my mother's was back in the single stich days and her doc gave her a vcr (that long ago, lol) tape to watch! we never did an i don't remember her being bothered by it..and my fil recently had his done, buthe never tell us anything!

do know mother invested in a great pair of sun glasses...she was living in las vegas, and the light bothered her...

I've had both eyes done. Piece of cake! I tell people that if they have to have surgery, cataract removal is the one.

It truly is such a great procedure now. The only thing I found that I didn't care for was that my supposedly grey house was actually blue!!

I had cataracts removed from both my eyes a year and a half ago - I remember being black and blue around my eyes and cheeks for about 2 weeks, but the pain was minor and for me, putting in the eye drops all the time was my only complaint. Now, I see 20/20 in one eye and 20/25 in the other.

Coral, I do anesthesia and had "cataract day" on Monday and Tuesday. The reason you may remember more than YOU want to is because that is what your surgeon wants. If you give someone enough versed (not what I use) that they don't remember they become overly sedated and may forget where they are while under the surgical drapes and move around. Not a good idea while having your eye operated on! I use ultra short acting propofol (yes, the Michael Jackson drug) and the patient is alseep only for the numbing injection. 99.9% of people do great with this technique.

Hubs had his done a couple years ago. He went from cokebottom glasses, to drugstore reading glasses. I had mine done in January, and the right eye was a piece of cake, but the left eye took a couple months to heal and at one point, they had to put in a "bandaid contact lens" for a week because the cornea had been scratched during surgery. I don't need glasses for distance or driving, but still need them for reading.

My DH had both eyes done, a week apart. They used conscious sedation, he had no pain. But he was bored afterwards, he wasn't allowed to watch TV or read for a couple days.He used three kinds of eyedrops.He was very satisfied with the surgeeries.His eyesight is so good now he can drive and read without needing glasses. He had worn coke bottles since kindergarten.

Thanks for your responses, everyone! Sleeper, now I get it. I had wondered what kept people from moving around. I can't figure out, though, why some surgeons would even risk that happening; I've talked to many people who remember absolutely nothing about the surgery.

Other than the uncomfortable memories, I've had a very easy time. I was able to finish the book I was reading that day, and I drove myself to the post-op appointment the next day. Yikes, Jannie, I'd have been bored, too! Interesting how different doctors have different directives.

Coral, it's because some people react differently to the same meds. Many, many times a patient will say during their second eye procedure "I don't remember this from the first time". In fact, they were awake and following voice commands and just don't remember it. Versed is a retrograde amnestic, meaning that after it is given you don't remember anything until it wears off. Hope your second surgery goes well!

What I remember most is my surgeon saying "Mrs. Howard wake up you are snoring"!!!
After all they sedated me, covered me with a warm blanket
what did they expect???

I remember a slight sting, that was rather intense but short-lived, when I had both eyes done, a few weeks apart, a couple of years ago.

I felt that it was no trouble at all.

ole joyful