Cataract Complication

Yesterday was my one month follow-up appointment for the second cataract removal. The technician had me do the normal reading test, and I am seeing 20/20, which is awesome. Then she did the dreaded looking through the lens exam. "Which looks better = 1 or 2? Or are they about the same?" "2 or 3? Or are they about the same?" I had no problems with the right eye test. But the left eye gave me some trouble, and apparently gave the technician trouble too. I guess I was all over the place, and she said the results were not making any sense. She felt like I was trying to see something that wasn't there. She added that since I was reading 20/20, I should not see any improvement when she showed me 1 and then 2. She got frustrated, and so did I. We agreed to disagree.

She then tested the pressure in both eyes, which were at acceptable levels before dilating them both for the doctor to check. Dr. Pepose was pleased with my reading level, and the fact that the dry eyes has subsided quite a bit. But when he looked into my eyes I could tell he saw something that he didn't like. Apparently I have posterior capsule opacity (PCO) in both eyes. The right eye is very minor and he isn't worried about it right now. The left eye, however, he thinks needs to be treated. He asked if I had any problems with the vision in that eye, and I told him that it does seem sometimes like I am looking through a smudge on the lens. I thought it was due to the eye drops, as I still have to put those in the left eye three times a day and they make the vision blurry for a while.

He explained that PCO manifests itself like that. Two things came to my mind: 1) interesting that my vision is 20/20 even with that, and 2) that is no doubt why I was confusing the technician when she was doing the test on the left eye. As it is blurry in one part of my eye, sometimes the chart looks better than others. At any rate, PCO is when the epithelial cells of the lens, which remain after cataract surgery, grow on the lens capsule. This happens in 20% of all cataract surgeries. Yay me!

Fortunately there is a pretty simple fix with a YAG laser capsulotomy. In the doctor's office, my eyes will be dilated and the cells removed by laser. The procedure will take less than 15 minutes, though I will have to be at the office for an hour and a half. I can drive myself, and there are no restrictions following the surgery. For a week I will need to use eye drops - yippee! I certainly haven't gotten enough of that yet. The biggest complication from the laser surgery is that I might get floaters in that eye. As I already have a big one there, hopefully this won't add to it.

The gal from the office called today, and my insurance company says I have to wait three months following the cataract surgery before they will approve this procedure. And obviously they know so much more about it than one of the top ophthalmologists in the United States. (Insert sarcasm here.) I am scheduled for September 5th. While I don't like having to look through the smudge for another two months, I am eager to see how things will look out of these new eyes once it is all said and done.