If you’ve come here from my video on youtube,
you’re in the right place. This is just a short synopsis of my experience of having cataracts done. The yt video of a cataract operation I actually watched a few days before my op, played out exactly how the first girl operated on my right eye, that’s the reason I enjoyed it, because she explained everything as she was doing it.
It all started in November last year, I went for a routine eye test & was put forward for cataract ops, I subsequently went for an assessment at SpaMedica on the Team Valley in Gateshead, where an appointment was made for my right cataract op on the15th November 2023.
On the day of your operation the nurse will test your blood pressure, temp etc & you’ll look through various optical instruments, then in another room a nurse will place a pellet in your eye to dilate the pupil, then you go in a room with cubicles with other patients for about an hour until your pupil has dilated, that’s the longest part of the whole thing really, oh & you can all chat with each other over coffee & biscuits if you wish, it’s all quite relaxed, you then see another nurse who will remove the pellet from your eye.
There’s a walk through video of the SpaMedica hospital in Gateshead on yt, showing what happens on your pre assessment, & on your operation day.
Then it’s time for “theatre” which lasts no more than 8-10 minutes, the nurse will sit you on the bed & put drops in your eye, I think that was the aesthetic, then you lay down & you're covered up apart from your eye. you must then look up at the 3 square lights whilst your cataract is done, when completed a plastic shield is taped over your eye & you’re off to the last room where you’ll be given a bag with drops, a booklet explaining the post op things you must & must not do, then reception will give you a date for your 4 week post op assessment, mine for my first eye was on wed 13th Dec, then to my surprise, when back at reception she said would I like to come in on the Sat for my other eye op, which of course I said Yes!
So the drops I’d been taking for 4 weeks were to start again in 4 days, but a different girl did my left eye & she gave drops for only 2 weeks.
Incidentally when I got home from my first op, I slept with the patch on, took it off in the morning, & commenced the drops, 4 times a day, don’t forget to mark it on the chart you were given, on that same morning I looked out of our window, it was a rather dull day,( mind as your eye will be susceptible to brightness), I covered my “new” eye, looked with the unoperated eye, & just the picture I’d been used to seeing, but omg when I covered my other & looked with my new one, what a fantastic difference, so clear.
Now back to the patch, according to the wife I have a habit of rubbing my eyes during the night, which is a definite no, so I did keep taping the patch on at night for about a week then bought a night mask off Amazon, ( where else), & this seemed to do the trick.
The girl who did my 2nd eye had a slightly different technique to the first one, I suppose they all have their own way of doing things, it was also even quicker.
Now I’ve had my post op check done, both eyes are brilliant, can’t believe how clear everything is, before the ops I had bi-focals, mainly for driving, distance for dashboard, they were also ok for tv & reading, phone etc, I also had sep pair for computer.
Now I drive without specs, can see my dashboard clearly, only require specs for close reading,
I’m now awaiting an appointment for an eye test for correct reading glasses,
I've now had my eye test & now have vary focals so I can use them for reading & also for driving if it’s sunny, I can use my flip up shades, or I can just wear shades with no prescription, as I can drive without specs.