BEFORE CATARACT SURGERY:

1.         It is advisable to see your general practitioner for a general check up at least two weeks prior to the surgery so that he can advise you as to your fitness for the operation.

 2.         Please bring all your tablets and medicine that you use regularly to the hospital on admission.  Ensure that the medicine is in the original packages and marked to avoid confusion.

 3.         Report to the hospital for pre-medication at least two hours before the operation.

 4.         a)  If general anaesthetic – nothing to eat or drink as from 10 o’clock the previous night.

             b)  If local anaesthetic (awake)

Morning list:  fruit juice before 7am.

Afternoon list:  light breakfast / or fruit juice before 7am.

5.         Any blood thinners (eg.  Wafarin or Disprin / Exotrin), must be mentioned to the doctor so that he can decide if this needs to be stopped before the operation.

6.         Male patients on Prostate Treatment need to mention it to the doctor before surgery as it can have an effect on the surgery.

7.         It is important that you do not drive yourself from the hospital on the day of surgery.

AFTER CATARACT SURGERY:

An eye operation is a very delicate procedure and the patient is required to be cautious during the postoperative period.

Appointments:

Day one postoperative – next morning after the operation.

One month postoperative.

What to do:

Use all treatment as prescribed.

When using more than one kind of eye drop, have a waiting period of at least two minutes between instilling the next drop.

You have to continue with your treatment until you have been told to stop.

2.         During the day you can keep the eye open.

If your eye is light sensitive,  you can use sunglasses.

3.         Keep the eye protected at night for the first 3 days.

Try not to sleep on the same side as the operated eye.

Put the eye shield that was given to you on your operated eye at night.

4.         The following activities are perfectly safe.

a)   Normal use of eye eg.  Reading,  Watching TV,  walking.

b)   Bath,  shower and wash hair to the back,  no pressure on and around the eye.

c)   Travel in car,  cycle or motor cycle on good roads.

d)   Travel in airplane.

e)   Bending slowly to pick up something is not harmful.

What not to do:

The following activities should be avoided during the first three weeks to prevent harming the eye if it is not yet healed.

 1.         Rub or apply pressure on the eye.

2.         Picking up or pushing of heavy objects.

3.         Any heavy exercise.

4.         Swimming

5.         Any activity that leads to bumpy movements eg.  Jog, horse riding,  etc.

Troubleshooting:

1.         Severe,  continual pain in the eye

2.         Sudden loss in vision                             These are 3 danger signs.

3.         Light flashes in the eye                           Contact your doctor immediately.

4.         Scratchiness

This is common and due to the small wound in the cornea.

This is nothing to worry about and will gradually disappear.

5.         Slight discomfort

Pain killers can be used to relieve any pain.

Contact your doctor if the pain and discomfort continue.

6.         Minor discharge

The eye lids may be cleaned carefully with the water solution provided to you. Do not rub or press on the eye.  If the discharge becomes worse,  please consult your doctor immediately.

7.         Redness

It can happen that the eye may be a bit red, this will disappear in a week’s time.

If the redness of the eye becomes worse you must contact your doctor.

8.         Small floaters and shadows in front of the eye

This is not common and will disappear with time.

9.         Dull vision

The vision can be dull directly after eye surgery,  but will improve within the first weeks after surgery.

If needed,  glasses can be prescribed after 4 weeks.  These glasses will improve your focus even more.

Please contact my rooms if there are any further questions.

Tel:  021 9485650

 WE ALL WISH YOU A SPEEDY RECOVERY