I like a relaxed environment and I do not particularly like hospitals. The aim will be to make it feel as little like a hospital as possible. Music will be playing and I am happy to take requests if that will help you feel at ease. There is usually some chatting as we prepare you.
Preparation will involve asking you again for your name and details and which eye. It is not that we are not sure, we just have to keep checking and comply with the 'WHO checklist' for surgery. Once the checks are complete I will clean around the eye with antiseptic. This is coloured brown and often ends up in your ear but it is important to clean around the eye thoroughly. A sheet called a drape is then placed over the eye and opened up. It comes away from your face very quickly and is held up by a bar forming a tent. The bar is not to stop you escaping or to bite on! If you find tight spaces difficult we can use a clear drape. A small clip is placed into the eye to open the lids.
At this point your head is relaxed and supported in a dip and does not move easily, your lids are held open so you cannot blink and the anaesthetic stops your eye moving and you cannot see as you are under a tent. In other words you are not going to muck things up for us unless you decide to sit up during surgery so please relax! You will not feel like things are coming towards you as you will not see much. I like to chat throughout the procedure and let you know how we are doing, what stage we are at and to give you an idea when the end is likely. I find this relaxes patients and even makes surgery enjoyable for some. If you would rather I did not talk just let me know.
For cataract surgery I will usually just use drops. This means you can move your eye. I will get you to look at the bright light to hold it steady. For most of the procedure I have control over the eye but for some parts I will ask you to hold steady. I have done many thousand operations and only rarely is movement an issue. If I feel you are struggling I can put an anaesthetic around the eye to stop it moving and to dim the lights but this is rarely needed so relax.