# cataract op,.....terrified !



## clubman (Sep 3, 2007)

I have been told months ago, that need this fixed. I read up on it, looked at the internet and tried to question the doc, about it , but cannot get the info that I want to know. I gather this is 'nothing to bother about' and everybody has this done at my age if necessary People I have asked about, always know someone who has had it and again it was 'nothing' but nobody I can talk to has had it done. Can anyone here tell me......how long is the actual op and does it hurt afterwards for example. I have a constant cough and am on inhalers and I am told that I cannot cough during or after the op. or I will dislodge the new lens. The only person I did get to speak to, told me you have to sleep sitting up for a week, put eyedrops in for months, do no housework or lifting for weeks. Also that I am at risk of going blind from retinal detatchment for the rest ofmy life! If this is such a common op. can any of you folk help me decide what to do? As you see from the time, I can't sleep these days just thinking about it. Pam (Mrs Clubman) 

1


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## Pusser (May 9, 2005)

I've been all through the same questions almost for my Mum who needs the op.

Normally the actual op is less than 20 mins and there is no pain at the time because it has been sprayed with stuff. They will normally only do one eye at a time and there will be discomfort for the first night after the op but not pain as such.

You have to lay on your back for 45 minutes as that is the only way they can do the op without a general and some old people cannot lay on their back for very long. I don't know why.

But the benefits to you are huge and the risks overall very slight as millions of these ops have been carried out. 

Very often they will use this opportunity depending on your circumstances to put a new lens in thus negating the need for glasses or reducing the strength of the glasses a lot.


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## penny (Jun 4, 2005)

Hi my husband has had both eyes done at different times after the last one he walked a mile up to where I work and we got the bus home with no ill effects. He took the eye pad off the next day and hardly mentioned it again so I ASSUME THERE WAS NOT MUCH DISCOMFORT as usually he lets us know if he is not in full working order.


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## Wizzo (Dec 3, 2007)

A friend of mine has had both eyes done. She said at the time that it was painless and was back at work the following day. Let's face it if you go and have the first one done and it causes you pain / problems you would think twice about having the second one operated on. As that seems not to be the case I think it is testimony in itself.

JohnW


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## sylke (Sep 10, 2007)

Pam, my mum in law is 87 and had another cataract op last week. She is on her own but when asked if she wanted someone there with her she said no it didn't bother her in the slightest as it doesn't hurt and she wasn't worried about it as she got on fine the other times she had it done. She told us not to worry about her. Only trouble is she says she can now see the dust in her flat.


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

I know you asked for people who had had it done but....

My mother had both eyes done when she was in her early 80s. She did not have to lie down- there was a special chair, like a dentist's recliner, which she said was very comfortable. She also had a sedative first ( Temazepam ?) which made her drowsy and, frankly, she wouldn't have cared whether they cut her head off she was so calm !

She wore a pad on her eyes for a few hours and then had to be careful not to look at a bright light and she did not feel she wanted to watch TV or read for about 24 hours but she was clearly not in any pain and was back to normal very quickly. 

She certainly was very keen to have the second one done and pestered the hospital to get it sorted.

Following her experience I certainly would not feel any qualms about the op. It made such a difference to her life that it would have been worth it even if it had hurt !

G


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## 107088 (Sep 18, 2007)

Pusser said:


> You have to lay on your back for 45 minutes as that is the only way they can do the op without a general and some old people cannot lay on their back for very long. I don't know why.
> 
> .


I do.

Its all down to cardiac output and lung function.
Basically there a condition which, probably, 90% of us will suffer from after age 70, which is atrial fibrillation. Its actually difficult to describe in words, and thats why I use diagrams when teaching this stuff. Anyway, here goes.

The heart is divided into 4 sacks, 2 which collect the blood and 2 which pump it out to the places it goes to. The collecting sacks are the Atria. ( pumping ones are the ventricles) so, the way these sacks know when and how much blood to punt out is by electrical stimuli by the nervous system, from the brain. ( clever thing the brain).....electrical impulses travel down the nerves until they reach the Sino-Atrial node, where the impulses are shared out to the other nodes etc in the heart and the pump system functions normally.

In AF the S-A node is disfunctional and secondary nodes need to function, these secondary ( or spare) nodes arent quite as sorted as the proper SA node and they fire off slightly out of sync with the other proper nodes ( called, amongst others- AV node, purkinjes and the bundle of hiss...( no idea why that things is,)) this gives an irregular and irratic pump from the Atria and the blood flow is not properly regulated. consequently, the person gets very breathless and uncomfortable. With the usual degradation of lung function, the patient finds it difficult to lie down for a period, and thats why a fair number of seniors sleep propped up by pillows. The good news is that the problem of Af can be corrected either by pills and potions, or in bad case a pacemaker.

Anyone still awake after this?

Other than that, back on topic. as said, the benefits of corrective surgury for the replacement of the lens is swift, releatively painless, and relatively problem free. There is always a risk when invasive procedures are done, but th cateract replacement is now so common place, its done by charitie in Africa for £ 5.00 and theres very little follow up for the recprients.

Easy to say dont worry, but when the firt is done , I would hazard a guess that you'll be beating a path to the doctor for the other eye to be sorted.


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## Snelly (Aug 20, 2005)

As an ambulance man, I have seen this procedure bring sight back to many people. They are in and out in a few hours and i've never seen anyone in post op pain or been to anyone who has had a problem after the op. It's one of the most common ops Pam, you'll be fine.


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## JohnsCrossMotorHomes (Jul 21, 2007)

Hi, 

Brilliant operation if you can call it that.

You walk in, lie down, nurse holds your hand, bright light in your eye so you cannot see anything or feel anything.

15 minutes later, jobs done, walk out, sit down, cup of tea and you CAN SEE!

Had both eyes done now and no glasses.

Peter


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## TASSLE (Sep 13, 2008)

Had both of mine done this time last year.
Its a miracle. Yes you have to be still for 20 mins and you certainly are made comfortable.
Walked out of the operating room. Back home 1 hour later.
Took bandage off next day and cried when I realised just how blind I had been. Could not wait to get the 2nd eye done, the same thing exactly.
You have to put drops in for 3 weeks (make sure you do) to prevent infection. Husband not chuffed as I can now see just how much decorating needs doing in the house.
You will be fine, go fot it.


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

Yes. What most of the others have said.  

Father in Law stopped driving because he couldn't see well enough - and not before time. 8O 8O The old bugger was as blind as a bat in his bad eye, and said because he could see with only one eye it made him feel dizzy when driving !!!

The day after the operation he was in the car and off into town, totally confident because he could see with both eyes again!!!


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## ChrisandJohn (Feb 3, 2008)

Hi Clubman

I thought hard before I decided to send this.

I have a friend who had the op a year or so ago and, as everyone else is saying, there was no problem and loads of benefits.

BUT.

I have an eye condition called Fuchs Endothelial Dystrophy and I belong to a Yahoo support group for people with this condition. Some have experienced their condition worsening or brought on by a cataract removal. Last year my 86 year old aunt had a cataract removal and the docs clearly had a lot more difficulty with it than they expected. After the operation her sight from that eye was worse, rather than better. Initially they said it would clear but eventually acknowledged that it wouldn't.

Fuchs Edothelial Dystrophy has similar symptoms to cataracts i.e. misty vision, but the causes are different. It is an hereditary disease that is often not diagnosed (Google it). I suspect my aunt had it and I'm now pretty certain which side of my family I inherited it from.

Sorry to introduce this less than encouraging issue, but if I develop cataracts I will make very sure that anyone operating on me knows I have Fuchs and is very familiar with the risks. The condition is quite rare so maybe not all eye surgeons have it in the forefront of their mind.

I can't really give you very much more info than this, but feel free to PM me if you wish.

Very best wishes


Chris


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## Mandi (Jan 10, 2008)

Had one done earlier this year, quite young at 52. Like the others have said, it was a walk in the park. Scarey bit was seeing how badly my eyebrows were plucked - you would have thought someone would have mentioned it - and the dust!

:lol:


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## Jezport (Jun 19, 2008)

I managed an Opticians shop for years, and cannot remember even one patient say that they regret having it done.


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## 109353 (Jan 20, 2008)

*cataract op*

Hi Pam,

My son had to have the op done before he was 10 years old, we were very worried as he is deaf as well as being an asthma sufferer, both eyes were done at different times and on each occasion we were at the hospital for about 4 hours max. Next day the eye patch came off and it was more difficult trying to get him to sit down and take it easy but he just told us he was fine, the best thing about it was he told us he could see colours he had not seen before. He now attends hospital on a 6 monthly basis just to check the pressure build up behind the lens.
Please remember it's for your benefit and some people like to make up horror stories about what they have heard happened to others and it always gets worse the more people it goes round, but as you will have read on this post the op is very much routine and you will wonder what you were worrying about afterwards.

William


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## clubman (Sep 3, 2007)

Thank you all so much for your replies. It has eased my mind a bit but not the dread in my tummy! No doubt when it is all over, I'll join you people in saying the same and wonder what I was fussing about. I had bladder cancer 2 years ago and thought I was going to die so I think I am getting the same feelings of the overactive imagining. That op. was 'nothing ' either and I don't know how many people I helped by telling them about it when they asked. Pam


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## rowley (May 14, 2005)

Go for it Pam and let us know how you get on.


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## fransgrandad (Dec 7, 2007)

clubman said:


> I have been told months ago, that need this fixed. I read up on it, looked at the internet and tried to question the doc, about it , but cannot get the info that I want to know. I gather this is 'nothing to bother about' and everybody has this done at my age if necessary People I have asked about, always know someone who has had it and again it was 'nothing' but nobody I can talk to has had it done. Can anyone here tell me......how long is the actual op and does it hurt afterwards for example. I have a constant cough and am on inhalers and I am told that I cannot cough during or after the op. or I will dislodge the new lens. The only person I did get to speak to, told me you have to sleep sitting up for a week, put eyedrops in for months, do no housework or lifting for weeks. Also that I am at risk of going blind from retinal detatchment for the rest ofmy life! If this is such a common op. can any of you folk help me decide what to do? As you see from the time, I can't sleep these days just thinking about it. Pam (Mrs Clubman)
> 
> 1


Hi Fransgrandma, aka Carol,

Had both her eyes done no problems at all just have to be careful for a few days after the op. Carol wore glasses for most of her life now only needs them for reading. Both ops took abut 15mins no pain or discomfort 
at the time or during recovery.

Try not to worry (easy said I know) you will be fine,

Pm me with a phone number and Carol will speak to you if that will help.

Les.


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## fransgrandad (Dec 7, 2007)

clubman said:


> I have been told months ago, that need this fixed. I read up on it, looked at the internet and tried to question the doc, about it , but cannot get the info that I want to know. I gather this is 'nothing to bother about' and everybody has this done at my age if necessary People I have asked about, always know someone who has had it and again it was 'nothing' but nobody I can talk to has had it done. Can anyone here tell me......how long is the actual op and does it hurt afterwards for example. I have a constant cough and am on inhalers and I am told that I cannot cough during or after the op. or I will dislodge the new lens. The only person I did get to speak to, told me you have to sleep sitting up for a week, put eyedrops in for months, do no housework or lifting for weeks. Also that I am at risk of going blind from retinal detatchment for the rest ofmy life! If this is such a common op. can any of you folk help me decide what to do? As you see from the time, I can't sleep these days just thinking about it. Pam (Mrs Clubman)
> 
> 1


Hi Fransgrandma, aka Carol,

Had both her eyes done no problems at all just have to be careful for a few days after the op. Carol wore glasses for most of her life now only needs them for reading. Both ops took abut 15mins no pain or discomfort 
at the time or during recovery.

Try not to worry (easy said I know) you will be fine,

Pm me with a phone number and Carol will speak to you if that will help.

Les.


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## EJB (Aug 25, 2007)

What fabulous answers for you Pam.
I have a different but very invasive inspection on Friday. By talking to friends who have had the same I have no worries at all although I expect a few days of discomfort. You should have no problem. :wink:

*Good Luck*


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## 103356 (Mar 11, 2007)

Pam,
I am going into hospital tomorrow to have a cataract removed and have no concerns about having the operation. However, as I am allergic to local anaesthetic I have to have mine done under a general which means I may be in overnight. Despite that I hope to be back home not later than Thu morning and once I am able to remove the dressing, seeing much clearer. The thought is far worse than the relality and the op is much better than the alternative (which eventually is to lose your sight). I'll let you know how it went.


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*Op*

Hello,

The Mum of one of my customers had the op last year. She is delighted and is 103 years old!

Trev


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