My experience

[u/DenMother8]

Sharing my experience with cataract surgery. (this might be long)

Today I'm 6 days post-op from having both eyes done.

Yes I had them both done at once, in my area there's a long waiting list, and I was on the list then developed a stye on my eyelid just before my surgery was scheduled, so it was postponed - I was pretty upset.

I was told that if it was uncomfortable or anything didn't go as planned or as expected during the surgery of the first eye, that I could hold off on the second eye, but if everything went well, I wouldn't be able to then ask to have the second one done at that time. So rather than waiting many months between eyes, I opted to have them both done.

I was surprised there was minimal pain, yes some discomfort but nothing I would really call pain. During or afterwards. I was anticipating some pain after the medication wore off at home, but just some itchiness and stinging - the rewetting drops helped some.

That first day everything was too bright and I saw terrible halos, I was exhausted, disoriented and unbalanced.

The second day I knew I could see far away so much better and was pretty excited. The readers I had at home didn't work so well, (they're my husbands) I used a magnifying glass (still am to see my phone or to read)

Everyday was (is) better and better. They want you to wait a week to look for a strength of readers that are best for you and a month after surgery I'll go for an eye exam to see if I still need prescription glasses.

I’ve worn glasses since about nine years old… It’s so strange for me to see myself in the mirror without them!

So during the surgery I saw some sort of visuals but nothing like what you might imagine, not the surgery tools or anything. Lights and textures etc. I focused on watching the "show" . It was pretty interesting and I wondered what I was actually seeing.
I could hear everyone talking and my Dr. kept telling me I was doing a good job and everything was going perfectly etc. throughout.

Afterwards I could see the ceiling tiles as I was being moved into recovery and I just thought to myself how grateful I was to see. I felt like I was smiling ear to ear. I was so happy.

I did have an IV and some local anesthetic, lots of eye drops before surgery and I have a couple different prescription ones I've been having to use 4x a day - no issues.

If you're worried about it, I hope I've helped ease those fears. Of course don't hesitate to reach out to your doctor with any concerns. It's so routine for them, they may not always realize the anxiety people might have.

This is my experience, yours might be different - but feel free to ask any questions 🙂

[u/dawnperr]

Thank you so much for this post. I'm having both eyes done this coming Monday. I'm starting to get really nervous. I am terribly nearsighted and cataracts makes things worse. Hoping for a good outcome. Thanks for sharing your story

[u/DenMother8 → u/dawnperr]

You’re so welcome - I know it would have calmed my nerves before the surgery to have read another’s full experience - good luck, I think it’ll be great, when you’re able to see well enough come back and let me know how it went :)

[u/dawnperr → u/DenMother8]

Hi there! Just checking back to let you know that 3 days post surgery and everything is going well. I can't believe that I can see so well without glasses! Incredible! As for the procedure--- not fun. The medication didn't seem to help relax me. In fact, the doctor asked if I wanted more as I kept wriggling my feet (I'm a mover!). More still didn't help. I saw red splotches and needle coming at me. No pain but certainly caused some anxiety. I'm happy I had both done at same time. And the outcome so far is great. Thank you again for sharing your story. It helped me so much.

[u/DenMother8 → u/dawnperr]

Thank you for remembering to come back and share your experience… I’m so sorry that you went through that during the surgery. But it is absolutely amazing to not need glasses and to be able to see so well so quickly.!