Just a little update on my post about having a cataract operation.
Had it done yesterday and everything is fine. I was so, so calm yesterday, really couldn't believe just how calm I was. A few days before the op the thought of having it done got me so nervous but on the morning I woke up I just thought its got to be done so lets get it over with.
Apart from a little injection under my eye (not as bad as having an injection at the dentist) I didn't feel a thing. Had some sort of white light show while it was being done. I think the actual op took about 10 - 15 minutes, I just laid there quite relaxed really, total faith in the surgeon.
Had a transparent eye shield on when I left hospital. Last night around 8pm was amazed that I could read the TV guide on the TV. The night before I couldn't read it with my glasses on.
A bit disappointed this morning because I expected to have a good distance vision but things down the garden are a little blurred, think I am wanting to run before I can walk. The information I have been given did say that my vision will be blurred at first. Having to have sunglasses on at the moment because everything is very bright. The most amazing thing is that I can also see better to read. Typing this without my glasses on. I did check that he was putting a distance one in before he did the op because I had changed my mind, so hopefully this might be an added bonus, only time will tell.
Having a follow up appointment this Wednesday, fingers crossed that by then he can tell me that I am OK to drive.
Paula x
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Paula-C
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Hi Paula, glad to hear all went well for you, take it easy and keep putting in the drops, hopefully by Wednesday your eye sight will be much clearer, although it sounds better now. Thanks so much for the update. I see my GP tomorrow, and hopefully he will ok my BP and write a letter for me to proceed. I can't wait. Last week we went up to Northumberland and North Yorshire and I found it so hard to read the signs on the roads, was a real pain. All the very best. G xx
Drops, don't talk to me about drops. I knew you had to have some in, didn't expect so many. Ive got one lot of drops to use for four weeks, the other one for six weeks!!!! You do after two weeks start to taper it down but at the moment the drops are
2 drops at 9am
1 drop at 11am
1 drop at 1pm
1 drop at 2pm
1 drop at 3pm
1 drop at 5pm
2 drops at 7pm
I dont have to stick to the times preciously, its just a guide to make sure that the drops are spread out through the day. The consultant told me that they had to do this because in the past some patients had had 6 drops before 10 in the morning. Ive got two lots of paper work with the days and times wrote on so I can tick them off. Mobile phone alarms are set to remind me and my husband bless him is playing nurse at the moment. xx
Hi Paula, I did know from from my friends in Portugal, it drove them mad to say the least. Eye drops became a swear word !!!! I do have to have eye drops 5 times a day anyway. Glad to hear all going as planed. Hope it goes well tomorrow. I went for my BP check this morning with my GP, STILL high.... Have to go back next Thursday week, have been given Beta Blockers to take the day before and on the morning before I see him in the afternoon. He doesn't want to change my BP meds. I still think it's Naproxen, started last August is to blame. We shall see. All the best Paula, keep in touch. Xx
That is very reassuring Paula. I saw my Opthalmologist last week & as my sight is still legal to drive he said I could wait until I felt I needed the procedure. Must admit though I was glad to be able postpone it.
He said he would put compensating lenses in...one long distance one up close for reading.
I used to use contact lenses like that, until my Rheumy hands got so unreliable I dropped more lenses than I got in my eyes.
I asked about having a reading one in my left eye when it needs doing. Have read somewhere that this can be done. He advised my to try a reading contact lens in the eye to see if it worked, I'm sure he said that it only works in about 30% of patients. I have read on another forum that someone had this done and was dizzy and and felt sick, would imagine its because the brain is getting two lots of different information from the eyes. If you are already doing it with contacts then I am sure you won't get any problems.
Honestly there is nothing at all the fear about having the surgery done.
If things stay the same with me I am okay with reading so will ask for advice from my consultant which way to go when the time comes for the second op. xx
I had compensating lenses since the 1990's. The only reason I now don't wear them regularly is because it's not very easy for my fingers to manage the wafer thin daily lenses I choose to have. You don't have to bother with lotions & cleaners with daily lenses, you just throw them away. Plus if course being retired I don't have reams of paper work any more.
I remember vividly the first time I walked out of the eye doctor's office the whole world appeared so much clearer.I have vertigo ...but I never had any problems. The only advice I was given was not to try to wear bifocal/transitional lenses.
It's a good idea to have a practice run with contact lenses before having the permanent solution. I didn't know some people had trouble with these lenses, I was just given them when I lived in USA & away I went.
My only problem arose when it came to taking them out....there is a knack to it...make sure you ask whoever puts in your lense & practice taking it out whilst you are still with that person. Basically you just pinch them out, whereas I tried to lift them out!
I use to wear a contact lens in my right eye (the one thats been done), it was a multi focal one so I didn't wear glasses during the day, only had to when the contact lens wasn't in. I managed very well without having anything in my lazy eye, was told that most people have to have a balancing lens in the other eye but I was fine.
I first started with dailies but they kept going a walk in my eye. Optician told me he had never had anyone who had this problems as much as I did. I had to many an emergency trip to an opticians to get it removed, sure you are aware that you can't leave them in. All this was because I have very dry eyes, thanks to RA. Because of the problem I was advised to use monthly ones but to take them out every evening. These are a little thicker than the dailies and did stay put. However when I went for my eye test a year last April (that was when I was told about the cataract) I was told that I had a scratch on my cornea and not to wear them for a month. The scratch was caused with me taking the lens out everyday. I went back a month later and it had healed but I made up my mind not to wear them anymore, it wasn't worth the risk. xx
Hi Just had to check this out. Saw the post on my phone last night, it only showed the hand on the left and the one in the middle. The one on the right was just an oblong box...honest. So do I still need retesting?
Phoned RA clinic this morning to see when I can restart enbrel. If there's no infection I can start in 2 weeks time, already been off it for 3 weeks. Beginning to know Im not taking it, hopefully when I start it again it will do its magic straight away. When I first started it I went straight into remission and have stayed there. Fingers crossed. xx
I have had both eyes done over 10 years, was told they try to put lens in the same as your glasses, when I had my 2nd one done 2 years ago after about a week find I could watch tv with no glasses, but still need them for computer work. Hope all goes well for tomorrow
Sorry its took so long for me to tell you about my post op appointment. Had a busy few days. Eldest daughter was 40 earlier this month and she had a birthday party for family and friends this weekend. (she was away when it was the big day). She asked me to make her a cake before I knew the date of the op, was planning on doing her one anyway, but she asked me to do a dolly in a bed like I did when she was little. Its been a mammoth production, had to be done is stages last week, yes me with the dodgy eye, but I said I would so I couldn't let her down. Very pleased with the result so it was all worth it. Did say at the party that I wasn't taking orders, it was very stressful to do!!!!!
Right......went last Wednesday for my check up. I read the chart, could read alot more than last time, so obviously I've had a distance one in. He then had a good look at my eye and he said that it had exceed all his expectations on how it was looking and it was nearly healed. I then had to read the card that they test your reading vision with. I could of made out the smallest print at a push, but I could easily make out the next to the smallest. He said that some lucky patients have this with distance lens, but did warn me it may go away. ( Fingers, toes and everything else crossed that it doesn't).. Then added that I will probably need a tiny prescription for either reading or distance, I hope its for distance!!! Asked about driving, at first he said Yes, then he corrected himself and told me to test to see if I could see a number plate at 20 metres. Had a check in the car park, husband pacing out 20 metres and I could read the plate!!!!! I've got my wheels back!!!!!!!
Asked about my left eye, there is a small cataract in that one, not at operating stage at the moment. With this one being a lazy eye been told that the best I can expect is to get the vision back that I had when I was younger, they can't fix a lazy eye. Did ask if you get a better lens going privately than having a NHS distance or reading lens and he said yes. Told me that the NHS one is adequate, it does the job, but if you go private there is more to choose from and he would use the one that he thinks is best for the patient. Don't think I will have that eye done privately will have it done on the NHS. On saying that though, someone told me at the party that the NHS is now only operating on one eye saying that you only need one eye to see. Not sure if this is right or not. I have been told that if you don't have surgery you will eventually lose your sight in the eye, surely they wouldn't allow this to happen.
I was really annoyed when I was told the cataract was in my dominate eye, saying sods law it had to be in that one and not the other one, but you know what, I'm glad now it was that eye beings my vision is so much better now.
Down side to having it done.......I can see more wrinkles on my face and I now see dirt in my bungalow that I couldn't see before....think a spring clean is on the cards!!!!!
I've just been reading your post and I've found it very helpful. I'm 40 and waiting to have surgery on both eyes. I've lost all vision in my left eye and have very little in my right eye. It's all happened so quickly I could see fine in Feb of this year and all of a sudden I'm as good as blind my vision started to go blurry in the middle of April and within 6 weeks I was not able to drive and in a&e not knowing it was a cataract. I had so man6 different examinations and scans pictures and lights to find out that I need this surgery asap but after seeing a consultant at one hospital it took 6 weeks to see another doc at a different hospital and still no op date. Apparently being 40and having catarax is not very common.
I understand about the cleaning bit as I try my best with all the nucks and crannies in my house cleaning twice as much as normal my my next door neighbour is 90 this year and she had hers done a few years back and keeps telling me about how i will see how much dirt I will be able to see once I've had them done. I can not wait to just see my famies faces again and just read the last 20 pages of my book. I feel so low and am struggling with this at the min as it's come on so quickly. I found it hard before as I have been living with agoraphobia for a few years now and find normal days difficult but now they are just harder. I had just started to get the courage to go out in the garden and that's stopped again now as I can't see.
So Paula thank you for your past words they are helpful xx
I'm so sorry to read what's been happening to you it a must be so frightening, I really can't begin to imagine what it's like for you at the moment with it coming on so quickly. I hope you've heard something in the last few days, if you haven't, I'm wondering if you've thought of seeing if another hospital can see you any quicker. I know it may mean travelling, but I'm sure it would be worth it if you get them done sooner.
I was 59 when I had mine done and I was told by one of the nurses I was relatively young to need cataract surgery, so you must be very unlucky to need both doing at such a young age. I was told that mine was my age and also down to the fact that I've taken oral steroids in the past for my Rheumatoid Arthritis.
There really isn't anything to worry about having the surgery done, it really was a doddle, I can't stress that enough. I went private and I do think that the surgeon was a bit over the top with eye drops, not showering, washing my hair, not being able to wear makeup for two weeks post op etc etc. Think he was just being over cautious because if anything had of gone wrong his private work may of suffered as a result. I looked on the NHS website and it wasn't so strict.
So how am I now over a year later?......
Well, I still can't understand how I can still read without glasses on when I asked for a distance one and I need glasses to drive. I did say in my last post that I could read a number plate at the required distance, but once my vision had settled down I couldn't. I did question this when I had my follow up check at the opticians, but was told I'd got mid range vision and that was that. To be quiet honest I'm happy with the outcome. I just wear glasses for driving and watching the TV at night, I can see the TV pretty good, but it's better with glasses on. The fact that I can read a menu, read the internet, read labels when shopping etc is marvellous, don't think I would of liked the fact that I would of had to put glasses on every time, that would of got on my nerves.
I really hope you get them done soon and you can put all of this behind you. Anything else you want to ask, just ask.
All these posts have been extremely helpful and encouraging I'm having both my eyes done (consecutive days ) in a couple of weeks, my prescription glasses can't be improved and sometimes I feel like I've put someone else glasses on lol and thu I am looking forward to seeing the difference and not struggling to see labels even with a magnifying glass lol it is another worry that when you have RD can be too much so thankyou everyone for the encouraging information.
Thanks Paula it sounds as if you have a very positive experience. I am really looking forward to having my cataract op and having clearer vision although I have been told that I shall still have to wear glasses as I have an astigmatism
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Cataract operation and RA
1st Rheumy Consult done
HUMIRA - First one done!
