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My cataract surgery experience

Posted , 12 users are following.

susan44499
susan44499

My surgery went well. My dr now uses a Halcion pill rather than an IV ( twilight sleep). He says it’s safer and you can be released sooner. 

I was on the border of 1 or 2 pills ( dependent on body weight and tolerance- I have a glass of wine about 4-5 days a week) and decided on one. Next time I may do 1 1/2 or 2 , though if I have 2 I will have to have someone drive me to the post op appt 24 hrs later! 

I didn’t feel it affected me at all. I found myself tensing up ( like at the dentist) and having to consciously take deep breaths and relax my muscles. 

Three or four times I felt a tiny amount of pain. I hadn’t expected that and worried it might get worse and what if I’d jump and he had a scalpel in there. 

After , the nurse told me that’s normal as long as what I felt was tolerable and it was. 

He inserted a non- prescription contact for a day to help healing because the numbing drops can degrade the eye and cause corneal abrasions 

I didn’t wake up the next day with great vision like my husband had after his surgery. The dr said it can take 7-10 days. I wondered if it was because I had waited 2 1/2 years to have the surgery and the dr said it was dense and a bit tough to remove. 

2 likes, 26 replies

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  • at201
    at201 susan44499

    Posted

    One does not have to take any pill or be on IV for cataract surgery unless it is one's own choice. I did not take or was on any one of these. There is no pain. So, all these measures are to just relax you. I was very happy to be completely aware of what was going on during the cataract surgery.

    • susan44499
      susan44499 at201

      Posted

      I was glad to be aware too. 

      I do know some people have no  meds at all - no sedation by IV or tablet, just  the numbing eye drops.

      Some drs do an anesthetic injection in the lower lid. 

      So you felt no pain but I did have a little, but very tolerable like I said.  And the nurse wasn’t surprised when I told her that afterwards. 

    • jantje32476
      jantje32476 at201

      Posted

      @at201 ~ I read from the pre-surgery brochure that rarely one needs anesthesia, except and including those who can't take instructions. LOL.  No, the decision was not mine to make.  At the hospital day surgery waiting bay, I noticed that all cataract patients had an IV cannula in the dorsum of the hand. The nurses explained "just in case".

      At the start of the surgery, I could barely feel any pain until my eyeball felt like being turned 360 degrees (being ripped) and I must have reacted and that was when I completely lost consciousness.

      The eye surgeon had postponed my 2nd cataract surgery, and I in turn had been dragging my feet to get my only good eye done.  He has to be a good judge of character, even if he does not know I had a bad car accident before that caused amnesia.

    • Sue.An
      Sue.An jantje32476

      Posted

      Sounds horrible.  Did they freeze your eye?  I had no IV .  Nurse poured a vial of something cold into my eye (I’d say about 1/3 a cup of that cold substance and it froze my eye - felt no pain just slight pressure.  
  • susan44499
    susan44499

    Posted

    Another thing- I expected it to go black at some point and it never did.  I saw blue and white light. 
  • derek40125
    derek40125 susan44499

    Posted

    I'll be the odd one posting on this thread, but I love IV sedation. I've had several procedures done over the years so I've had my share of IV sedation and I totally see how people can easily become addicted to this class of drugs. 

    The laser portion of my surgery was done with only eye drops. I was OK keeping still for 40-60 seconds but I don't think I could have done that much longer, certainly not long enough for the surgery itself. Maybe if the pills were really strong I could do it but it's just so easy with the IV sedation, they do the injection, you have a few seconds of bliss, a few swirls of color and light and then you walk and drink juice and eat crackers.

     

    • susan44499
      susan44499 derek40125

      Posted

      Hmmm, I don’t remember any amount of bliss when I had IV sedation for my colonoscopy. And I vomited afterward so I was glad not to have it this time. 
    • susan44499
      susan44499

      Posted

      They also told me some people can remain dilated for days and sure enough- I am more than 48 hours out and even with the sunglasses my eye will throb outside . Even inside in front of a big picture window and it’s not that sunny today. 
    • derek40125
      derek40125 susan44499

      Posted

      Make sure that the combination of drugs and amounts are documented in your medical records. If you need sedation again in the future make sure to let them know you had nausea and vomiting during prior procedures

      I've had several surgeries and other procedures due to prior injuries (and other issues) and I had issues with nausea and vomiting too but over the years they've looked at my history and adjusted everything and I haven't had problems in many years.

    • susan44499
      susan44499 derek40125

      Posted

      Thanks- I hadn’t thought of that. I could try to get the records but it was 9 yrs ago. 

      I figured I’d just tell them and they’d give me anti nausea meds ahead of time.

  • Sue.An
    Sue.An susan44499

    Posted

    Hi Susan;4499 - I didn’t have any IV.  They just froze my eye.  Felt tiny bit of pressure but no pain.  The drops stung more after the surgery though.
  • me87015
    me87015 susan44499

    Posted

    No pills or drugs here either - I walked out of my 3 (both eyes plus an iol realignment) cataract surgeries by 9am and drove myself to work and at my desk by 9:30am.
  • jantje32476
    jantje32476 susan44499

    Posted

    After the cataract surgery. at the eye surgeon's clinic his technician inserted a contact lens (bandage) on my operated eye.

  • susan44499
    susan44499

    Posted

    I was supposed to have my 2nd surgery today but had to postpone it. For a week I’ve had a virus that causes coughing spells and it’s especially bad when I lie down. 3 more weeks. 
  • britkennels
    britkennels susan44499

    Posted

    Could you please tell us how you're now doing? I see that this is 15 days old. My doc is going to use the IV and if I had the option, I'd tell her to knock my ass out (sry) because of the yellow stripe down my back. I'm sorry to hear that your doc used a pill. I think having an IV is better because it can be controlled (more meds added, if needed).

    • Night-Hawk
      Night-Hawk britkennels

      Posted

      My surgeon used an IV just to keep you calm, but I think I fell asleep just after he was starting the surgery. The next thing I experienced he was saying "its all done"

    • susan44499
      susan44499 britkennels

      Posted

      I'm doing well.  My husband had an IV (different doctor) and he remembers less than I do.

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