My Cataract Surgery - I’m at Risk

Well, I saw the eye surgeon yesterday afternoon and they will do my right eye on December 3. I came out of there worried about several things that I didn’t expect to need to deal with.

First, she said that I am at risk for complications DURING surgery. Seems I have a condition that weakens the little fibers that hang down behind the lens and hold the lens in place. She said that it is possible that when she inserts the replacement lens, it might not hold and might fall back into the eye. At that point, she’d have to stop, put a patch over my eye, and set me up for surgery the next day to have a different doctor remove that lens. Now, this scared the dickens out of me. I almost said No to surgery. It scared me so much that I forgot to ask a few further questions. Like, what is the complication probability - 10%? 50%? What? I also forgot to ask if that meant that I would be forever blind in that eye, or whether they would be able to push the lens back and secure it another way. Fear dulls the mind, I think.

Second, nobody I know ever mentioned how much the eye drops cost per surgery. You really need both sets, some before, some after, each surgery. Each round costs $120 which Medicare doesn’t cover - go figure. Also, they contract with a specific pharmacy who will mail them to me to arrive the day before I am scheduled to use them. Do I really trust the USPS that much? Hmmm. 

Third, they wanted me to commit to having someone there during the entire time I am in surgery. I had planned the free transportation but if I use that, the driver leaves and then returns. In that case, they will not use anesthesia, just local, because the driver cannot be responsible for me. I left unsure how I could find someone to commit to sitting in that office waiting for me, for possibly 3 hours. It could be done in 1-1/2 hours, but maybe longer.

And last, we all know that afterwards, you cannot bend forward at the waist that first week after the surgery or pick up over 10 pounds. I thought about the cat, her litter, and her dishes on the floor. She has to eat “flat.” Too much to explain here. This is the only thing I felt okay with - I do know someone here who would probably run in once a day to scoop the litter for me. I think I can put the dishes down by holding onto the table top and semi-squatting to put the dishes down.

So I’ve worked out one of the other things. A dear neighbor immediately put the two dates down on her calendar, will take me and bring me home, and take a book to read while she waits. I owe that woman.

As for almost declining the surgery due to the risk, I thought about that this way: my eyes might enable me to continue doing everything I am doing now except for night driving, for a few more years. By the time the cataracts get really bad and I find it difficult to see, they’d have to do the surgery anyhow. At that point, those fibers might be a mess. I’m better off doing this now and taking my chances. God always has my back, as he proved so well with my colon cancer danger back in ’99. It’s now or never, so on we go.

Wish me luck? Say a wee prayer?