Cataract Problem--Piece Left in Eye

[Michele816]

My surgeon says that I have an old piece of cataract left in my left eye.  He has put me on Pred Forte steroids every two hours in hopes of dissolving the piece.  It is lodged between my retina and cornea at 3:00 o'clock position.  I also have many floaters.  My right eye is great!  I have Crystalens in both eyes.  Is it possible for such a piece to be dissolved??  I have Fuchs Dystrophy in early stages and don't want another eye surgery if at all possible.  Any ideas about how to dissolve the piece without surgery?? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
It has been 5 months since the surgery.  Accupuncture has been most helpful so far.

Also, think I have slight infection of the eyelid on the inside of the eyelid as my eye worked at 20/40 when I was taking a Z pack for a sinus infection, then eyelid swelled and became droopy after Z pak finished with a small sty in corner of the eye with yellow white opaque discharge which was very small with eyesight becoming 20/100.
Any thoughts??

Thanks for your help.

Michele T..

[Timothy D McGarity, M.D.]

I'll bet the piece doesn't dissolve even with medications or accupuncture. You will probably need another procedure to remove the piece. This is usually a very quick procedure and should place minimal risk to your cornea (where the Fuch's disease is).
Best wishes,
Timothy D. McGarity, Medical Doctor, Ophthalmologist

[Michele816]

Thanks for the feedback.  You mentioned that it would be a quick procedure to remove the piece of old cataract from my eye--what type of procedure do you mean??  Would it be opening up the original cataract incision and vacuuming out the piece??  Or is there something else you were thinking of??  

Did go to my regular eye doctor who has treated me for around 10 years and he did say that I had an eye lid infection--probably staph or strep--for which he has prescribed antibiotic drops which I'm now taking and the swelling in the eyelid has gone down somewhat.  Isn't it dangerous to open up the eye with a surgical procedure if one has an infection??  If a procedure were done, how long would you wait before undergoing such a procedure??  Have heard that eyelid infections are never completely cured??

My local eye doctor told me he has had many cases of people with cataract pieces left in where they have dissolved--he was not the surgeon doing the surgery. I'm taking pred forte 8 times a day in hopes of dissolving or re-absorbing the piece.  Is there anything else you would recommend that might help re-absorption??  Are there possible negative side effects of taking strong steroids over a period of time--took them for 8 weeks after surgery and didn't drive for 7 weeks?

Usually I always get two opinions before doing surgery--the surgeon scared me by telling me I had Fuchs dystrophy and showing me a picture of the dead epithelial cells at the back of my eye, telling me I should have surgery ASAP, so I did not get another opinion as his practice is the only one in the state which actually takes pictures to diagnose Fuchs.  I've been using Muro 5% ointment every night per instructions, which probably has led to the eye infection since I probably covered the holes in the eye lid giving staph a chance to grow without air.  Now if I have a second incision, I also increase possible damage to Fuchs and may lose the wonderful eyesight in my left eye for close work 20/15 (can't see far away very well)--the eye probably compensated for the piece of cataract which is lodged between the lens and the cornea--if it is moved I may end up having to have a prescription when I don't need one now.  Is it bad to leave the piece in my eye over the long term??  What damage could be caused to my vision by leaving it in??  One doctor said that my difficulty in keeping my left eyelid open has to do with guarding--the lids are trying to protect my eye---is there such a guarding response?.

Also, another surgery replicates my early childhood surgery before the age of 3 with no anasthetic where they buckled me on the surgery table in huge straps, would not talk to me or hold my hand or let my mother and aunt talk to me nor a nurse at any time and worked on my chin while I screamed.  I can't believe I actually trusted a doctor enough to let him do cataract surgery in the first place and now I don't know whether I will ever be able to let a doctor touch my eye or face again.

My eyes were wonderful before surgery--just had bi-focals and never had even one eye infection in my whole life let alone any injury or surgery to my eyes--I've taken care of them for 72 years and let myself
trust a doctor to have this happen--a lifelong eyelid problem and a messed up left eye.  Plus I paid ten's of thousands beyond Medicare to be sure I was getting the best in lens and treatment.  How do you trust again??  Am lucky to have 15 minutes with the doctor.  Have told him since the day of the surgery that something was in my eye--meaning at a deep psychological level I knew something was in there and had had dreams of a little vacuum cleaner in my eye leaving a piece--if I hear again that it is a symptom of dry eyes I will scream.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again for answering my question so quickly.

Sincerely,

Michele T