The day of surgery

The day of surgery

• Do not eat or drink after midnight prior to your cataract surgery. Your surgery may be cancelled if you eat or drink the morning of the procedure.
• You may take your regular medications the morning of surgery with a sip of water. If you are diabetic, do not take your diabetic pills or insulin prior to your surgery.
• You must have someone to drive you to the hospital and take you home. You will need someone to stay with you for 24 hours after your cataract surgery.
• Leave all your valuables at home. Do not wear makeup
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• What is surgery like?
• Cataract surgery is an outpatient procedure. You will spend about 3-4 hours at the hospital. Because your eyes will be treated with anesthetic, you should feel little or no discomfort during the actual surgery. Nearly all patients are given some relaxing medicine but not put right out to sleep, this makes your surgery far safer on your general health. After the surgery, you will be given a short time to rest, then that same day you can go home. Someone will be required to drive you home. You should try to rest at home that day.
  Within the next 24 Dr. Strungaru will see you back at her clinic. Drops will be prescribed to guard against infection and help your eyes heal. You will not normally be patched and you will continue your drops right after surgery. Your vision for the next few days will be cloudy and smoky as the eye heals. You may notice some scratchy or sandy feelings as the eye is healing, these experiences are normal.