recent cataract surgey

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Hi I had my left eye done 3 days ago. I was meant to have the right eye done the following day but I refused after being unable to see from the left one. I couldnt see anything but grayness. I was told I had edema when I went back for a 24 hour follow up appointment. I can now see colours  but my vision is still very blurry and there appears to be no improvement in the last 24 hours. Is this normal? There's some horror stories on her. Should I be worrying right now?

0 likes, 5 replies

5 Replies

  • Posted

    If this is anything other than a very mild case (and it doesn't sound like it is), it needs treatment. I assume you have been given drops to reduce inflamation - such as Bromfenac (yellox). I was prescribed an anti-inflammatory which I used from the date of the surgery and have had few problems.

    • Posted

      I was give 3 types of drops to take for a month on the day of surgery but nothing the following day at the check up. I'm on vistamethasone, oftaquix and acular drops 4 times a day for a month.

  • Posted

    Most cases of this are resolved just fine with treatment and recovery time, so although its obviously not normal, you should expect to recover and not panic yet. Obviously its a concern you need to be sure to be in contact with your doctors office about until its resolved, but the odds are it'll clear up.  There may be improvement in the last 24 hours that is just too subtle for you to be aware of, when things are very blurry its hard to tell when they are only slightly less blurry. Regardless, they have a number of different medications to treat the issue so they can always switch if the first one isn't working as well as it should.

    To search the net for more info, the  common phrases for that are: Pseudophakic corneal edema or Pseudophakic Cystoid Macular Edema. Perhaps 1-2% of people have a reduction in visual acuity due to it after surgery, but yours sounds like an extreme case of course since seeing gray is more than a reduction in visual acuity. I'd be sure your doctor is experienced with the issue, and the odds are can deal with it well, but since it isn't common its more experienced high volume surgeons who may have encountered it more often to be used to treating it.  It can't hurt to check to see how experienced your surgeon is with the issue, and see if there is another with more experience if he hasn't dealt with it much.

     

    • Posted

      hopefully it will just need recovery time. I had to go private because it wasnt classed as priorty in the UK. I had grey vision then in day light but they didnt seem to take me seriously. It was a cataract caused by long term steroid medication which started with me being told about it last May during an optician's appointment to being unable to see in daylight 3 months later, again, through only seeing gray. The op seemed doomed from the start. I initially went 2 weeks ago for the op but the cataract was so dense the machine couldnt measure it. I have a further post op consultation next week. The surgeon seems reliable and has done approx 50000 operations so hopefully I'm just panicking for nothing.

    • Posted

      I wouldn't say its "panicking for nothing" in the sense that you are right to be concerned since its not a typical result,  and its understandable to panic going through something like that. However   as I said it isn't worthy of panic yet, merely concern and making sure to keep in touch with the doctor's office to check to see if the speed of your recovery is appropriate of if they might wish to try another treatment. 

      If the surgeon has done 50,000 operations then that is among the most experienced out there, and enough he would have seen a fair number of complications like this. (the surgeon I used had 40,000+,  which was enough to be reassuring that he'd likely have "seen it before" if I encountered any issues).

       

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