Better Than a Poke in the Eye with a Sharp Stick

As I've mentioned I underwent cataract surgery on January 7 and 21. It's an amazing procedure whereby your old cruddy lens is removed and replaced with a shiny new human-made one. Most people don't really want to hear much about it beyond, 'well, first the surgeon cuts your eye with a scalpel...'.

The procedure lasts about 15 minutes, recovery is also about 15 minutes and away you go. Lots of drops (antibiotic, steroid, and anti-inflammatory drops). You wear a patch at night for two weeks and sunglasses for a few days because your eye remains widely dilated. (That's why I wore shades at the city council meeting on Tuesday, January 22). The procedure itself is pretty much painless, you are awake and they give you some 'relaxing medicine'.

I worked up some anxiety over the whole process, but that had more to do with me being a bit of a control freak than anything else.

My surgeon, Dr. Patricia Sabb (UW Health) kept me informed about what she was doing at each step of the surgery. Wonderful surgeon and friendly and personable to boot. The quality of care at the Madison Surgery Center was first rate. So far, so good. In fact, make that great; phenomenal, in fact. My distance vision is better than it's been since the 5th grade and the halos are gone from the car headlights. And no more contacts. (I do still need some simple magnifying glasses to read).

From Mayo Clinic:

During phacoemulsification — the most common type of cataract surgery — the rapidly vibrating tip of the ultrasound probe breaks up the cataract, which your surgeon then suctions out (top). After removing the cataract, your surgeon inserts the lens implant into the empty capsule where the natural lens used to be (bottom).

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