Traveling for cataract surgery

There are issues in travelling to get cataract surgery.

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1. First you need to get your eyes measured. That is normally done well ahead of the surgery. They may need to order the lenses and that will take some time if they do. If you are getting both eyes done, they normally take measurements on both eyes to start.
2. Next, you will likely need someone to drive you after surgery to where you are staying due to the sedative used and dilation drops.
3. The standard practice is to do the first follow up exam the 24 hours after the surgery, although my wife had hers done on one eye later on the same day. It will depend on the surgeon's practice as to when they allow the time for it. If there are issues like a toric lens not being at the correct angle, then they may have to schedule a time to go back in and adjust it.
4. The next exam is normally at 3 weeks, but it likely can be done by an optometrist. And the last one if there are no complications is at 6 weeks which can be also done by an optometrist. This is the point where the eye should be fully healed and you will know what the actual outcome of the surgery is for your first eye, and how close the surgeon came to the desired target.
5. The best practice is to wait for the second eye until after the 6 week exam results are known. The surgeon should use the outcome to refine their calculation for the second eye. And of course you will have some time to determine how you like the lens and the outcome, and possibly change your plan for the second eye.
6. Then of course you go through the whole process again for the second eye.

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   So, it could mean a lot of travel. Some surgeons will do both eyes at the same appointment. That is a significantly higher risk though. There will be no time to get a final outcome for the first eye to refine the calculation, and if the surgeons misses on the first eye, they likely miss on both eyes.

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   Hope that helps some,

I traveled to a different country. I stayed at a friend's place for about 8 days though so that I could have my follow up appointment. Everything went well.

Indy G

2021 - Had bilateral cataract surgery in my homecountry.

2022 - Travelled 9000 km for bilateral IOL-exchange, as i was very unhappy with the first (unacceptable) surgery-result. Left the date for the flight back home open, and rented airbnb-apartment for 2 month.

2023 - Did the same again for bilateral floaterectomy, as i had to wait another year for the eyes to heal. Again, i left the date for the flight back open, and rented airbnb-apartment for 2 month.

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Both times it worked out in a two month timeframe (i´m not home yet, but soon), because there were no complications, and i compressed the usually preferred timespan just a little, by what seemed safe enough and reasonable. Of course, it´s best to leave as much time as possible between both eyes. In any case, i would want to do follow up examinations at the same place, where i did the surgeries, to avoid having to travel again, if there are complications. So i was certainly prepared to extend duration of stay, if needed.

Luckily my wife travelled with me, to pick me up after each surgery (only local anesthesia and could leave same day each time). I would definitely not have travelled alone, just in case things go wrong.

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Travelling for surgery is definitely doable and well worth it, because now (in hindsight) i know, that choosing the right surgeon is at least as important as choosing the right IOL. Well, you´ll have to live with your decision probably for the rest of your life. The cost of all that was very high, but i´m now happy to have done it this way.

My doctor didn't recommend travelling for 1 week after the surgery mostly in case of infection. That risk has passed after 1 week but he made the point that, although a rare occurrence, when it does occur, time is of the essence. So if you happen to have an issue at 30,000 feet… nowhere near a hospital, it could be bad. I'd plan to stay put for a week before going back home.

I have a plan in place to travel to Canada for cataract surgery on my right eye, because that eye needs a higher cylinder lens than any available in the US (I need about a 9d cyl iol). I have a US surgeon who has agreed to do the follow up care and a highly-respected Canadian surgeon who has agreed to do the surgery and entrust the follow up to my US doctor. The two doctors already knew each other, as it turned out. They tell me I only need to be in Canada 3 days -- the day before surgery, the day of and the day after. The Canadian surgeon has the measurements done by the US doctor, but will re-do them the day before surgery.

I put this in place when I thought I was going ahead with surgery this year. Now I've decided to wait. So, I can only report on the plan, not the event.