Cataract Surgery…and Then…
Who Knew?
When I left the cataract surgeon’s office in February, I was set up for a one-year follow-up appointment with her. I figured that would just be a routine check-up and I would be released forever, my eyesight restored!
All was well from February onward as I enjoyed being like a newborn baby with normal, clear, sharp vision once again. Colors popped! Being able to see clearly by the spring of the year was wonder-filled.
I was able to read books again! I planted flowers and then enjoyed the summer sights and sounds.
By September, a mere eight months after cataract surgery on both eyes, I noticed that I couldn’t read books as easily and there seemed to be a fog when I looked out my window at my beloved cove and lake. The swans weren’t as easily seen, either, as they had been six months previously.
When I went to keep my appointment with my regular retinal specialist, he mentioned that he couldn’t see the back of my eye. He encouraged me to call the cataract surgeon to make an appointment for a laser procedure to clear up the lenses that had been surgically implanted during the cataract surgery.
The retinal specialist said that a clouding of the lenses was common and that the laser procedure took about five seconds.
Well, that comforted me! That sounded easy and painless
Thus, I found myself back in a familiar spot with the cataract surgeon. Thankfully, it wasn’t in the building with surgical suites which meant no sterile procedure and surgery were needed. I was in the cataract surgeon’s regular office.
Reading the eye chart was challenging and I KNEW that my eyesight had changed.
Next, I found myself with dilating drops being placed in each eye as well as numbing drops. That was familiar territory.
In came the cataract surgeon, ready to do the laser procedure.
What would it be like? Would I experience any pain? Would I be able to get up and walk out with no problems?
Thus, I found myself having a YAG laser capsulotomy, a procedure I’d never heard of.
According to the Academy of American Ophlamologists: “When you have cataract surgery, your ophthalmologist removes your eye’s cloudy lenses. They replace it with a clear, artificial intraocular lens (IOL). The IOL is held in place in the eye’s natural lens capsule. Weeks, months, or years later, this capsule can become cloudy or wrinkled, causing blurry vision. This is called a posterior capsule opacification (PCO). It’s also sometimes called a ‘secondary cataract’ or ‘scar tissue.’ With posterior capsulotomy, a laser is used to make an opening in the cloudy capsule. This allows light to pass through again for clear vision.”
My doctor described this lens capsule as being like an M&M where the new lenses were inserted.
One in 10 people, after cataract surgery, have the capsulotomy done to clear the scar tissue that developed causing the lenses to become cloudy.
No one had ever mentioned that the cloudiness could appear
I’m sure she would have noticed at my one-year post cataract appointment yet I was glad it was caught earlier.
No, the laser procedure was NOT painful due to the numbing drops doing their work. I sat in a chair, placed my forehead and chin stabilized by resting areas and I was ready.
It took about 15 seconds for the laser to clean up the scar tissue and I was free to go. The other eye would be done at the two-week marker.
It has taken me a few days to recover. I never felt any pain nor experienced any redness of the eye. I could see more clearly once again! Only readers for books or the computer needed to be used!
I am thrilled with the results!
One thing I noticed, however, is that even though the procedure was painless and there were no restrictions, my body knew that something serious had taken place. My energy hasn’t fully returned even after a week. A normal walking regime needs to decrease and then increase as I return to normal.
That’s OK, I can SEE!
For a writer who also loves to read, eyesight is important — a real gift from God! Every day I am grateful for this gift!
Aren’t you?
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I have tagged those previously interested in Cataract Surgery.
Fox in the snow Anna Svetlik De La Rosa Christopher M Bell Bruce Murray Dixie Dodd Lindsay Duncan Gurpreet Dhariwal Lu Skerdoo Jerileewei Shanti C K Zain Jaffer Alan (AJ) Autistic Widower Boateng Sekyere Jane Keathley James Scannell Jimwebster Indirah Ambrose John Whye Bee Wild Lacey Dearie Bri Michele Noreen (Writer) Shanté Nixon Jan Sebastian 🖐👩🦰 Toni The Talker Shane Berry Julie KingGood Sharon Meyers, Ed.D. Nikita Rayne Johnson Susie Winfield Lu Skerdoo Rosa Diaz-Casal Greg Smith
