Cataract surgery #2

Less than 20 days to Ironman Wales, but I just had my second cataract surgery. My previous op was back in January, and I "reviewed" the procedure here. Well, second time around was an easier experience. The anaethesia wasn't as uncomfortable and I was less nervous about the surgery (but more nervous about the anaesthesia). I'm one day post-op now, and I'm sat at home passing time since I'm not allowed to lift anything heavy, do impact exercises, or swim. So nothing fun then... at least I'm off work again today, I think I'd have left with a headache by mid-morning!

So how did this one compare to the last? It was nearly 8 hours before I could open my eye and not feel nauseous from the wonky vision. When the muscles that control the eye are put to sleep your eye can rotate to a different angle, making the world in that eye rotate. Add the blurriness from the operation and the dilation, then throw in a healthy measure of "new glasses" feeling and you're approaching the evening after the surgery.

One decent, but not stellar, night's sleep later... I'm actually seeing a lot better. There's occasional double vision and there are certain distances that just don't work, right now. That should improve. My right eye was the one done previously, and that's set for long distance. The left eye (done yesterday) was supposed to be set to focus about 20 inches (50cm) away. That was so I'd have good vision for computer work, the dashboard while driving, cooking and food prep. Then I could have reading glasses for close-up work. Well, I'm currently focussing at about 8-10 inches, which wasn't the plan. One reason I didn't want this (which is the "normal" monovision they give people), is the larger difference between what the eyes can actually see. It takes a while to get used to it, but it's not a problem for people who don't have other eye issues. For me, if I have another flare-up of macular edema in one eye then I'm essentially down to only one useful eye. In this scenario having extreme short-sightedness in one eye is kind of pointless.

There are options though:
1. Within about 6 weeks of cataract surgery you can have the lens replaced. Much later and the little pocket that the lens sits in will have "shrink-wrapped" the new lens and the surgery is less advised.
The real downside here is that it's yet more eye surgery.
2. After a couple of months the vision can be corrected using laser refractive surgery. The downsides here are that healing takes at least as long as the cataract surgery and that the vision needs to be "stable" before the surgery. For uveitis sufferers, a "stable" eye is often a dream. My eyes have periods of medicated stability, typically lasting 3 months, during which time I switch from worrying about distorted vision to worrying about glaucoma.

Anyway, in general the vision is somewhat improved. This time didn't feel quite like the magic bullet of the first cataract surgery, but given time it should settle in and I'll know for sure how the vision is going to end up. Then I can make decisions about lasering the eye to fix my focus.

For now, it's time to continue resting up and making sure my eye recovers quickly. Then I can get back to the serious business of tapering for Ironman Wales, where I'm hoping to raise money for Olivia's Vision. I'd love people to check out their website and maybe sponsor my Ironman on their behalf...