Health

Having Cataract surgery – a patient’s view with cataracts

29/04/2018 By Savanna Robinson 6 Comments

I just had cataract surgery yesterday on my left eye, for a cataract that’s been there since 2005 when I had glaucoma surgery. It’s been something I’ve been mulling over for a few years. Every medical specialist who looks at my eyes always pointed out the lovely star shaped cataract sitting there, and were amazed that I could actually see through it. So seeing there are probably a lot of others out there waiting to have the same procedure, I thought I’d write a quick post about having cataract surgery – a patient’s view with cataracts. What it’s like to experience it.

What are cataracts?

Cataracts are a clouding of the natural lens of the eye. It’s more common than other eye conditions and the leading cause of blindness worldwide. There are numerous conditions that can cause the formation of cataracts including high myopia, eye surgery, prolonged corticosteroid use, previous eye injury or inflammation. I’ve had all of those, but my optometrist is of the opinion it was caused by the glaucoma surgery.

Deciding on surgery

When you are first deciding to have (or told you need to have) cataract surgery you will be given a lot of literature about the procedure, and possibly even shown a video describing the procedure used by your doctor. It can be a lot of information to take in, and seem a little scary too with some of the risks.

Your eye specialist will take quite a few measurements of your eye/s to check suitability for the procedure they have in mind. And then more measurements for the artificial lens to be ordered. You may be given a choice of a few types of lenses that will replace your natural lens, or you may only be suited to one type. (Upon reflection given my previous surgery and ongoing glaucoma, my doctor decided that lenses fixed for distance vision were best for me).

Having Cataract surgery a patient’s view eye surgery woman with glasses for short sightness before surgery and woman with eye patch after first cataract removed — The morning of surgery. Last moments wearing contacts or prescription glasses.

Surgery Day

On your surgery day you will be required to fast prior to your booked time, due to sedation being used in the procedure. It’s only a light sedation with some local injected around the eye…they don’t want you moving during this delicate procedure. You may be required to finalise some paperwork on arrival.

You then have a nurse see you for preparing you for surgery. I was given a gown over my comfy day clothes and a cap to cover my hair. Then some local anaesthetic drops were placed in my eye. Next a tiny sponge with dilation solution was inserted in my lower lid (apparently my eyes are a bit slow to dilate as they had to put extra in a little later).

After a little wait, I was then put on a surgery bed and was visited by the anaesthetist. A canula was put in one hand, and some sedation administered. After that you get quite a bit groggy. Awake, but not really feeling anything much and wheeled into the surgery.

They tape your other eye closed and you have a surgical drape over your head. But with so much anaesthetic around your eye and the sedation, your eyes really can’t see anything while the surgery takes place. For which I think we’re all thankful. We don’t really want to see all that they’re doing while we’re still awake.

It wasn’t a terribly long operation. Around 30 minutes. Most of the time is spent in the pre and post operation activity.

Post-surgery care

After the surgery had finished, I was wheeled back out and a nurse put some ointment in my eye (which I could not really feel to know if I really was closing it for her) and an eye patch on.

A bit of time waiting there and then I was helped up and out to another room to have some sandwiches (the staple of hospital food). And given my list of post-surgery instructions. Be sure to ask any questions you may have in regards to medications to take after, or other instructions. I take a set of eye drops already for my glaucoma at night, so checked I still took those as usual after my post-operation set of 3 eye drops.

You will need to be driven home by someone else after surgery, as you can’t drive for 24 hours afterwards. If your other eye needs glasses or a contact lens, you can still manage those. I had my right contact lens in (as my myopia is so severe I wouldn’t be able to do anything). But in the evening when I took that out for overnight cleaning, I was able to place my glasses on over the eye patch…enough to see.

All the sedation takes a while to wear off, but afterwards you may need some painkillers. You did just have delicate surgery to your eye after all! I had Panadol in the evening and again in the morning after. So far I haven’t needed anything more. I did find the eye patch most uncomfortable for the night, and didn’t really sleep well with it (though a toddler sharing my bed could have been keeping me more awake too). Next time I may ask for some sleeping tablets to help with that first night. (I’m due to get my right eye done in two weeks time).

Having Cataract surgery a patient’s view eye surgery woman with sunglasses woman after using stinging eyesdrops — It’s quite bright after surgery and those drops do sting for the first few days.

The days after surgery

The next day you may be booked in to go back to the specialist to have the eye patch removed, or be told to remove yourself if your next appointment is more than a day away. I had to remove mine at home, which I did gingerly as it felt like half my hair had got caught on the ends of it. I kept my eye closed for that as was a bit afraid of the result and what the vision would be like. When I had glaucoma surgery my vision had been blurry for a day or more after.

I then dashed off to a darker room to try opening my eye. And was pleasantly surprised at the clarity in the vision from my new lens. But opening that eye in a room with a light on hurt my eye and made it water, so I had to resort to wearing sunglasses inside for half the day. Not something you often get to do.

And it is true that you cannot adjust your sight in that eye with a new lens to be able to read. At first during the day, any writing I looked at I couldn’t make out head or tail about, except that I knew it was writing. Later on as I adjusted to it, I could make out some huge writing on things. But that was it. I’m hoping I won’t have to wait too long after my second operation to get reading glasses, as my jobs heavily rely upon it. Plus the fact I love reading for enjoyment too!

Having Cataract surgery a patient’s view eye surgery woman with reading glasses and before/after eye surgery — Two eyes done now and needing reading glasses to see small print and things on my mobile phone.

The drops I find a pain in the time it takes to do them, 5 minutes apart between each, but only one I find painful when put in the eye. All the rest are easy to do. Luckily after 14 years or so experience with glaucoma drops, and longer wearing contact lenses, I’m quite adept at doing multiple eye drops. If you are not, you may need to enlist someone’s help for the month you have use them.

Follow up visits

Next week I go back for the measurement for the other eye, and my second surgery will be 2 weeks after the first. (It’s not actually removing a cataract, but is replacing the lens as my vision was too great a difference to have nothing done with that eye). At least it shouldn’t be as scary as the first one was…worrying the night before and the wait during the day till my surgery time. I know now having experienced the first one. Hopefully this post has helped explain the procedure from a patient viewpoint and made it a little less scary for you too.

Update

Now that I’ve had both eyes done, the vision is great for distance. I’m still adjusting to the need for reading glasses for small print, and finding the right size for using computers, but a very good result still!

Comment below if you have been considering surgery or had it yourself.

Reference

http://www.allaboutvision.com/conditions/cataracts.htm

What is MS? And what exactly does it feel like?

Reading with infants- tips to make reading with toddlers easier

Caring hands- The 28 day hand moisturizer challenge

09/10/2017 By Savanna Robinson 1 Comment

We all know how important it is for our skin to be moisturised! But how many of us take care to do this every day? Not many I bet! I’m the same. It’s usually only when I’m getting extremely dry hands or rough elbows that I realise I’ve been slack in applying moisturizer.

My dermatologist recommends I use a soap-free hand wash and then apply moisturizer every time after washing my hands. With a toddler around, that’s a huge amount of applications a day! And he also said to wear rubber gloves for any washing activity. That’s an even harder habit to start for me!! But I must admit it does help with the dermatitis I tend to get under my wedding ring.

So how about you join me in a 28 day challenge to have caring hands (not neglected hands)! 28 days of applying a moisturizer to your hands twice a day. Morning and night!

If we do that morning and night for 28 days we should have formed a new habit of caring for our hands (as it takes 21 days of repeating an action to create a new habit). And we’ll have super soft, beautifully smooth hands!

So get out your calendar/diary (or app if you prefer digital) and mark in those two times a day with a check box to tick for the next 28 days. Or download my Caring hands calendar to use.

Then grab your bottles of moisturizer (I know you probably have more than one!) and put it in a place where you will remember it during the day.

This could be your bedside table – do it when you wake and before you go to sleep. Or place next to bathroom sink for when you wash your hands. (My dermatologist said to put one in every place where you will wash your hands). Even pop a small one in your handbag!

Now what type of moisturizer should it be? You want a non-greasy formulation, that is pleasant smelling and won’t have you cursing the idea of putting on moisturizer immediately afterwards. I personally used to love Nourish from Jamberry! It is so smoothing and the scent is not too overpowering. It’s available in a 4 oz and 8 oz size.But for the 28 day challenge use what you have at home. I probably have a half a dozen different tubes around the place from various presents, and I will use them all up. I also keep some of the small mini sizes in my handbag! (Though be careful with the metal tubes one. My latest one sprang a leak from the seams and coated some of the contents of my bag, Not pleasant!) If you would like some suggestions on moisturisers, check the link down the bottom of the page. But for the 28 day challenge use what you have at home. If you stick to the challenge you will be going through your old stash fairly quickly.

Comment below if you are joining me to have Caring hands- pop in your start day and then come back and let us know how you went after 28 days.

I’ve already applied my first lot! Now to print off my planner, as I need that accountability. Say yes to caring hands!

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10 Jamberry application tips to get a great manicure at home

05/09/2017 By Savanna Robinson 2 Comments

Jamberry wraps are a great cheaper alternative to getting your nails done at the salon, but there are a few things you need to consider to get the best out of your application. So here are 10 Jamberry application tips to get a great manicure at home every time!

Jamberry application tips

Tip 1 – Nail preparation

For great wrap application you need to remove all oils from your nails by washing your hands with a grease cutting dish detergent and wipe down each nail thoroughly with an alcohol wipe. Don’t use acetone or removers that have moisturisers or conditioners in them. If you have extremely oily nails, vinegar is a great oil remover!

Tip 2- Cuticles

As part of your nail preparation, you need to push back the cuticles. Any skin touching the wrap can affect the adhesive surface. A lot of people have invisible cuticles that build up on their nails. Cuticle remover can help get this extra layer off your nail- apply product to nail, leave on two minutes and then push back cuticles with an orange stick or cuticle spoon, paying attention to scraping the excess from your nail. Then wash remover from your nails before using an alcohol wipe.

Tip 3 – Sizing

Embrace the Gap! You do NOT want your wrap to touch ANY skin or cuticle! ALWAYS leave a small sliver of nail around the wrap edge. You will not see this from afar and means your wraps will last the longest possible time!

Tip 4 – Handling wraps

Do not touch the back (sticky part) of the wrap with your fingers at all! Instead use an orange stick, tweezers or cuticle pusher to handle the wrap.

Tip 5- Smoothing the wrap

Apply the wrap from base of the nail to the tip. Once it is in place, smooth the wrap from base to tip with orange stick or cuticle pusher. Then work from side to side in a feathering pattern, starting from the base and working up to the tip. This lessens the chance of bubbling and wrinkling happening. Then go over all the edges again to ensure a water-tight seal is achieved for your whole wrap.

Tip 6 – Order of application

Do your dominant hand first- that’s the one your usually write with- while you have the most patience. You will get better at applying the wraps with your non-dominant hand and you will have the hardest done first! Finishing up your manicure will now be a breeze!

Tip 7- Useful Tools

A cuticle spoon pusher can help remove cuticles and can be heated to iron out wrinkles and bubbles in your wrap!

Tip 8- Cooling

Let your wraps cool completely for a few minutes before filing or clipping the tips.

Tip 9– Clipping

If you prefer to clip your nail or they are short, do not clip them before applying wraps. Instead, apply your wraps and then clip! This will form a nice clean edge on them.

Tip 10 – Wait

Wait several hours before submerging your hands in water, especially HOT water!!!! The same goes for applying oils or lotions! Simple hand washing is fine!

Now that you have worked on these tips, use your sample sheet of wraps to practise and perfect your technique!

Not sure what Jamberry is? Click here.

Want to learn about applying Jamberry wraps? Official method and Cold 1,2,3.

How to apply Jamberry wraps- official method

How to apply Jamberry wraps- the Cold 1, 2, 3 method

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Pain in Multiple Sclerosis – is there MS pain or am I imagining it?

14/08/2017 By Savanna Robinson 2 Comments

What the doctors say

Is there MS pain? There are a lot of doctors out there who will constantly tell their patients that there is no pain with Multiple Sclerosis. And that might be true with how ‘real’ pain is caused with injury or infection. But there is still an aspect of pain they usually aren’t considering, but that affects many of the people I’ve met online with this disease. Multiple sclerosis pain.

As this disease is caused with interruptions in the central nervous system from lesions, there are all sorts of funky things that end up happening to our bodies that shouldn’t. Messages don’t get from the brain to certain body parts telling them to walk, to pick up things, to relax or contract those muscles sets, etc.

The body of someone with MS also has a lot of misfiring messages that get read by the body as pain because it doesn’t know what else to do with the signal that has been sent back to the brain. There is no injury or cause for it, but because of those scrambled signals it thinks “oh boy, something is wrong, we must be hurting’. And so you do! And it hurts just as much as any other injury you may have. Multiple sclerosis pain. MS pain

My latest experience

The last two days has had some of that thrown in for my enjoyment. It’s been unseasonable warm for the last month of winter, and my body’s internal thermostat is already broken with this MS. It is said a change of half a degree can set off the heat fatigue symptoms and that can be true with me. The change over from winter back to spring can be agony for my body, not knowing what to do with these changes. Multiple sclerosis pain. MS pain

Yesterday I had no energy and spent a lot of time on the lounge while our toddler played. Today was worse. I woke up with pain in my forearms, hands, and lower legs. It was a real struggle to get breakfast done for the little one, as it hurts to do fine motor activities like manipulate spoons. But she’d be pretty hungry if I didn’t grit my teeth and do it. Multiple sclerosis pain. MS pain

Then my husband was back home from his early morning haircut, and I could collapse in bed. Not being particularly tired, but it’s just the best place to curl up when in a lot of pain. And ironic as it sounds, even though the pain can be started off by heat, I need heat to start feeling better again. My hands and feet felt icy cold. Multiple sclerosis pain. MS pain

How MS pain feels

Now the pain. It’s like a deep ache inside my hands and makes them feel weak. But it’s more throbbing on the top of my hands and then extends back up the forearms to the elbows. Massaging the places I ache gives a temporary relief, but it’s hard to do that to both your arms at once. But it is a common action I will do in hot weather, rubbing my arms and legs to try and distract from the pain. Multiple sclerosis pain. MS pain

I was thinking this afternoon while lying in bed, what would it be on the pain scale they ask when at the doctors. I’m always wary of those scales, as people who live with chronic pain conditions have a different idea of 1-10 then someone who doesn’t. We get used to a certain amount of pain as ‘normal’. I even have a friend who has CRPS, the most painful condition ever, that completely screws up the neural pathways and has the body shut down with seizures because of being in so much pain. Multiple sclerosis pain. MS pain

Back to my story

Anyway back to my comparison. I’ve had two babies where I needed an epidural for the pain level (even though I’m one of those people who tells the massage therapist to do hard pressure). The pain I was experiencing today was at the point where I’d be asking for serious drugs in hospital. Or at least that gas which makes you forget what is happening. That’s probably why my go to before I had baby #2 was to take Mersyndol and be knocked out for the day. Normal pain killers don’t do a thing, because it’s caused by the nerves.

It’s painful enough to have me in tears from it some of the day…because it stops me doing any task I want to do. And after a sleep of a few hours, my brain says “Nope, not going to sleep any longer, but as you can’t get up and do anything, I’ll just start thinking about all the stuff you want to do and make you feel worse’. My GP has always been wary of trying anything stronger. And by the time I get to a neurologist appointment, I forget just how much pain I am in those days and to mention it. Something I must learn to do better…report on ALL my symptoms that have been happening. There’s probably an app for that! Multiple sclerosis pain. MS pain

Is it just me?

And I’m not the only MSer who reports that pain can be a deal with Multiple Sclerosis. Check any online MS forum, and there are many others reporting varying degrees of pain from things to do with their MS. A biggie can be the MS Hug, which thankfully I haven’t had since my first year of diagnosis. Multiple sclerosis pain. MS pain

So if you have just been newly diagnosed with MS, and are asking your doctor those questions of what you can expect with this diagnosis, and will there be any pain, remember they may not know the true answer for your body. It might not be their medical definition of pain. But if it hurts you, I surely class it as pain! Multiple sclerosis pain. MS pain

Interested in knowing more about what life with multiple sclerosis is like? Check this out.

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What is a Spoonie?

24/07/2017 By Savanna Robinson Leave a Comment

As a person with Multiple Sclerosis I have often found myself in situations where it is difficult explaining just how I feel and what it can be like to have this illness. There have been many analogies used to describe this and other chronic illnesses, in particular the fatigue part. Some days I feel it is like trying to move my limbs through deep wet cement. But my absolute favourite would have to be defining myself as a Spoonie, based on the Spoon Theory.

Where does the term Spoonie come from?

‘The Spoon Theory’ written by Christine Miserandino began as Christine’s way to explain her disease of Lupus to a friend. It uses spoons to describe the energy needed to do certain tasks during everyday life. Each activity uses a certain number of spoons. But unlike healthy ordinary people, a chronically ill person has a limited number of spoons available to them depending on their disease progression, fatigue levels, the weather and overall general health at the time.

People with a chronic illness (such as MS, Lupus, and Fibromyalgia just to name a few) have to carefully plan out their day’s activities based on the number of spoons they have for that day. Once those spoons are used up, they are either borrowing from the next day’s supply (which can lead to a even worse day) or simply cannot do any more for the rest of that day. And so started the trend of people with chronic illnesses explaining how tough life can be for them using this analogy. Which has also resulted in many of them classifying themselves as Spoonies as Social Media took off. I’ve seen posts by many who get tattoos or collect spoon paraphernalia to help make others aware of their health.

Using the Spoon theory to explain how I am feeling on any day is a lot easier than any other way I’ve tried in my 12 years with MS. It allows my friends to know that even though I may keenly want to meet up with them, but that my body used up all the day’s energy on simply having a shower and washing my hair. They know on a low spoon today to not expect too much from me, as even mental processing is slower on those days. And it’s at those times that my dear friends keep a close eye on me to see I’m not pushing myself through it all and over doing it, as they know I’ll feel even worse come the next day!

So I’m proud to call myself a Spoonie! My disease doesn’t define me, but being a Spoonie allows me to share with others a little bit of what my life can be like.

Come follow my Pinterest board about Spoonies.

Leave a comment about your Spoonie experiences.

Living with MS – A day in the life of an MSer

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Living with MS – A day in the life of an MSer

18/07/2017 By Savanna Robinson 1 Comment

Hi! My name is Savanna and this is me living with MS. The MonSter which is Multiple Sclerosis. I’m also a Spoonie.

Not every person who has MS is incapable of walking and uses a wheelchair. This was the image that many people had when I was young and would do the MS Read-a-thon in school. (I know that’s what I thought all MS people were like at that age!) Now I know differently! Most MSers look quite normal from the outside usually, as a lot of the symptoms are invisible. It’s hard to see numbness and sensory problems when you are just looking at a person.

I’ve had 3 major relapses with my MS (even though the minor relapse of symptoms is quite significant to you still as a person, neurologists think they don’t count). I’ve never needed a wheelchair or cane to walk yet. I have had some cases of my walking being greatly affected though! Think waddling like a heavily pregnant lady and feet refusing to pick up off the floor at all! Enough that the Occupational therapist left me a walker ‘just in case’.

So here is a sample of 2 days in my life as an MSer.

Day A-

It’s hard to get out of bed as I rarely feel truly rested, especially with a toddler who still wakes occasionally at night. It takes an hour to get breakfast for my toddler and myself…my mind just seems to take longer times to process stuff in the morning. We go to a mother’s group playdate, where I get to chat with other mummy’s going through similar stuff with their child. But I spend a lot of time chasing my very adventurous girl. Lunch is had at home, right before her needing a nap. I hope that she’ll go down for a few hours, as my MS nurse insists I should rest (nap) while she does, yet I still have a whole list of things I need to do while she won’t be constantly on my lap. I just manage to doze off when she wakes up. More occupying the toddler inside (as it’s too hot outside for me) and trying to do things around home. Welcoming my eldest daughter home from school. Wondering if I have enough energy to cook something for dinner or if we have the finances to get take away. Bathing the toddler, getting her into bed…which still requires an evening breastfeed as she’s not convinced about this weaning business. Then trying to complete more tasks before bed, which probably won’t be overly late as I’m so worn out.

Day B

I’m in hospital to get IV steroids for a relapse that has been going on for over a week. I’ve had numbness/pins and needles in my legs up to my chest, and starting to get that duck waddle back again. My feet don’t pick up properly and trip over any uneven surface. I’m afraid I’ll drop my 11 month old as my limbs feel weak. My reflexes test has hyper reaction to them…extreme jolting movement when they do the bottom of my feet. My muscles ache as it’s over 36 degrees Celsius outside, and even in the air conditioning my central nervous system just seems to know.

Living with MS hospital bed Jamberry catalogues — Hooked up to my IV steroids, and doing business stuff to keep busy.

living with MS cute baby playing with mobile phone cover — Juggling a toddler and time in hospital.

And from one day to the next, I don’t know if it will be a Day A with basically no symptoms, but still have to watch myself to not over do it as I’ll pay for that with fatigue later on. Or if it will be a Day B…or worse!

I find I still try to keep positive about it all, as there are worse things I could have than multiple sclerosis. And it’s not much of a life if always looking at those negatives. Life goes on, whether we like it or not! We may as well try to enjoy what we can!

I hope you now have a clearer idea of what MS can be like. Click here if you’d like to read about what is MS.

Pain in Multiple Sclerosis – is there MS pain or am I imagining it?

Breastfeeding is hard. Breastfeeding is easy. The pros and cons of breastfeeding in modern society.

Please subscribe to my blog if you’d like to keep up with my future posts about MS.

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« Previous Page

Health

What are cataracts?

Deciding on surgery

Surgery Day

Post-surgery care

The days after surgery

Follow up visits

Update

Jamberry application tips

Tip 1 – Nail preparation

Tip 2- Cuticles

Tip 3 – Sizing

Tip 4 – Handling wraps

Tip 5- Smoothing the wrap

Tip 6 – Order of application

Tip 7- Useful Tools

Tip 8- Cooling

Tip 9– Clipping

Tip 10 – Wait

What the doctors say

My latest experience

How MS pain feels

Back to my story

Is it just me?

Where does the term Spoonie come from?

Day A-

Day B

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