Any experience of cataract surgery, please?

[Thingsthatgo]

My lovely mum is 82 and having cataract surgery next month. I’m going with her for her appointments and surgery, but I won’t be able to stay with her very long after dropping her off home.
Can anyone please tell me their experience of cataract surgery? How did you feel in the evening? What was the recovery like?
thank you.

Mum and dad have both had it. My mum had it about a week before my daughters wedding and was absolutely fine.

My mum had it last week. She said it wasn’t painful during the procedure and then it felt ‘gritty’
in the evening. She took it easy for a day or two but was driving again within 4 days.

My Dad had it recently and he was fine. The procedure only took about 20 minutes. The affects were also instant. He had to wear a patch while sleeping and wear sunglasses while out and about for a week. But other than that all good!

The regime of drops afterwards is very important and needs to be done religiously. If she might struggle with that, she will need help.

I had lens replacement surgery which is the same procedure done for different reasons.
I would not have been able to travel home alone on public transport from the procedure as my vision was to blurry. Once home I was fine by myself. My vision gradually improved over the next 48 hours I could drive in day 3 and went back to work on day 7.

My mum had it last year and was absolutely fine. sensituve to bright lights for a few weeks so wore sunglasses a lot but no pain or recovery

The thought of eye surgery is awful but the reality is that you are in and out in 10 mins. There is quite a jovial atmosphere in the waiting room! The other thing to note is she will have to put eye drops in 4 times a day for a month afterwards. Some people find that easier than others to self administer. Good luck to your mum!

This is a very reassuring thread.

My cataract is starting to cause me real problems and I've been dreading the thought of having to have the operation.
So this is very helpful reading.

as suggested on mn, dh visited optician who took one of the lens out of his glasses, which was helpful, because he couldnt see with the old lens - due to the change in prescription caused by cataract surgery

My dad’s 78 and had one done during the Pandemic so he has to go alone, and one this year and Mum was able to sit with him in the waiting room (but not the treatment room itself). He was fine after each one.

It’s an extraordinary procedure. All our parents have had it done with minimal after effects- as pp have said grittiness then no effects a few days later. Stepdad went from wearing glasses since childhood to perfect vision no glasses in his 80’s (not the standard cataract procedure but once you get to a certain age they can replace the lens with a perfect one, it only last 40 years hence not doing earlier!)

I echo the experience that PP’s have shared for most people but does your mum have a particularly high prescription as that can make a big difference. My dad was absolutely fine but both my mum and myself, I was only 60, had difficulties between getting eye 1 and eye 2 done we both were extremely shortsighted before the op and coping with the difference between 1 good eye and 1 still very bad eye was hard. I guess someone with poor or no sight in only 1 eye gets used to it over time but we were both suddenly plunged into that situation until the 2nd op. Agree the regime of eye drops is critical, will your mum have to do it herself or will she have help? Occasionally people can develop an infection regardless of how careful they are. Cataract surgery is amazing and seemed like a miracle to me after having had poor vision all my life.

DM found it harder than she expected, but mostly because she'd read all the people saying "brilliant, in and out in 10 minutes, no problems. Everything so so bright.".

She had no problems but she was really expecting to come out thinking "wow".

A few things she had.
Her vision was tinted for a few days, I think blue, can't remember how long.
It wasn't immediately huge improvement. It was a gradual one.
She felt very tired afterwards for a week or two
Bright light hurt her eyes for a few days, we're talking normal sunlight bright.

They're all things that resolved, but it did make her feel that maybe her op hadn't worked as all the stories she'd heard didn't mention any of this.

I had it two years ago. I had both done at the same time under general anaesthetic because I have problems in medical settings sometimes due to childhood trauma. No one wanted me having a panic attack during cataract surgery so they put me under for safety's sake!!

It took me a month to recover and go back to work. I think it was because I went from being very short sighted to better than 20:20 vision and it was hard to adjust. I was overwhelmed by the brightness and sharpness of everything (especially as the cataract had developed very quickly and I had only 40% visual acuity). I spent a lot of time with my eyes closed until I gradually got used to it.

It depends on what your mum's sight is like now and what lens they put in. Also if she's having one done and the other later there can be a big difference between the two eyes which can be hard to adjust to.

I was worried that I would have blurred vision for a couple of days and as I live on my own I was worried about the implications of that but when I came round from the anaesthetic I could see clearly.immediately and as I'd always been short sighted it was like a miracle and I was soooo high in the recovery word!

I had a check up 4 days after and was given permission to drive again. Then the eyes had to settle for a month and I got glasses for reading music (I'm a musician). I had one eye set for distance and one eye was kept very slightly short sighted with the aim that I could read music without glasses but they overshot the distance eye and so music isn't clear without glasses. And I also need reading glasses for phone and books etc.

The thing that surprised me was how so many people say it's all so easy and you are fine a day later but actually not everyone is the same and my surgeon also told me that. It might take longer than expected to recover.
You need to be really careful not to bend over (my doctor said for a month). No picking up heavy weights. You have to wear a patch at night, I can't remember how long for. I think it was 3 weeks. Then there is the drops regime. That has to be done religiously. Also you have to be very careful to do it hygienically so as not to get an infection. Wash hands thoroughly, wash the eye, apply drops. And because I had both done at once I was told to wash hands again thoroughly before touching the second eye to avoid any cross-infection should an infection start in one eye.

I was told to wear sunglasses outside for a year!!! I'm not in the UK though so maybe they are stricter here. Anyway the light was annoying for a while.

Sorry I have written a lot. Some suggestions for your Mum.

1. Make sure she can manage the drops herself and understands how important they are and washing hands very thoroughly.is essential.
2. She should be ok afterwards and you can probably leave her in the evening as planned.
3. She should rest the eye and not watch too much TV or try to read for a few days. Podcasts or radio are better
4. Get in some microwave ready meals so she doesn't have to faff around cooking and bending down to the oven.
5. Go around the house and check that she can do everything she needs without bending. I put 4 way adaptors in sockets and placed them at waist height so no bending to plug things in.
6. Buy her some sunglasses

Thank you all for your reassurance and advice. I feel much calmer about it now, and will be able to reassure my mum. I really appreciate it.

To provide some balance - and hopefully reassurance also - I have had both eyes done. The first one was the worst. All seemed ok until about 6 hours after the surgery, then it felt like somebody had dumped a sand play pit in my eye! Had to phone their emergency line, they delivered some different drops, and that solved the problem. Second eye, sailed through didn't notice a thing. Apparently my first eye reaction was about the worst it gets for anyone, and if I am honest it was ultra-gritty but not painful or anything. Very uncomfortable only. If that's the worst it gets (and I was told it was) then it isn't a big deal and easily fixed.

TBF, I also have a meibonium gland dysfunction which may have contributed to the adverse impact the first time.