Surgery experience..1st eye vs. 2nd eye

Posted , 7 users are following.

My Mom had laser cataract surgery 2 weeks ago. Everything went well. She had an IV drip for sedation. She remembers nothing. Today she had the other eye done the same way with a totally different experience. She remembers Everything and said if that eye was the first one done she would not have been so quick to do the other one. Has anyone else had this experience? 

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  • Posted

    I remember everything, but that in itself may not mean much. Unlike a majority of the people undergoing cataract surgery, I opted not to take any tranquilizer. I knew exactly what was going on throughout the surgery, but did not feel any pain at any time.
  • Posted

    Yes, I had a way worse experience the second time. I read an article online that said it's a somewhat common occurrence for the 2nd surgery to be worse than the first, partly because of lowered anxiety after the first surgery going so smoothly (I'm not sure what the science is behind that, but that's what the article stated). I'll try to find the article again and send you the link.

    • Posted

      I also had read something about the second eye. I was just wondering if anyone else has had this experience on this forum. 
  • Posted

    Here's the article if anyone is interested in reading it "Study confirms “second eye” effect in cataract surgery"

    • Posted

      Thanks Nina - that is very interesting.
    • Posted

      Also, I not only had a worse recovery the second time, but like it mentions in the article, I had a worse experience during the actual surgery (much worse) and my second eye had a much milder cataract.
    • Posted

      My Mothers second eye was also a much milder cataract. It seems you and my Mom had similar experiences. Tomorrow cannot come soon enough. She is so distressed over not seeing. Hopefully everything will be ok after her Doctors visit.
    • Posted

      I hope so jillie, be sure to let us know.
    • Posted

      Feeling relieved  after seeing the Doctor this morning. Even though my Moms vision is still blurry we were reassured everything looks good. Her eye is still quite dilated and she has some swelling of the cornea which will get better. We go back to see the Doctor on Tuesday. I am feeling confident she will be ok. 
  • Posted

    How is her vision?
    • Posted

      We have only been home for 5 hours. She had been sleeping for the past hour. When she just got up she said her vision is very blurry. When she had the right eye done she was able to see better almost immediately. I would think her not seeing clearly after 5 hours is normal but I can see she is upset and that is concerning me. We go to the Doctor tomorrow so I am just hoping for the best.
    • Posted

      After my first surgery I could see well right away. It took at least 24 hours after my 2nd surgery for my vision to get less blurry and then at least 2 weeks more for it to get even more clear. It's now 4 weeks after my 2nd surgery and I can say my vision is finally almost as good as my first eye.

    • Posted

      Oh and my distance vision in my 2nd eye was clear around 24 hours after my 2nd surgery...it's my nearer vision in my 2nd eye that took 3 or 4 weeks to clear up totally.

    • Posted

      Yes, I am expecting to wait up to 4+ weeks for full healing to take place and the vision to fully stabilize.  Especially to see how much focus range I can get out of a monofocal toric set for good distance vision - if I could get good intermediate computer monitor distance vision out of it that would be excellent at 24-30" or so...

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