Cataract surgery on patients with existing blepharitis and dry eyes

[libralady]

HI EVERYONE, I HAVE POSTED BEFORE I AM HAVING CATARACT SURGERY ON MY LEFT EYE IN JUST OVER 2 WEEKS TIME. I AM VERY CONCERNED ABOUT THAT FIRSTLY MY BLEPH/DRY EYES WILL NOT BE UNDER GOOD ENOUGH CONTROL TO PROCEED (IT IS HARD TO DO THE CLEANING REGIME WHEN YOU CAN'T SEE PROPERLY (OTHER EYE ALSO HAS CATARACT). i CAN JUST ABOUT SEE TO TYPE THIS AS WELL AS HAS BEING WORRIED ABOUT COMPLICATION AFTER SURGERY i AM CONCERNED THAT AS i WON'T BE ABLE TO DO MY USUAL HOT COMPRESSES MASSAGE AND CLEANING ROUTINE MY BLEPH AND DRY EYES WILL FLARE UP BADLY. i KNOW FROM EXPERIENCE THAT iF i LEAVE OFF THE CLEANING FOR JUST A DAY i'M IN TROUBLE. CAN ANY ONE WHO HAS HAD SURGERY IN M Y POSITION OR ANY ONE IN THE MEDICAL PROFESSION ADVISE ME . ALSO WHAT SORT OF REGIME OF EYES DROPS SHOULD I EXPECT POST SURGERY.AND WILL I AT LEAST BE STILL ABLE TO USE CELLUVISC EYE DROPS. HOPE YOU CAN READ THIS OK PLEASE CAN ANYONE HELP.




LL

[littlemermaid]

Libralady,

How are you? It is a shame that noone had experience of this and I am sure we all dearly hope things are going well for you.

[abbygirl]

I had cataract surgery on both eyes when I had dry eyes. I could no longer wear contacts but had several laser surgeries for retina tears prior to the cataract surgery. My condition got much worse after the surgery. I had many complications in my left eye and was on several different drops for months so my case is unusual. Make sure your surgeon is well aware of your problems and you should be fine. At the time of my surgery I was given no direction on how to handle the dryness and Blepharitis so things got worse. I think a big part of my problem was I did not rub the residue from all of the drops off of my lids/lashes. I don't think the drops themselves will make you worse.
Good luck to you and I can get more into the specifics if you need me to.

[Guest]

I'll put this in larger type so it's easier for you to read hopefully

The doctor will probably put you on steroid drops for a while after the surgery, so the anti-inflammatory effects of those will hopefully help to counteract some of the dryness problems that you have.

Make sure you discuss the dryness issues with your surgeon, and be sure to give specific examples of how bad it is so they understand (ex. I can't go in drafts without wearing goggles to protect my eyes, or maybe your eyes stick to your eyeballs when you sleep because of the dryness and you cannot open them easily... or maybe they get super red and irritated from reading the newspaper... or maybe they burn and itch all day etc.) You get the idea... however your dryness affects you, spell it out for the dr so they get it.

Good luck!!!

(whoops... that's pretty big... maybe I overdid it???)

[Blinks]

LibraLady,

If you are worried, it's definitely worth going for a second opinion before your have your surgery. Eye surgery isn't reversible so it pays to be really sure in what to expect and how the doctor will treat you. Your concerns are valid ones and need to be taken seriously.

Many articles on the internet caution surgeons to be sure their cataract patients with dry eye are under control before the surgery. Here is one of them: http://www.revophth.com/content/d/fe.../1287/c/24811/ published in Review of Ophthalmology, but there are lots of others with similar content.

Also, since you have dry eye, I suggest that you ask about avoiding Nevanac. It has BAK benzalkonium chloride 0.005% in it. I had cataract surgery with dry eye and a pre-existing cornea disease and have had great difficulties due to the Nevanac. The FDA drug inserts are available on the internet so you may want read these labels carefully before you get the prescriptions filled, or if that is not possible, ask for a consult with the pharmacist before you have the prescriptions filled.

There is a safe substitute for Nevanac which is preservative free. I'm not a doctor, but just a very unhappy patient so please talk with your doctor about this ahead of the surgery.

Even though many people have cataract surgery without any problem there are those of us with pre-existing dry eyes who have had less than acceptable outcomes and wish we had taken this more seriously and done better "due diligence" before the procedure....

Not trying to worry you, but listen to your concerns and don't ignore them. It will pay off in the end. Best wishes, Blinks

[Rebecca Petris]

(whoops... that's pretty big... maybe I overdid it???)

Are you kidding me? It's lovely. Wish everything on my computer was that size

[libralady]

Thanks everyone for your kind words and advice. My surgery was just over 3 weeks ago and went better that expected. I am on steroid drops on a reducing dose each week with 2 weeks to go. I am also on a glaucoma drop for 4 weeks as the pressure in my eye has gone up. All these drops irritate my eye but I have been told that I could resume hot compresses and cleaning after 2 weeks and to expect a flare up so it is early days. Thanks for the advice about cleaning off drops from eyelids and lashes. Nevanac was not mentioned so that is good but thanks for the warning. I appreciate all your comments. Hope you all have a good Christmas and a Happy New Year.