He Did Not Just Say More Surgery!

It's pretty consistent that I have at least one doctor appointment per week these days. That's how it is when you go so long with type I diabetes and no insurance. When you finally get insurance again, you spend all your time fixing everything that's been falling apart for years.

Today I saw my cataract specialist for a follow-up on my lens replacement. I had surgery exactly one month ago to replace the lens in my right eye with an artificial lens. Six months ago, when I first saw an ophthalmologist after several years with no insurance, they had informed me that, along with advanced retinopathy, I also had a small cataract. I was also informed that with the eye surgery I was going to need for the retinopathy, it would cause the cataract to grow very quickly. And it did. Five months later I had the lens replacement surgery.

So today was the follow-up. First, they did a vision test on both my eyes. My right eye has very limited vision right now due to the oil placed in there to help keep my retina flat. You can read several of my older posts to get info on the oil and retinopathy. My left eye also has retinopathy but is in much better condition and my vision is not too bad.

After the vision test the doctor examined me. He found some concerns regarding my eye but I didn't ask for details because all I heard was, "We'll have to go in and take care of that.". I have had four surgeries on my right eye in a five month span, the last thing I want to hear right now is that I need more surgery! He went on to say that he would relay all his findings to my retina specialist since he is my primary ophthalmologist right now, and let him make the decisions. The surgery, he said, could wait until the oil is removed, in about a year.

Whew, I'm glad it can wait.

Finally, there was one suture in my eye that was ready to be removed. He numbed my eye and removed the suture. They gave me antibiotic drops to take for three days.

He said I wouldn't need to follow up with him again since I am continuing to see my retina specialist.

And then I walked home.

I'm sorry to hear that. It seems that as a T1 we put out health fires all the time. Put one out and another one starts. I have surgery scheduled in November for my macula. They warned me that the surgery could cause a cataract in a year or two. Then more surgery.Best wishes to you.

I hope your surgery goes well and you heal up quickly and painlessly. Yes, eye surgeries usually cause cataracts. That's one of the first things they told me when they were discussing surgery. Mine was already there when I had the first surgery and it grew very quickly because I ended up having four surgeries within a five month span. Hopefully you won't have to worry about another surgery for awhile! Good luck to you. :)