What a horrendous experience

@Asylum (47893)

Manchester, England

March 19, 2016 3:07pm CST

As some members will be aware, I had an eye operation yesterday to remove a layer of tissue that had grown across the front and blocked my vision completely. I had been dreading this for the past week because it is a horrible sensation to have someone operating on my eyes while I am conscious. Prior to the operation I was talking with a young doctor who was assisting the surgeon and told her that not knowing how long it would be was a major worry. She assured me that it would only take 15 to 20 minutes. I ended up on the operating table for 1 hour 20 minutes, which seemed endless. At least it was successful, so now I am hoping that it remains that way and does not recur. Now I am back to dispensing my own eye drops, which is always good for a laugh. One set of eye drops has to be used 4 times a day while a second is required every 2 hours. I am now back online, but for interim periods since the eye drops blur the vision temporarily.

31 people like this

32 responses

Arthur Chappell

@arthurchappell (44941)

• Preston, England

19 Mar 16

glad the op is over for you after so many cancellations and postponements - hope it proves a great success

2 people like this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

19 Mar 16

I now have an appointment to return next Thursday, so I may manage a holiday at last after that.

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

19 Mar 16

@arthurchappell At least next Thursday will not be a problem because it is just an assessment of how well the result is going.

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Arthur Chappell

@arthurchappell (44941)

• Preston, England

19 Mar 16

@Asylum hope it goes alright for you

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@rebelann (117226)

• El Paso, Texas

20 Mar 16

I will pray that you won't have a recurrence. To be awake while someone messes with my eye would totally freak me out. I hope you will have good vision again really soon so I can go back to pickin on ya.

2 people like this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

20 Mar 16

Oh yes, typical woman. The usual daily sport of bullying men.

1 person likes this

@rebelann (117226)

• El Paso, Texas

20 Mar 16

Ahhh, we did learn well didn’t we @Asylum

1 person likes this

@silvermist (19701)

• India

20 Mar 16

@Asylum After those cancellations,I am glad that the operation took place and that it is a success.

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

20 Mar 16

Yes, it was delayed well beyond any expected time frame.

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

21 Mar 16

@silvermist No, there eye was very sore on Friday evening when all the injections wore off, but it has been fine since.

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@silvermist (19701)

• India

21 Mar 16

@Asylum Is there any pain?

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@TiarasOceanView (70020)

• United States

19 Mar 16

What a long time to be on the table. Happy to hear it was a success though friend. I wonder why you had to be conscious.

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

19 Mar 16

They do not anaesthetists for such operations now. Instead they simply numb the eye and tell you to lie still, so you are conscious of everything that happens. The surgeon even had the sense of humour to tell me to relax.

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

19 Mar 16

@TiarasOceanView I was conscious during my cataract operation, but that one was not much of an issue.

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@TiarasOceanView (70020)

• United States

19 Mar 16

@Asylum Oh, I dont know how good I would be about that. My elderly Mother had cataract surgery not too long ago..she was out for it. My sister accompanied her.

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@LadyDuck (502466)

• Italy

21 Mar 16

It's a pain to dispense eye drops in our eyes. I have the habit, I need to use eye drops all the time, at least they do not blur my vision. Take it easy Barry do not stay in front of the monitor too long.

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

21 Mar 16

I cannot stay here for prolonged periods because the eye drops force me to work in short shifts in between.

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

21 Mar 16

@LadyDuck This is something that we all tend to do because a blister takes a very long time to dissipate of it's own accord.

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@LadyDuck (502466)

• Italy

21 Mar 16

@Asylum It's better not to stare too long, this dries your eye. A few minutes ago I have burst the blister on my palm. I was tired to wait, I am not sure I did the right thing, but at least now it's gone.

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@AbbyGreenhill (45490)

• United States

20 Mar 16

You have really been through a lot with those eyes of yours so hopefully the end of the surgeries is in 'site'....I have had three major operations in my life and I was wide wake for two of them.

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

20 Mar 16

Being conscious during an operation is not a very pleasant experience.

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

20 Mar 16

@AbbyGreenhill I was constantly hearing the surgeon requesting certain instruments from the nurse, with the term intra ocular scissors still at the foreground of my mind.

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@AbbyGreenhill (45490)

• United States

20 Mar 16

@Asylum It sure isn't. You hear everything they say,,,,, liked, "well, I saved another life"

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@kaka135 (14994)

• Malaysia

22 Mar 16

That sounded like a scary operation, but glad that it's over now. Hope you will get well very soon, and it remains that way too. Some of my friends suggested me to do the laser eye surgery to correct the far-sighted issue, but I have heard how the surgery is, and I don't think I'd like that experience at all, though my friends assure that it's not painful, I find it very weird to have the operation on the eye while I am conscious. Though I have not experience that, I can feel it's really not a good feeling at all. Take some good rest!

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

22 Mar 16

Laser eye treatment is totally non intrusive and simply amounts to the beam being shone into your eye. I had laser treatment for a torn retina, which seemed like no more than an examination.

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

30 Mar 16

@kaka135 I certainly do not want any repetition of that.

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@kaka135 (14994)

• Malaysia

29 Mar 16

@Asylum If you said that, then I can imagine your eye surgery was so much more scary!!

Glad that it's over and hope everything will be fine for you!

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@allknowing (153530)

• India

20 Mar 16

Forget about the horrendous experience. You can see and that's all that matters. But remember your eye drops and concentrate only on that for the moment.

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

20 Mar 16

The eye drops are e only thin that I really think about now because I am constantly using them throughout the day.

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

20 Mar 16

@allknowing Probably about 3 weeks, but that may be reassessed when I attend the eye hospital again next Thursday.

@allknowing (153530)

• India

20 Mar 16

@Asylum For how long would you have to use the eye drops.

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@Drosophila (16568)

• Ireland

20 Mar 16

Ouch! Erm I'd be quite freaked out really

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

20 Mar 16

I was and was certainly glad when it finally came to an end.

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@Drosophila (16568)

• Ireland

20 Mar 16

@Asylum I bet you were.. still you did amazingly!

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@pgntwo (22405)

• Derry, Northern Ireland

19 Mar 16

Drops, aye - they can sting betimes! Are you still under advisement not to lift heavy loads or do any strenuous work for six weeks? For retinal surgery involving gas, the instruction is "no flying while the bubble is present in the eye", yet no similar instruction after cataract op, despite the tiny incisions needed to gain access to the lens capsule...

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

20 Mar 16

The only problem that I have with eye drops is the difficulty in dispensing them.

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@pgntwo (22405)

• Derry, Northern Ireland

20 Mar 16

@Asylum The so-called measured dose, to be dispensed from 1/2in above the eye... Pull down the lower lid with the fingers of one hand, and squeeze the stiff plastic dispenser gently with the other hand... Yeah, right.

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

20 Mar 16

@pgntwo That sounds fine until you try it and miss the eye by a large degree. Surprisingly it becomes much easier after a little practice, so I am getting by quite well now.

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@akalinus (44366)

• United States

20 Mar 16

Was this surgery for cataracts, or some other problem? I hope this will be the end of it for you and it will not happen again. Best of luck, obey the doctor's orders so you don't have other problems.

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

20 Mar 16

The cataract operation took place a couple of months ago, but a layer of tissue grew across the lens and necessitated another operation to cut it away.

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

20 Mar 16

@akalinus So do I because I could not cope with another operation like that.

@akalinus (44366)

• United States

20 Mar 16

@Asylum Wow, that is tough. I hope it is gone forever, never to return.

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Nanette Piotrowski

@nanette64 (20363)

• Fairfield, Texas

20 Mar 16

Oh wow @Asylum . Did they give you a reason why it took longer than what it was supposed to be? I am so glad that things went okay though.

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

20 Mar 16

I am under the impression that she deliberately exaggerated the simplicity of the operation because I may not have agreed otherwise.

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

20 Mar 16

@nanette64 I may have mentioned that I was absolutely horrified at the prospect.

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Nanette Piotrowski

@nanette64 (20363)

• Fairfield, Texas

20 Mar 16

@Asylum Now that would be sneaky but on the other hand, she may have realized your stress level and thought that would help.

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ElizabethWallace

@ElizabethWallace (12069)

• United States

20 Mar 16

Sorry this was so long, but maybe that means that the surgeon did a fabulous job. I sure hope so. Good luck with the healing.

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

20 Mar 16

There is no doubt that he was absolutely determined to do as good a job as he possibly could, which I agree is better than a quick fix in the long run.

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

20 Mar 16

@ElizabethWallace It is not allowed to return because the last lot caused me more trouble than I could ever have imagined.

ElizabethWallace

@ElizabethWallace (12069)

• United States

20 Mar 16

@Asylum Hopefully the last growth of unwanted skin was a fluke and will not return.

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@Jeanniemaries (8237)

• United States

21 Mar 16

Oh, my goodness! That is just awful! I didn't see this until now. You deserve a medal. That eye drop regime is almost as bad. I hope you don't have to put them in yourself.

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

21 Mar 16

yes, I am dispensing the eye drops myself, which can be a very tricky thing to do.

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

21 Mar 16

@Jeanniemaries I can assure you that nobody could be more concerned about it than I was. The injections around the eye eliminated any pain, but the experience still rates as highly undesirable.

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@Jeanniemaries (8237)

• United States

21 Mar 16

@Asylum You'll get very good at it! Honestly I am still shocked at how awful your surgery turned out. They give people relaxation pills for dentistry work, so you just don't care. Why not this?

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@marguicha (230350)

• Chile

20 Mar 16

I hope everything works allright for you and your eye. I have been postponing my blurry eye problem for some time and every time I read one of your posts of your eye problems, I say I should make an appointment.

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

20 Mar 16

If your problem is cataracts then that is a fairly simple and quick operation.

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@marguicha (230350)

• Chile

20 Mar 16

@Asylum No, it isn´t. I already had a cataracts surgery some years ago and then, last year, a sort of laser cleaning that did not work with one of my eyes as I felt.

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@epiffanie (11327)

• Australia

23 Mar 16

oh! that sounds painful!.. but it's good you got through it.. you need to take it easy ..

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

23 Mar 16

I am just hoping that it is now completely over and will not require any further treatment.

@valmnz (17095)

• New Zealand

19 Mar 16

Well, I'm glad you've made your way through the procedure. Eye drops definitely are a pain, aren't they!

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

19 Mar 16

They are when they are required every 2 hours. I never realised that 2 hours could pass so quickly.

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@valmnz (17095)

• New Zealand

19 Mar 16

@marlina (154103)

• Canada

19 Mar 16

Glad that it is over now. But you have made me quite nervous about the surgery. I will definitively ask that they put me out.

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

19 Mar 16

The cataract surgery is jnot much of a problem because it does not take long, but this particular operation was far too long.

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@marlina (154103)

• Canada

21 Mar 16

@Asylum And I feel for you that you had to go through all this. Are you beginning to feel better now ? I hope so!

@softbabe44 (5815)

• Vancouver, Washington

19 Mar 16

Its good you made it through all that.

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

19 Mar 16

I may have backed out if I had realised how long it would take, but at least it is in the past now.

@softbabe44 (5815)

• Vancouver, Washington

21 Mar 16

@Asylum Yea glad to hear your doing better

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Vincent Summers

@KuznVinny (768)

• United States

25 Mar 16

Oh good grief. Self-administering eye drops. Almost as bad as self-administering an enema.

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

25 Mar 16

They are not too bad once you get the hang of it, but can be a real pain at the beginning.