Cataract Surgery

[Tony Nathanson]

How long does each surgery take, from walk in to (I assume) walk out? A couple hours, half a day?

Are you a zombie for a while until the stuff wears off?

Depends on how much sedation they use - or whether they use any. It can be done without sedation. My sister got some Propofol. She freaks out over things like that. She wasn't exactly a zombie; she was a little drowsy for a couple of days. If & when I need it, I'll discuss not having any sedation; it's not necessary for me; it takes a lot to scare me, but if the Dr's insist, I'll be agreeable.

 

[Krystal Shay]

How long does each surgery take, from walk in to (I assume) walk out? A couple hours, half a day?

Are you a zombie for a while until the stuff wears off?

If I remember correctly, maybe a couple of hours. Most of the time you are lying in a room getting prepped for the surgery, which mainly consists all the eye drops they are putting in the eyes. You don't even have to change clothes. The surgery doesn't take long at all. You shouldn't feel like a zombie. I don't recall feeling like I was drugged at all. Your surgery eye will probably feel a little gritty for the rest of the day. The eye heals pretty quickly and feels better each day. Just remember to keep putting those eye drops in your eyes for as long as the doctor tells you. It is alot of drops but necessary.

 

[Hedi Mitchell]

where we go. IV for relaxation then deaden the eye, takes 15/20 minutes. But they hv you in a recovery like spot for a bit. Then they go over all the stuff you already have printed out from them. 2/3 hours for whole procedure
Takes us 2.5 hours to get there then 2.5 to get home. All day affair for us.

 

[Connie Bennett]

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Could somebody who has completed the process give a blow-by-blow of the process in terms of assistance with driving and care for each step?

It sounds like there is the exam/consultation, then the surgery itself, plus follow-up exams. I'm pretty sure each eye gets done separately.

When do you need a driver? How much "hand-holding" is required (recovery?)? What sort of intervals are involved? Does it all take weeks? Months?

With no local relatives I have some begging ahead. There do not seem to be any medical transportation services I might avail myself of.

1. Yes you need a driver to get you home. I have an extreme high tolerance for discomfort, but the discomfort from the cataract surgery isn’t one of them, when one is looking into any sort of light. You do not want to drive.

1.1. Buy yourself a very dark pair of non-prescription sunglasses to wear until you can tolerate the light. Have them for the ride home from the Surgery Center. I was not in the hospital. We have a separate Surgery Center for outpatient services such as this, and I went there.

2. I was not sedated at all except for the painkiller they put in my eyeballs. I never felt a thing. I can’t remember how long I sat there. I know that my husband had to have me there by seven in the morning and we were home in time for the noon news. We also only live 15 miles from the Surgery Center.

3. My eyes were done two weeks apart. My ophthalmologist did not recommend getting both of them done at the same time. From what I have read of others on this forum it seems that is the norm, do them a few few weeks apart.

4. You will get instruction sheets and eye drops. If you don’t follow anything else to the absolute inth in this world, follow the instructions for those eye drops to the tee.

5. I hired somebody to do my Barn chores while my eyes were healing, but I still went to the barn to feed the horses every day. I wore wrap around goggles to keep my eyes covered.

6. I chose to get the standard IOLs that Medicare pays for in full for two reasons. Medicare pays for them plus I didn’t trust specialized prescription IOL’s to stay permanent. If my vision were to change, I think I would have to get new iOL’s. As it is I still wear glasses and I’m OK with that because I’ve been wearing glasses since I was 12 years old.

I think that’s it

 

[Emma Potter]

I just had my eyes done. First the was three weeks ago, and the second eye was done last week. The procedure its self takes only 10 minutes. But the prep time takes about 45 minutes. They put a lot of drops in your eyes. Betadine, drops to fully dilate your eyes, steroids to slow down swelling, numbing drops. They wait 10 minutes between drops to make sure they are absorbed. They give you twilight sedation, you are awake, but you don't care.
Three days before surgery you start doing drops.... Antibiotics ( 4 x a day) a steroid (2X a day) and an NSAID( 2 times a day).
The day of surgery your continue on with those drops. After one week you stop the antibiotic, but continue to other two for two more weeks . Next I go down to two drops once a day ( one each of steroid and NSAID). I will be putting drops in until Oct 6th.
No pain, just a feeling of sand in your eye the first day. It is really not that bad.

My appointment was for 7:30AM and I was home by 9:00AM

 

[Marie Miller]

I just had my eyes done. First the was three weeks ago, and the second eye was done last week. The procedure its self takes only 10 minutes. But the prep time takes about 45 minutes. They put a lot of drops in your eyes. Betadine, drops to fully dilate your eyes, steroids to slow down swelling, numbing drops. They wait 10 minutes between drops to make sure they are absorbed. They give you twilight sedation, you are awake, but you don't care.
Three days before surgery you start doing drops.... Antibiotics ( 4 x a day) a steroid (2X a day) and an NSAID( 2 times a day).
The day of surgery your continue on with those drops. After one week you stop the antibiotic, but continue to other two for two more weeks . Next I go down to two drops once a day ( one each of steroid and NSAID). I will be putting drops in until Oct 6th.
No pain, just a feeling of sand in your eye the first day. It is really not that bad.

My appointment was for 7:30AM and I was home by 9:00AM

Thank you for the detailed account. Best wishes!