Post OP thread
Posted , 9 users are following.
So we just got home after operation around 3hrs ago. Last operation of the day. Wife was very calm before and during the surgery. I was dying waiting for her though 😃
Wife cracked lot of jokes with the surgeon and his team.
Surgeon was very good and extremely nice along with his team. We even have his mobile number if we need it for any reason.
He gives it to all his surgery patients!!!
We definitely picked the right surgeon, Dr Zeiss!
We are seeing him tomorrow for 1 day check.
Some questions -
Just after op wife saw relatively blurry but 3hrs since operation her vision has become more blurry. I assume that is normal?
She is lying down in bed and says she struggles to open her eyes. It opens around 50%.- 60%. Normal too?
No eye patch required/given.
Nurse said to wear glasses outside for protection against dust, insects etc. Wife is worried that she might rub her eyes in her sleep. Should I put some glasses on her and tape them in place?
Was a long day!
0 likes, 34 replies
Deb03 W-H
Posted
one week post op and my vision is still fluctuating sometimes more blurry than others. Drops also play into it. I would not worry about the blurriness. I'm sure there is a lot of swelling and inflammation right now.
I can't remember how much I could open my eye so can't help with that question.
I had instructions to wear shield for 2 days, 5 days, and 7 days - depending on who gave them to me. I personally liked having the shield. Can you buy one at a drug store?
Mutti3 W-H
Posted
I can open my eye ok, but when i looked in the mirror it was upper lid is slight droopy. Before today's surgery i had an another complete exam of my right eye to make sure there were no changed. Eye patch, was told to wear it for 24 hours and then for one week during sleep of naps. Just rest the eye !
Yes today has been a very long day! and i have more of it!!!
Guest W-H
Posted
Don´t worry, it´s all normal 😃
Blurriness, irritation of the eye and reactions in the surrounding muscles are to be expected in one way or another. It will vary from person to person, but quite normal.
Only thing you really need to worry about at this stage is if extreme pain comes. And again, some pain or discomfort is to be expected, but pain where you almost throw up can be a sign of acute high pressure, that may happen to very few, not even one per thousand. Extreme pain where you want to throw up because of pain is when you call up the surgeon, all the other stuff is only a matter of hanging in, and let time past.
I had the exact same thing explained about glasses, only difference was they gave me a set of sunglasses with their own logo on it 😃
I did not wear eye patch, I asked the surgeon about the same thing, what when I sleep, he said I had nothing to worry about.
The day after my first surgery I actually somehow managed to poke myself right in the middle of the operated eye with the sunglasses somehow, don´t ask my how or why I did it, but nothing happened other than the eye was quite sore and off course it was uncomfortable.
I know you can not use my example as a guideline, but I am sure I am not the only one who messed up somehow, and if it generally would pose a problem, I think guidelines from the surgeons would be much more strict.
So - don´t worry 😃
W-H Guest
Posted
Thanks guys you have all been great!!!!
This 3 month journey leading to this first operation has felt like a life time!
Her eye opens more now. She feels some pressure in the forehead area. I gave her first drop as instructed and now applied eye gel that was given to put before sleeping (against dryness). She took one Dafalgan and off to sleep. She is wearing my glasses. I taped them in place near temple region. I will buy eye cover tomorrow just to play safe.
Relaxing music playing and heated Rose essential oil in the air 😃
I will surf next to her and keep an eye on her.
soks W-H
Posted
Congrats on the surgery and good luck for the healing.
"Just after op wife saw relatively blurry but 3hrs since operation her vision has become more blurry. I assume that is normal?" -- My bluriness became worse until it finally cleared that nite.
"She is lying down in bed and says she struggles to open her eyes. It opens around 50%.- 60%. Normal too?" -- I did not experience this.
"No eye patch required/given." -- get the eye shield and tape it. It is very comfortable without having to worry to sleep that way. especially if she prefers to sleep on that side of the head. glasses are a bit uncomfortable. i love my eye shield.
cazms53 W-H
Posted
It's been 6/7 months since my eye surgeries so I don't remember what my vision was like immediately afterwards. I was given an eye shield and instructed to wear it for a week after surgery when sleeping. I loved the protection it provided and, I'm sure this is overkill, I wore it for a month after each surgery. I was not taking any chances! 😁
W-H cazms53
Posted
So she woke up at 4am. I gave her another eye drop. Toast and coconut water. She took one more Dafalgan for pain relief.
She can open her eyes more. Her eyelid and under eye has some clearly visible swelling but not extreme.
Burning sensation when she opens the eye.
Whole flat has had all lights off apart from very dim hidden lights.
She could see my eyes when I fed her so improvement on complete bluriness.
5am, she has fallen asleep again and i will try to get some too.
Hope my posts help others and also future cataract patients.
Deb03 W-H
Posted
burning sensation could be the eye drops and also dry eyes. I use preservative free artificial tears after my drops (at least 5 minutes) and at other times throughout the day.
W-H Deb03
Posted
12:50
Getting her ready for Dr Zeiss's next day follow up appointment.
Vision of operated left eye is still blurry. Swelling on the eyelid and under the eye is very clearly visible.
Brain seems to be trying to workout how to combine the images from both eyes as she sees blurry in right eye too then sometime normal, cataract normal I mean.
Operated left eye producing lot of tears. When she is sleeping with eyes closed, I see tears running down her cheek.
Guest W-H
Posted
Your wife has more reactions in the eye and surroundings than I had, good thing you are going to Dr. Zeiss, so he can assure you, that everything is ok 😃
W-H Guest
Posted
Update:
Ok saw Dr Zeiss.
As mentioned previously, wife sees blurry and eye is bit red and clearly the eyelid and under eye area is swollen. After the OP my wife's eyes had looked visually completely normal.
He looked at her eyes first with his naked eyes and said you might have reacted to iodine in something....something....don't remember exactly what he said.
He then proceeded to check the eye using his microscope eye checking equipment. He then said "interesting". He asked if she sleeps with eyes open...etc
So basically the cornea has a scar and using the Tobdradex drops and Trobdrdex Gel was making her eyes burn and react. He said you must be in lot of pain. Poor wife never moans or complains. Poor her had tears streaming down her eyes since last night, that explains it I guess !!!
He said there is no infection in the eye, IOL is perfectly centered and eye is perfectly healthy.
He switched her off from the Tobradex stuff and gave her Floxal Gel and Viscotears. She has to take them 5 times a day along with Yellox which she had to start from today too.
He said that he was happy that the reason was what it was rather than allergy to Iodine as that would have meant issues in future for scans etc if contrast injection were ever required.
We have to go back on Monday and he thinks everything will be ok. He might switch her then back to Tobradex if required.
I asked him, will she see sharp ever again? He said that is not a question, it is a fact that she will see sharp!
All the people who were operated were completely normal today. We saw some of them there today. Talk about bad luck!!!!
I applied the new gels to my wife's eyes and instantly she felt soothing and has fallen asleep! I hope everything is ok soon! I am above my head now!
Mutti3 W-H
Posted
Your wife will be OK. Sometimes people have allergies unknown to them until exposed. She is in good hands ! Keep us posted.
W-H Mutti3
Posted
9pm... wife is sleeping next to me. It has been 28hrs since OP. Her pupils are not dilated anymore but eyelid still swollen and vision still blurry.
She thinks slightly less blurry than yesterday.
I don't understand why eyelids are swollen when they were normal when she came out yesterday!
Surgeon says no infection and that she will be definitely ok.
I am panicking inside though. Heart racing although I am acting normal for her.
soks W-H
Posted
will i see clearly ever again was the thought going through my mind when the eye was blurry. make you want to rub the blur away. hopefully she is calm as it can be pretty frustrating. i did have another lady who had surgery with me but her vision was blurry the next day. she said that had not been the case for her first eye. wishing speedy recovery.
Deb03 W-H
Posted
The whole process is pretty nerve wracking. Her swollen eyelids are probably normal, but keep an eye on her in case other symptoms arise. The general rule of thumb is swelling is the worst 24-48 hours after trauma.. Glad you will see the doctor again on Monday. Try to relax and get some rest yourself. I know it's easier said than done.
W-H soks
Posted
Yes she is very clam. I would have lost it.
W-H Deb03
Posted
OP- 27th 6pm
Now- 29th 3:20am
= 33 hrs
Eye is not burning anymore after stopping those Tobradex drops and using only the Yellox drops + Floxal Gel and Viscotears. Tears that were constantly rolling down her eyes have also stopped as a result.
Eyelid and lower eye swelling, no change. Blurry vision at all ranges still though!
Her eyelashes are all clumped up from all the gels etc.
Btw anyway I can clean the whole edges of her eye etc? As I am not allowed to put water anywhere near her. Can I take a clean ear bud and wipe the gel etc gunk away from edge of her eyes?
Deb03 W-H
Posted
They told me for the first day not to wash my face. After that don't get water in my eyes for a week. no makeup. no cleansing wipes. Although I wasn't given direction to do so, after a couple of days, with clean hands I gently got the gunk out of my eyelashes. Worked best to use my fingers/fingernails. I pulled my eyelids away from my eye as much as possible while I did it. Easier to pull lower lids away than upper lids.
W-H Deb03
Posted
Ok I think we won't mess until Monday with any eye cleaning attempt. Not much gunk right now anyway. Just the whole skin area is shinny and oily from all the drops/gels. And upper eyelashes are joined as if they were dipped in oil.
9am. She was able to read time on her watch but very blurry.
Dr Zeiss had said we could use cold compression pad for the eye swelling but we have normal plastic rectangular ones so not convenient for sensitive eye area use.
Will get right ones from clinic on Monday if still needed. Monday is tomorrow so probably eye might still be swollen 😦
What a never ending nightmare 😦
Probably not helping my eye situation either! My eye scan is in 6-7 days. I hope she is normal by then!
W-H
Posted
29th September 11am/Sunday. 40hrs since OP!
Her upper and lower eyelid and surrounding area swelling seems to be coming down. I see more deflated skin left behind from the reduction in swelling. She notices that the swelling is less too. Is it still there but definite reduction from what we both see.
If in non operated "normal" eye you see 90% of pupil/Iris area, then right now I am able to see around 70-80% of her pupil/iris region in the operated left eye. Previously it was around 50% visible.
With only left eye open she was able to see my eyes when I was 40cm from her. Not sharp but better than ever before since OP. She said she sees more colours.
Her combined eye vison is blurry...probably brain is trying to work out wtf is going on?
I am hoping that she is turning a corner! I gave her breakfast and unfortunately have to put the gel again now.
Not once she has complained or moaned!
W-H
Posted
Another update - Part I
Swelling is significantly less!!!!! Her eyes starting to look more normal now! Wife taped up her good eye to look through operated eye for 30mins. She still sees blurry though but bit less blurry. She was looking at her arms and hands like a kid and noticing the veins for the first time. She was also watching YouTube with the operated eye. She could see her phone and time on her watch but not sharp. Her eyes is covered in lot of gel too (5 times a day!)
Another update - Part II
What a pleasant surprise!!! Dr Zeiss contacted us to check up on us on Sunday!!!! 😃
So I replied with all the updates and also sent him comparison photo of eye from yesterday and today.
He replied and said perfect. He thinks the eye had a bad reaction to the initial drops!
He is confident that by tomorrow she will see sharp at around 1 meter.
Fingers crossed!
W-H
Posted
Forgot to add...
Mutti3 W-H
Posted
excellent report! It takes a few days for the lens to " settle " in. The brain also has to adjust. When i had my post op exam yesterday, i kept asking about my vision. The dr kindly told me to use both eyes to focus! LOL I did the same thing as your wife, taping down my eye!
Sounds like Mrs WH has a caring , wonderful doctor !
W-H Mutti3
Posted
Wife's eye visually looks better. Swelling is almost gone, less redness. We saw another Doc today (not Dr Zeiss, but another female eye doc in his clinic as Dr Zeiss is away operating). Dr Zeiss had told us to get checked by her.
as wife's cornea which apparently had reacted with one of the steroid drops and caused roughness on the cornea.
The Doc today said it has healed or healing very well now. From what she could see from the gel covered eye the retina looks ok too. Eye pressure is normal....12Hg in both eyes.
Wife's vision is getting sharper in the left operated eye (90% sharp she says) but combined vision with right eye is still blurry (right eye has cataract as you all know).
She was given a different preservative free cortisol drop today. I applied it 1 hr ago and she said it did not burn, just caused temporary extra bluriness. Hope all goes well.
Her vision is sharpest (not completely sharp) at around 40-60 cm right now. Last night she was able to read "Near Vision Jeager Eye chart" at J1 if she concentrated, not super sharp though.
I just wish her vision sharpens up more...i.e. to 100%!!!!!!! It is exactly 3 days now since OP.
Dr Zeiss wrote last night- "Allergies to tobramycin are not so rare and this could account for your delayed recovery. "
I am losing my head a bit! Wife is sleeping a lot. Is that good or bad for recovery?
W-H
Posted
Just to clarify by "she says" I mean my wife feels that. Doc tried to do eye chart test but as wife could not read she said no point currently, too much gel etc in the eye and not recovered yet.
Have to go back on Monday to see same eye Doc. Dr Zeiss is away for around 2 weeks.
W-H
Posted
Wife was lying in the bed and suddenly she was able to see sharp...ish at 2m! Before she was seeing sharp...ish at 40 cm.
Now back to 40cm range...semi sharp. Maybe things will get better eventually!
W-H
Posted
Above distances I meant with operated left eye only.
Guest W-H
Posted
Well, you know what I always say - she will have e great outcome! 😃
There are a ton of different complications that are possible, but they are treatable, just like the one she has now.
The brain is working had to adjust and adopt, but the brain is having a hard time doing it, because her vision change all the time due to recovery, eye drops and gel. So the brain really don't have a fair change.
So the brain is working overtime, and it made me very tired as well, I think that is very normal.
For me it took about two weeks before the brain was able the mix the Lara with the cataract eye. And in that period it was like a computer that made updates, it had to restart from time to time, where the vision changed back and forth, and it only got semi-good as long as I had the cataract eye.
But when I got the Lisa also, brain accepted and blended the vision already next day.
I am absolutely sure your wife will have great result 😃
Deb03 W-H
Posted
Sounds like things are going much better! Your wife's vision will continue to fluctuate for a while. So it's hard to say this soon where she will end up. I'm glad she is improving though. 11 days out and my sharpest point of focus changes throughout the day. I drive my husband nuts constantly checking eye charts and covering eyes to see how I see out of each one. He has already said we need to frame the eye chart and make it a permanent fixture on the wall. 😃
Deb03 W-H
Posted
Did she also have astigmatism correction? I can't remember if she had any astigmatism going into this.
W-H Deb03
Posted
No astigmatism correction. If I am reading correctly...
left eye: -0.64 (operated eye)
right Eye: -0.35
W-H
Posted
Latest-
Both eyes working better together but operated eye still not sharp.
Surgeon said today via email- As the corneal erosion was axial (exactly where you look through) it’s not unusual at all that vision recovery may take longer.
On Friday we see surgeon again for OCT of the macula, just to double check. Sometimes in younger patients the macula can get water, usually after 4 to 6 weeks, but he has also seen very early after surgery too.
He said not to worry as everything looks good! Anyway easier said than done though!
My post 2 month eye scan at another clinic was supposed to be on Friday so I will have to call and move it! I wonder how my eyes are now from all the stress I have been through! I was supposed to be stress free for last 2 months but I am stress FULL!!!!!
Sue.An2 W-H
Posted
Just reading through entire thread. For some odd reason I had to rejoin the cataract group -going back to discussions I missed. All the while I checked daily for almost a week!
What an ordeal for your poor wife. Sure hope the corner was turned and things will only get better each day. Like others I was instructed to wear an eye shield for a week at night and naps. Wore it longer as I wanted to be sure I didn't rub it.
I too watched those surgery videos - it did become less scary and more fascinating as time went by.
W-H Sue.An2
Posted
Wife wore eye shield every time she slept 😉 Only first night not but I was awake keeping an eye on her.