Cataract Removal

When I went home over the weekend I did the eye test to my grandmother. I held my finger in front of her face and told her to tell me when it became uncomfortable to focus on it. I was able to get within an inch of her face and it was just starting to get uncomfortable. After I did the test she told me that she had cataracts removed when she was in her early 70's, and she had both eyes done. My grandmom then told me how the procedure works. First they gave her a local anesthesia and kept her awake for the entire procedure. Next they used a laser to make a small incision in the side of her cornea and put a device in the opening to send ultrasound waves to break up the clouded lens. After the lens is broken up the surgeon used a suction to device to suck away the broken lens. After the lens is extracted the surgeon will put a man-made lens in to the eye. My grandmother had both eyes done, but two weeks apart which is typical with this procedure. She is now 88 years old and still doesn't need reading glasses and hardly needs long distance glasses.