Philippine Medicine: Cataract Surgery

Last Tuesday, I had surgery on the cataract in my right eye (there’s a cataract in my left eye, but that is not causing a problem thus far).

It was not what I expected -- I was thinking in terms of the Lasik surgery I had on my eyes about twelve years ago. I sat in a chair and they shot a beam of light in each eye, and then it was all over. This was much more of a real surgery. It took longer than expected, too (and longer than they expected). Dr Cimafranca told me afterward that the pupil was constricted, which he thought might have been caused by my prostate medications, and it made him go more slowly than usual. He said the usual is twenty minutes, but this was more like thirty.

There was no real pain, but some rather unpleasant pressure at times. It was also a bit scary when everything went black midway through the process. I had been staring at a light for fifteen minutes or so, and then … nothing. I assume that happened when he had destroyed the existing lens. Slowly, my vision came back, as the new lens was inserted.

No big deal overall -- I was at the hospital (Chong Hua Eye Institute) three hours, but most of that was waiting around to get going.

The nurses told me the day before that I needed to have someone with me to take me home. I told them that wasn't going to happen unless one of them was willing to accompany me home (I had one picked out). Alas, they declined that option. I was planning to take a taxi, but I felt fine, so I walked the ten minutes home.

My vision is now about 20/25 in my right eye, and I’m able to read OK using my left eye, so the results were what I had wanted. This is a reversal of things – I have always been left eye dominant, and have been reading mostly with my right eye ever since the Lasik, so my brain needs to get used to the new order of things; the doctor says this will happen gradually over a few weeks.

After-effects: I have to wear sunglasses or clear goggles anytime I’m outside for a couple weeks, to protect the eye. And I was not allowed to run, do any sort of serious workout, or lift anything heavy for a week. I wasn’t too happy about that, but I just walked for an hour or so for my daily exercise.

When I went in for my day-after check-up, I was wearing a t-shirt that says 'Dive Cebu' and he asked if I dive, then told me I can't for two months. I had figured that -- if nothing else, the pressure changes would be harmful. He said the healing process inside the eye takes about two months. I told him I wasn't too concerned, since I doubt I'd want to dive in Lake Michigan in November.