The surgeon who did my procedure operates only on Thursdays, and the schedules are set many months ahead. (In my case it was about five months ahead.) On each Thursday,they schedule the patients about a half hour apart, starting very early. They phoned me the day before my procedure and asked me to arrive at 6am for a 7:30 surgery time. Insanely early for me! I pleaded for a later start time. No success.
Several hours later, however, they called me and offered a 10:30 arrival. Took it.
On Thursday I arrived at 10:30 bright and shiny, all rested up, and dressed casually. Because it’s just the eye, they suggest comfortable clothing and short sleves (for ease in placing an I.V.). You’ll recall I had bladder cancer in 2016 and many procedures with I.V., so although I still don’t enjoy them, they’re not a terrible experience. The I.V. is necessary because they administer some light anaesthetic… aparently a benzodiazepine (like valium) and a pain-killer (like fentanyl). I have experience with both of those (from other minor surgical procedures). and I know I stay conscious and I remember a little more than expected. So I looked forward to experiencing the procedure and reporting on it.
Close Encounters — So after the I.V. is placed and they give me some time to just cool my jets waiting, they come to take me away. They’ve now put me flat on my back on the gurney and they wheel me like Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride down the hall and around a corner (don’t fall off!) to another hall, then left into the procedure room. They station me under the equipment which seems to be mobile on a sturdy “arm” — they bring the arm right over my face, center it over the eye. The business end of the apparatus appears to me a bit like the flying saucer in Close Encounters of the Third Kind with bright lights in a somewhat circular pattern above my face. Down it comes until almost touching. It occurs to me to become claustrophobic, but the medications nicely prevent that. It seems to me I’m remembering every moment.
First they remove my natural lens. I believe they used ultrasound. Looking upward thru the center of the lights, it seems to me like an ink blot appears in the center of my vision and spreads out a bit. Then they “blot” around the edges of that blackness until the center is pretty much darkened out. Then I hear “You’ll feel some pressure“ and yes, indeed I do feel him pressing on my eye. Then a kind of squishy visual moves in as he inserts the new IOL (lens) via a tiny incision. There are some fuzzy images, but quickly those go away as a small surgical dressing and plastic bubble are taped over the eye. To be removed the next day.
Here’s a video from a doc in Austin, Texas, not mine, showing an actual procedure with the type of lens I have. It’s pretty interesting even if you don’t like surgery movies. No blood.