W2R
Moderator Emeritus
Do you HAVE to be awake for cataract surgery? ��
Normally you are, so that you can move your eyes in the directions dictated by the surgeon, I guess to help him position the intraocular lens properly.
But honestly (and I say this as the most terrified cataract patient that ever lived), it is no big deal. They give you a light anesthesia (Versed, in my case), that just totally removes nervousness and calms you to an unbelievable extent. It's like you are a log just lying there. You are super spaced out, but you can still follow directions. I think the directions were something like "look at the light and follow it while it moves" or something along those lines, because I was too spaced out to figure out right vs left. The whole surgery only takes 7 minutes on average.
Of course, in my case I was not uncomfortable. It probably would have seemed much longer if I was.
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