Cataract complications after surgery, please advise

Eye care
1

Hi, my mother had surgery on her eye On Friday 3rd. To remove a cataract and fix a hole. Her eye was very red and uncomfortable afterwards, which is to be expected of course. She went for a check on her eye pressure the next day and it was fine.

She’s been taking Chloramphenicol eye drops every 2 hours during the day (turns out that was a mistake, meant to be every 4 hours which she has now corrected for on day 3). Also Dexamethasone eye drops every 4 hours.

The problem is that right now her eye looks worse than when she first came out of hospital. The tissue under her eye ball has swollen and is pushing right out. She’s also been feeling nauseous and has a head ache. She looks, to me, like she did when she had a very bad dose of Covid, very ill. This is now 4 days after the surgery and she’s worse today than she was yesterday.

I’ve told her if she doesn’t phone the hospital by tomorrow I’m going to do it for her because this just seems totally wrong. I’m not a doctor obviously but this just doesn’t seem like it should be happening from eye surgery, I’m extremely worried.

I’d just like to hear from anyone with experience of having this surgery, or who’ve witnessed anyone who’s gone through the recovery process. What do you think?, how worried should I be?

2

The drops she is on are a antibiotic and a corticosteroid. I am not a doctor and the specific brands of drops are not the ones I am used to seeing, but using both types is pretty standard. I would not think that the increased frequency of the antibiotic would be an issue. Too much of the steroid can cause the eye pressure to increase.
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Normally surgeons will provide a number to call in case of an emergency. I would suggest calling it and getting some professional medical advice.

3

What do you mean “fix a hole?”

4

I get you are concerned; rather than posting here, I’d suggest contacting the surgeon and/or the hospital pdq!

5

These are the Post Op instructions I was given.
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It is normal for the eye to feel as if something is in it (like a scratchy sensation). This is because of the incision that is used to remove the cataract.

You can wear your old glasses if they give you better vision than without. Whether you wear them or not will not hurt your eye.

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Call the Surgeon if:

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You notice a decrease in vision
You are experiencing worsening pain in the operated eye
There is a discharge from the eye (that is not tears) or worsening redness
You notice an increase in the number of floaters in the operated eye"