Upcoming cataract surgery and return to work

Hello there,

You follow up next day after surgery . You can return to work after 2 days. Continue your eye drops and follow all you eye meds instructions and wear your eye guard every time you go to sleep so you won’t seat h your surgical eye. No heavy lifting like 15 to 29 lbs . No bending head below your waist for a week. You can take a shower next in 1- w days be sure no water go to your affected eye. You can take a half bathe the next day mainly don’t wet your eye. You can clean your eye lid with a clean wet cotton ball. You can take Tylenol for pain . You 3 eyedrops should take care.  One drop for inflammation and pain 2nd drop is a steroid and 3rd antibiotic. So follow you doctor post op order . Wear Your sunglasses all the time if you go out under the sun. It should be fine . You can see the next day after dilation wears off. What kind of IOL you going to have.

Good luck to you.

As far as driving on a personal level, I did it the following day but it was very limited. I would say I was not entirely comfortable driving for about one week. If the driving is night time driving, depends on the lens type... multifocal lenses may be an issue with your job , but I think your doctor would have taken your job into account.  I returned to work 2 days after procedure.  I was only restricted to lighter duties for 48 hours, but my work does not require much heavy lifting and no driving.  I definitely think you would have to give yourself a little more time since your job sounds like it is primarily a driving job. I am thinking 2 weeks to give you a number, but it varies person to person.  Hope that helps. I am trying to go back and think in terms of heavy driving. 

Thank you all for your replies to my post. I had expected a wide range of comments but all your views have really given me a bit of a wake up.

I am not a normal 73 year old in that I am still working part time – 30 hours a week – I am a licenced bus driver holding a PCV licence. I drive a shuttle bus between a rural airport (set on the coast but also in the midst of farmland) and a major town some 9 miles away. I move passengers and their luggage between the airport and the town, so its very much a tourist industry occupation. Passengers baggage is mostly around 15 kgs (33 lbs) and I lift that weight from road level to a maximum height of around 5 feet ( don't worry, I put the heavy stuff at the lower level and the lighter baggage at the highest point).

Plenty of dust blowing off the farmland, and when the grass around the airport perimeter is cut plenty of grass dust too.

So that's two significant aspects which will tend to work against an early return to work.

My understanding is that I can drive my car again when I can read a standard size car numberplate at 20 metres. Driving the bus will require to me pass a new eyesight test which from what some of you guys are saying will be about the 6 week mark. However, recovery advice from the Royal College of Surgeons website is suggesting closer to 4 weeks with the first review at around 2 weeks.

My employer is looking at having me in the office doing meaningful paper shuffling and computer work and organising support buses and taxis to cover peak times when the other bus driver is working on his own and will be inundated with work. ( we have 3 drivers, one retires on 3 July, I have surgery on 2 July leaving one left).

I must confess, many of you have thrown a bit of a curved ball as I had never considered the impact of eye drops. Yes, I knew I'd have to have them but had never thought that I may have an issue with them. My existing glasses which I have to wear all the time anyway are 'Reactions' lenses so when I'm out and about post op they will automatically go into sunglasses mode. When I have my final eyesight test and assumedly new glasses I don't think I'll have these again.

Anyway everyone. Thank you so much for the trouble you have taken to comment and I'll post on here my progress after surgery next Monday – hopefully my comments may help someone else.

John