Seeing is Believing: Cataract Surgery

Like many older adults, Betty Allen suffered impaired vision from cataracts. “It was bad,” she says.” I could not see street signs driving along.”

Fortunately, Allen came to DMC Kresge Eye Institute for cataract surgery in both eyes, with small incisions and fabulous results. “I walked into work, and they said ‘Where’s your glasses?’ and I said ‘I don’t need them.’”

Dr. Anju Goyal, a cataract and glaucoma specialist at Kresge Eye Institute explains cataract surgery in very simple terms. “Light actually travels through the front part of the eye – the clear cornea – through the pupil, and then it hits our lens,” says Dr. Goyal. “The light then travels through the clear lens and is focused on the back part of the eye. Images from this are then sent to the our brain, and that’s how we see. What happens with a cataract is the area behind the center focus of the eye becomes cloudy over time, with a yellow-white appearance.”

That cloudiness interferes with the lens’ ability to focus light; the cloudier the lens, the worse our vision. Vision can be mildly impaired, and treated with eyeglasses, but people can actually reach legal or even complete blindness from cataracts.

Restoring sight to a cataract patient is a simple yet delicate procedure. The clouded lens must be removed, and replaced with a new artificial lens. This lens is tailor-made to the patients, so it not only eliminates the cataract, but can also help correct vision defects such as nearsightedness. It’s like installing a pair of glasses inside the patient’s eye.

For her procedure, Allen was given medication to relax, but she was kept awake through the operation. First, Dr. Goyal numbs the eye with a local anesthetic, then makes two small incisions. At this point, all the patient sees is the light of the surgical microscope, and feels no discomfort. Once the incisions are made, Dr. Goyal uses ultrasound to break the cloudy lens into sections that she can remove from the eye.

Once the clouded lens is removed, the replacement is folded and loaded into a special instrument and placed into the eye in place of the original. No stitches are needed, just a bandage and a plstic shield worn over the eye while it heals. The patient will return to normal activity in a few days and her eye should be fully-healed in about a month.

Allen was pleased with her surgeon and the DMC. “When I met Dr. Goyal, she explained everything. She does not rush. She’s a very thorough doctor. I would tell anybody to come here.”

To request an appointment, call 888-DMC-2500.