physical yesterday and am mentally preparing. An old friend of mine is scheduled to work that day and will do my anesthesia as well. I'm hoping my surgery is not affected. That being said, I have three children ages 8-13 and don't want to bring any risk home to them either. If my surgery was this week i wouldn't be concerned...
I also wondered what you do in the interim between the first and second surgery. I do wear contacts but can't seem to tolerate them anymore. My RX in both eyes is a -9.00. I can't imagine I'd see well with only the one good operated eye!
My glasses are already superglued at the bridge bc they broke a month ago and i refuse to hell out the nearly $700 for new ones at this point. I must say most people don't even notice the glue. 😃 I'm 47 and have worn corrective lenses - mostly contacts - since i was 16! I'm really hoping surgery goes well and I choose the correct iol for me!
RonAKA crista83503
Posted
You probably have enough time to order an inexpensive pair of glasses from Zenni Optical or the like. Get your regular prescription in the non operated eye, and plano in your IOL eye.
hello97801 RonAKA
Posted
Trust me, at that prescription it won't work. The image seen through the glass lens will be much smaller than the one with the lens replacement. This has to do with the distance from the glass lens to your eye. That's why it will work if you use a contact, but not with glasses for a highly near-sighted prescription.
RonAKA hello97801
Posted
Interesting. I have only dealt with myopia up to the -4.0 or so range. I always assumed that in focus is in focus, no matter how you achieve it.
ayeaye crista83503
Posted
hi! will reply back later tonight!
ayeaye hello97801
Edited
Zion have a reply with my current experience. one eye done 5 days ago. second in one day. very myopic. had toric monofocal for distance and an shOCKed that with my other unoperated eye being legally blind without glasses and I see better right now than with eyeglasses! shocked..I was soooooo worried how can I manage! my previous opthamalogist said I would need a contact lense in other eye between surgeries.. I wound up not choosing him a tear ago and went to a recommended one...he told me even tho the diff in prescrption is tremendous, the operated eye will compensate the unop eye!! IT SURE DID!!!!!!!!!!
ayeaye crista83503
Posted
I totally understand. I was a chicken for 1.3 years! glad in a way because this new eye surgeon is remarkable in all ways. The first one for consult told me all diff things than this one!
first one said that I would be so if balance with one operated eye and the other one so myopic. said I would gave to wear a contact in that eye between surgeries.
fast fwd to my current surgeon who told me the unoperated eye would be compensated by the good new vision in the OP eye!! and he was absolutely correct!
I am floored that I can actually function pretty good with the one operated eye! and without glasses , uncorrected am was legally blind!. so imagine how myopic I was! and until I have my second eye done in like 35 hours or so!
My close up is home in the op eye...miss that so much. but since I chose tecnis II toric monofocal distance I loose close up...
nothing like your natural lenses and how they work!
But I am able to drive daytime without anything!!!l..eye compensated!!.and can actually see the car instrument panel!! surprisingly because im.readi g how ppl complain they cant with distance!
my dr also uses the ORA machine.