Among Friends

[Patriot3]

I know I am going to need cataract surgery soon.  Anyone out there who has had it, questions......Can I drive myself there and home after?  I am so used to doing for myself.  Do I need anyone to stay w/me?  How long is recuperation?  Is it painful?  Anything else you would want to add.  Thanks a bunch!

[I am still oxox]

You can not go alone, you can not drive yourself home, most likely you eye will be patched for a day or two

[henderson]

It's not painful.  Yes, you need someone to be there in the waiting room and drive you home.  You will be given light sedation, but aware of what's happening.  The worst part if the number of eye drops and days you need to use them.  

[Hooty]

No, you will need someone to be with you to drive you home, you will have a plastic type cup over the eye and will not be able to see. No it does not hurt, you just have to continue to put eye drops  in your eyes and keep your head up and not look down for awhile.  The worst part to me, is all the eye drops you have to use before the surgery, but you will be fine.

[2blonde]

@Patriot3  I had both eyes done last June (2 weeks apart, they don't do both the same day).  I'm sorry to say they want another person to be there with you through the entire thing.  They won't notice or care which one of you drove to get there, but they want another person in the waiting room while you have the surgery, and they will only let that person drive you home.  You will have some anesthesia still in your system.

Honestly, I think driving myself home would have been possible, but not safe.  I had to wear dark glasses because of the bright sun glare.  I will add though, that I was able to function very well and took a ride on my bike a couple hours later both times (with the dark glasses still on).

Just do it.......and if you can afford it, get the expensive multi-focal lenses. (Your insurance only covers the fixed vision lenses, and you will still need glasses.) I did, and I can see like a 20-year-old again.......no glasses except for up really, really close.

[ciao_bella]

@Patriot3  I had cataract surgery on my right eye about two years ago.  It was done as an out patient at a surgery center.  You will need someone to take you there and drive you home.  

As far as having someone to stay with you, I found that following the surgery you need to have several types of eye drops put in your eye four times a day for several weeks.  It's generally easier if someone else puts the drops in.  I tried to do it myself and almost always missed getting it into my eye.  I was afraid of putting the bottle tip too close to my eye as well. 

Since I have an astigma, my eye drops were needed for six weeks, but I believe the average is 3 to 4 weeks.  

The surgery is not painful at all and only takes about 10 minutes or less.  Recuperation was easy but having to put the drops in 4 times a day was a little annoying.  Other than that, it was a very easy surgery and routinely done these days with little or no problems. 

[SXMGirl]

@Patriot3, You must have someone with you or they will not do the surgery.

I think that I started the drops about two weeks before surgery.  They can be quite expensive and your surgeon should have coupons for you to use if your insurance does not cover it.  Mine covered most of the meds, so I did not use the coupons.  I continued with the drops for the next several weeks after surgery.

The surgery does not hurt, but I can tell you that I was very nervous.  I was completely out for the surgery, and just relaxed when I was home.  You will go back to the surgeon the following day, and you might be able to drive yourself at that time.  I did not.

I met with my surgeon and the office staff about three weeks before surgery and they showed me a movie and went over the procedures and also tested my eyes to see which implants would work best for me.  I went to a specialist, but my friend had hers at her eye doctor's office and they did not do as thorough an exam.  While she is fine, I am glad that my exam was so thorough.

If you are having difficulty with your eyesight, you should be very pleased with the end result.  Good luck.

[KentuckyWoman]

No you must not drive.  You will be given medications that make it unsafe for you to drive a vehicle.  You will also likely need someone to drive you to a follow up with the doctor which in my case was the next day.  I've had both eyes done.  I was not totally asleep but given a "twilight" drug intravenously and I didn't feel any pain nor do I remember anything at all about the OR and what they were doing.  I had no post op pain or complications.  Just follow the doctors orders and you will do great!  By the way, you really don't need anyone to stay with you.  My husband was my nurse for about two hours and then he went out to play golf. 

[mrsgoofy]

Patriot:

I was 66 when I had them done and on Medicare.  I had them done about one to two months apart - can't remember exactly.  I was extremely anxious which is why I never had laser surgery for corrective vision when I was younger - even though everyone around me was doing it.

However, there was never one minute of pain of any kind.  The actual procedure was maybe ten minutes long.  So, of course, I wasn't one bit scared for the second one being done.  The place that I went to absolutely insisted you be driven there and taken home by someone.  You will not be able to drive home yourself.  There were no meds for pain or anything but there were two or three kinds of eyedrops that I had to use for weeks before and after.  After wearing glasses my entire life, I watched tv that night without any.  Had I still been working, I could have gone to work the next day.

I had almost perfect distance vision after both were done.  I did immediately have to use readers but now that I have a pair in every room of the house, no problem.

It turned out to be very worth it.  At the time I had it  done, Medicare wouldn't pay for the most expensive procedure so I picked the middle one - which was why I needed readers after.

The very best to you and don't be scared!!

[2blonde]

@Patriot3  Don't let people freak you out.  I didn't have to wear a plastic cover on my eye (except for the first night while sleeping).  Also, they have new eye drops now where you only need to use one drop in the eye for two weeks.  My physical activity was not restricted except I wasn't supposed to lift more than 30 lbs the first 24 hours (not that I would)!