Wednesday, March 28, 2018

The good --- and the bad

Surgery was yesterday.  I had to arrive at 6 a.m.  That is horrible - I don't do 6 anymore!  But I was first.

Talked to the anesthetist, and then the nurse anesthetist who would be with me.  I was going to get a combination of drugs for the twilight sleep.  I was surprised I wouldn't be put in one of those stylish hospital gowns, but I was just covered with blankets.

They started the drug cocktail, and I began floating.  Apparently, I was given quite a lot of the cocktail because frankly - it hurt.  I do have memories of the pain, some lights and being told not to move.  I had two parts of this - one the cataract and the other was opening a duct for more fluid to leave to alleviate glaucoma some.

When we were leaving, I certainly knew WHY you have to have a driver.  I was higher than a kite.  All afternoon, I wasn't with this world.  G asked a question and it took me a while to answer because I couldn't remember the answer.  I was SO sleepy too!  But the dreams I kept having were really strange,

I had a lot of pain also.  I am not going to lie about that and say it was all wine and roses.  About 7 last evening, I took some Advil.  I really didn't care if had anti-coagulant properties or not.  I was hurting.

The most irritating thing was my throat was sore - probably from the gallon of eyedrops that would run into my throat and the runny nose from the tears that would run into my nose!


I was able to sleep through the night without a problem, but we had to be up at 5:30 for me to be in her office at 7.  At first, no pain, then it hit again.  That passed into just a dull pain.

At her office, the bandages were removed.  Just that felt good.  But the eyechart thingy was lit.  I couldn't see the letters.  The assistant was, well, worried.  I could see it.  She held up two fingers and moved them for me to tell her when I could see them.

The doctor came in.  We discussed the meds I had to have, and we laughed about my reaction!  Then she looked at the eye.  Apparently, I have a corneal scratch.  That will heal. (I hope).  It just feels like I have something in my eye - had a scratched cornea before.

Now I have drops for every 2 hours, four times a day, and once a day.  Fortunately they give a sheet to mark them off and I have set my phone alarm for the two-hour interval.  This goes for 10 days!

The good from this is that I don't have to use the drop for glaucoma in this eye.  I hope that stays that way.

I go back next week - if not before.  I just can't bend over for that week.  That will be difficult to remember.







3 comments:

Marti said...

Oh no! I haven't heard anyone say they had a lot of pain with it. So when she was concerned about you not seeing, did they do anything about the light or something else so you could see? I've had a cornea scratch before too and they do hurt. But they usually heal fast too.

Jeanette said...

Well, I'm glad your surgery is over and it went good. Hoping or a speedy recovery!

lil red hen said...

This post brings back a lot of memories. My cataract surgery was almost a year ago. And the early hours were not something I liked either; we had to drive a distance to get to the hospital for the surgery so it meant leaving home around 6:30 a.m. I had no pain with the surgery but quite a bit one day when I think something got in my eye. I was so thrilled to be able to see clearly without even glasses. Now things are beginning to be a bit blurred without glasses. I've been told a film can develop over the new lens but can be removed with laser in the office. I'm not sure my doctor can do this in his office, since he isn't an opthalmologist, which would mean more trips away. I may not even tell him about it, just wear the glasses. :) I hope you continue to heal quickly.