I use this blog from time to time as a health education platform. Today's health lesson has to do with vision and eye health. A couple of years ago I had cataract surgery on both my eyes. For those who have not experienced this both eyes are not done at the same time. You have surgery on one eye and after about six weeks then surgery is done on the other eye if necessary. Since cataracts, at least in my case develop slowly, I had no idea how bad my eyesight had gotten. I had once again noticed my vision in my right eye had gotten blurry and my eye has become increasingly sensitive to bright light. Reading has become a chore. Yesterday I had enough and called to make an appointment with the opthalmologist. The nurse related that based on my symptoms it sounded like I had developed what is commonly and incorrectly referred to as a secondary cataract. The correct name for the problem is a surgical complication called posterior capsule opacity or posterior capsule opacification.
A cataract is a clouding of the natural lens in your eye. When cataract surgery is performed the doctor removes the natural lens from your eye and replaces it with an intraocular lens. Since this is an artificial lens it cannot cloud like the natural lens in your eye so the development of a second cataract is not possible. When cataract surgery is performed the surgeon opens the capsule that contains your lens and removes the lens. The capsule is left intact and the intraocular lens is implanted within the capsule. In about 20% of cataract patients the posterior portion of the capsule becomes hazy causing posterior capsule opacity. This occurs because some of the lens epithelial cells remained in the capsule following surgery and have grown in the capsule. These cells lay on the surface of the lens and act as a connective and protective tissue.
Treatment of posterior capsule opacification is done with a YAG laser. I was going to spend some time here explaining YAG lasers but after reading about them I have determined that my level of understanding is lacking. I will simply state that it is a focus bright light in the infrared and what happens in your eye is a magical miracle. The procedure is as follows. The eye is usually dilated before the procedure. The laser, without touching the eye or making an incision, removes the hazy posterior capsule from your line of sight. The entire procedure takes only a few minutes and is entirely painless with no post-operative discomfort. Normal activities may be resumed immediately following the procedure. The patient may experience some floaters afterward but these normally go away in a few weeks.
Risks are minimal with the major one being a detached retina. The lifetime risk of a detached retina due to cataract surgery is 1%. This risk rises to 2% after YAG laser capsulotomy. The literature does a good job of not scaring the hell out of you here. The could have easily said your risk of a detached retina doubles if you have the YAG laser procedure.
What does all this mean for me? Well I have a doctor's appointment in Galesburg on May 29th. It means that Carol, Lily, Teddi and I will head north on the 28th. It means Budde's pizza. Craft beer. The smell of dirt. A chance to see emerging corn. Getting a laser shot in my eye. You know for someone who grew up in the 50's, 60's and 70's when lasers were used to blow up space ships and kill Godzilla it is strange to know they can do things like restore your sight. This will be a short trip north as my intent, baring any complications, will be to head south again on the 30th. That concludes today's health bulletin. Please take good care of your eyes because when I see you I want you to be able to see me.
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