Scratch/abrasion post cataract surgery

[grapeleaves]

I am now 6 days post op on cataract surgery of my left eye.  Unlike my right eye which went very well  (I saw clearly at 20/20 immediately), this one has not.
I had SEVERE headache that required prescription pain med. I could feel that the eye was not staying shut behind the patch .   When I returned to the Doctor in the morning (last Friday) and he removed the patch, all I could see was light and dark.   Even the big E on the eye chart was blurred.   He said I had a scratch on the eye and that it would be painful and difficult to see until it healed. On Sunday morning I began to see better and the pain stopped.   I can now read the writing on the TV screen, but it is like looking through a fog.
Yesterday when he looked at my eye he said I had a corneal abrasion.    He gave me a temporary lens change and it is actually worse than before the surgery.  
Am I getting the runaround?
I do have very dry eyes ( a side affect of my  RA) and he said it might be slower to heal because of that.  In addition to theTobramycin  eye drops,  he wants me to increase my use of non prescription eye drops.   I am not on on strong imunosuppressants for my Ra.   I use only Plaquenil and large doses of fish oil .

[John C Hagan]

The aid will be drying and drying is not good for a healing/recently headed abrasion. As your physician and see if he/she will look at it before the trip. Normally use artifical tears hourly while on the plain.

JCH III MD

[grapeleaves]

Sorry, I realized that you are the one that responded.
I am schedule to fly next Wednesday.   Is that OK?

[grapeleaves]

No, I don't have a bandage contact lens.   The  Doctor is acting like this is no big deal and it is just taking longer to clear. He did say initially that I would probably be more comfortable if I kept the eye patched the first few days.
On Tuesday he said that once it heals I should see as well as in the other eye.
I've been reading on-line that the cornea heals quite quickly when there has been a injury.  I don't know if this   after surgery abrasion is different  and whether it might be slower to heal.    I'm   wondering if   when the pain in the eye stopped on Sunday (surgery was on Thursday)and I began to see things more clearly  if the cornea had healed .  
Is there a time frame, on average, in which I can expect and hope for continued improvement in the vision   in this eye.
The temporary prescription for glasses he gave me on  Tuesday is a + 1.75 for distance and + 2.25 for  reading.I'm not seeing badly , mainly because my right eye is so good.
I never wore glasses until 40 when started to need readers.  
At age   42 they mentioned that I was getting cataracts.    I am now 62.
Thank you for all your help.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

No you are having a not uncommon complication of cataract surgery, more common in dry eye patients. Hopefully you have a bandage contact lens in your eye and you should be seen every day while its healing.

JCH IIIMD