The procedure was successful (and the patient didn't die)
A few weeks ago, I posted about how everything had become fuzzy in my left eye, the one with a cataract. The ophthalmologist had said I needed a procedure that should be quick and simple, but it was technically a surgical one that he couldn't do. At that time, the earliest the clinic could fit me in was late October. A few days later, I got a call saying they had an opening on September 18, if I could make that, which I could.
The whole thing was rather unnerving. The procedure is called a capsulotomy, and it's a matter of making an opening in the capsule surrounds the lens. Normally it's kept in place to hold the artificial lens that was put in for the cataract surgery. In some fraction of people (5% said the eye surgeon, 30% says Wikipedia), that capsule becomes clouded. A YAG laser is used to cut a hole in the center of the lens capsule, allowing light to enter unimpeded.
The eye surgeon had me hold my head in the same apparatus that's used for other eye testing, where you rest your chin and forehead. I'd thought there would be some sort of strap to keep everything immobile, because it's so fiddly, but no. I tried to hold very still, but I'm sure I twitched a bit. Once he got everything set up, there were about three sets of five to eight flashes. Each time, I heard a click and felt something like a mild electric shock in my eye. As I said, very unnerving.
Afterwards, everything was blurry in my left eye, with weird colors and all sorts of floaters. The eye surgeon assured me that it would all settle down within 24 hours. It actually took a couple of days, but indeed my vision is back to normal in my left eye, which is a great relief.
The whole thing was rather unnerving. The procedure is called a capsulotomy, and it's a matter of making an opening in the capsule surrounds the lens. Normally it's kept in place to hold the artificial lens that was put in for the cataract surgery. In some fraction of people (5% said the eye surgeon, 30% says Wikipedia), that capsule becomes clouded. A YAG laser is used to cut a hole in the center of the lens capsule, allowing light to enter unimpeded.
The eye surgeon had me hold my head in the same apparatus that's used for other eye testing, where you rest your chin and forehead. I'd thought there would be some sort of strap to keep everything immobile, because it's so fiddly, but no. I tried to hold very still, but I'm sure I twitched a bit. Once he got everything set up, there were about three sets of five to eight flashes. Each time, I heard a click and felt something like a mild electric shock in my eye. As I said, very unnerving.
Afterwards, everything was blurry in my left eye, with weird colors and all sorts of floaters. The eye surgeon assured me that it would all settle down within 24 hours. It actually took a couple of days, but indeed my vision is back to normal in my left eye, which is a great relief.