The Cataract Procedure

After five rounds of PRP laser surgery by Dr. O’Brien, Dr. Negrey performed the cataract surgery on 25 January, 2010. The date of the procedure was already greatly delayed beyond my expectations. I wanted the blood filled cataract removed so that I could begin to reclaim the life taken from me by the Cialis induced hemorrhage the prior October. Here’s my experience of the procedure.
40 years old at the time, I know of no one younger to have undergone the procedure. The cataract had been treatable with glasses until the vitreous hemorrhage had filled the cataract with blood.
I went in a couple days before the surgery for the prep. Dr. Negrey did not participate. I found that OK because his God Complex was getting on my nerves by then anyway. An assistant gave me standard forms to sign and instructions on how to use the eye drops necessary after the surgery to prevent infection.
Nurses set me up for the surgery. They clamped a monitor on my finger. This helps anaesthesiologists know how much happy gas is too much. Then they tested my blood sugar. That didn’t go so well as they were having problems with the meter, then with finding lancets. They went to a different meter. They raised some concern about the feedback number in the 200’s, which is actually low for me. I convinced them not to worry about that. What would be a big digression here will wait for future posts.
I was put under.
I woke. I stayed looped, even though I think the anaesthesia was more of a local and/or cognitive than
a total body knock out. I don’t remember the vision right after the procedure, or the ride home. I stayed groggy. Never one with a regular sleeping pattern, I slept when I got dropped off at home.
I never had better vision in my life than when I woke up that night. I stayed in bed and just looked out the fourth floor windows . The panoramic view had never reached out to me with such clarity. I could see Crazy Nancy’s house through the concealment of overgrowth. I could see the individual clapboards and roofing shingles of the houses across the street. Distant lights beyond the treetops shone with definition I could not have previously imagined. Even in the city, I could see the brighter stars in the winter sky.
I was seen for follow ups twice following the surgery. Had questions for Dr. Negrey, and I fired those away in the first follow up. I was not satisfied with the answers. In fact, I was so dissatisfied that I called the Koch Eye Associate offices to ensure that my next follow up would be with a different doctor. I didn’t have to do that. Obviously questioning Doctor God had been such an affront that he had already dropped me and my second appointment was with a different doctor.
My roommate was diligent with they eye drops. I developed no infection. I had no complications from the cataract surgery, and other doctors since have complimented the technical quality of Negrey’s work.
"No complications," however, does not mean no adverse effects....