My 2nd Cataract Procedure-the left eye was completed on Nov. 17th at Little Falls Hospital with Dr. Lemanski and her staff.
I was called the day before by the Scheduling Office and told to be there by 12:45pm and not to eat or drink anything after midnight. When we got to the waiting room at LFH it was practically standing room only! I was the 3rd procedure scheduled for the afternoon and one of the morning procedures was still waiting to be done!! So I waited...for about an hour in the waiting room then Jeff announced he was hungry and when I was taken in he would go down to the Bistro (as it's called) and have lunch. After all my vitals were taken and recorded Jeff came back and we sat together for awhile, then he decided to go get another cup of coffee...really I think he wanted a cigarette...and I waited some more.
Around 2:30 I asked if they were going to draw blood and run an INR on me and was told it wasn't necessary. At 3:30 the OR nurse came in and asked if an INR had been run yet and when she got a blank look from the staff the team from the lab was called and blood was drawn. (Why can't doctors, nurses and all medical staff just listen to the patient? It would save so much time...and trouble for the patient!!)
The anesthesiologist came in and explained what was going to happen to me...it was going to be different from the 1st procedure. And I waited some more. About 4pm the staff started timing the procedures ahead of me (average time 30 mins in the OR/actual procedure 22mins) but there was still 1 guy ahead of me! Got to remember the OR had to be cleaned between each procedure adding to the wait time,too. Finally, around 5pm I was wheeled into the OR. My head was taped down, my left eye taped open, the O2 hose was put in my nose and the drape put over my head. I complained that I couldn't breath and someone lifted up one side of the drape. (I heard the anesthesiologist say I had 'a touch of claustrophobia' but I think the O2 hose wasn't in my nose properly.)
I got a little surge of 'happy gas' and then the procedure was about over. Not very interesting this time around. Dr. Lemanski did not pack my eye, just covered it with the plastic shield and taped it down. I was rolled back to my room to wait some more. My vitals signs were taken a couple more times and then I was disconnected and told I could get dressed and go home...with the usual list of 'do's and don't' and baggie of eye drops. I would see the doctor the next morning at 10:20 in Cooperstown. It was about 6:15pm.
Once we were in the car and on the way home Jeff asked if I was hungry (I hadn't eaten since 8:30pm the night before...was that a necessary question??) and if I'd like to go to the Greek's for supper? All I could think about was their chicken & rice soup!! When we walked into the place the owner walked over to greet us, took one look at the plastic shield taped to my face, turned to Jeff and demanded to know what he had done to me!
The next day we went to the Clinic in Cooperstown and Dr. Lemanski looked at my eye. Actually, she looked at both eyes. She was very pleased with the rate the right eye was healing and decided to remove the single stitch she had put in it then instead of having me come back in a week. I just have to continue with the drops and see her for the final exam...both eyes...on Dec. 22. At that time she'll probably give me a Rx for reading glasses.
I have started to drive at night...no glasses but the headlights from oncoming cars bother me...and driving during the day is no problem except I can't see the speedometer w/o my glasses! I'm still looking for a pair of sunglasses I like. Oh, and I need glasses to shop...can't read labels at all w/o them! Still I recommend if you're told you have cataracts, get them removed. It's worth the hassle. (Oh, and I ended up with a small 'black eye' with the left eye!)
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