retina surgery, macular hole

I am 61 years old and was diagnosed in March 2009 with a macular hole  On April 2 I was operated on with the gas bubble procedure by a retina surgeon. Approximately two weeks later he said that my hole was closed and that the surgery was a success.  I was then told to follow up with my regular opthamolofist . On April 10th the opthamologist told me I had grown a cataract. and would need surgery.  He also told me that during the retina surgery I sustained nerve damage and not to expect too much from the cataract surgery.  On September 18th I had the cataract surgery and my eye is now 20/200 and will not get any better. Is the nerve damage a normal occurrence in retina surgery or did the surgeon make a mistake?  I am very upset about this as he told me the surgery was  such a success..

[Sandra M Brown, MD]

A little more information would be helpful:

1] what was your vision before the macular hole surgery?
2] do you have any other eye diseases such as glaucoma?
3] were you treated for increased eye pressure after the macular hole surgery?

Note that cataract formation after macular hole surgery is common, sometimes it happens quickly sometimes slowly.  The need for cataract surgery does not indicate that the retina surgeon did anything "wrong".