More Medical Matters - Cataract

 25 June 2023

I’ve been home from Saudi Arabia about 18 months. I must say I’m happy to be amongst my people again and to not to have any work obligations. I sometimes miss teaching especially
when I think of some of the excellent classes I had. I also miss having a regular income and the opportunity to travel several times a year.

 A couple of months after arriving home I went for an eye test. I had noticed while still in KSA that my left eye didn’t see straight lines. Both horizontal and vertical lines appeared wavy. When I mentioned this to the optometrist, she was concerned that I may have age related macular degeneration. She suggested that I start taking Ocuvite vitamins for the eyes. I did this and a while later decided that it would make sense for me to see a specialist

 I don’t have medical insurance, so I’m obliged to use Government Health facilities. The one I have used before is Helen Joseph Hospital. They provide pretty decent health care, but the one thing you can depend on is that you will queue for hours. You can count on spending at least half a day there with every visit.

 However, you can’t just pitch up there, you need a referral. This meant that I first needed to

visit my local clinic – Discoverers Health Center. So bright and early I pitched up at Discoverers only to discover that I wasn’t early enough; there were about 30 people ahead of me. The first thing I had to do was to open a file. This took about 90 minutes. Then I had to queue to be told where I needed to go. This took about 45 minutes. Then I queued for the optometrist for another 30 minutes only to be told that I first had to have my vitals checked. This done, I finally got to see the lady who after an eye test gave me a referral to HJH.

 A few days later I reported to HJH eye section where I had to make an appointment for a few weeks hence. I duly arrived for my appointment. Fist I had to report to reception so they could fetch my file.  That’s when they discovered that my file had been discarded because I hadn’t been there for a couple of years. After about an hour a new file was created, and I reported for triage and vitals. This took like an hour and then off I went to the eye clinic.

 After about another hour I was in eye-clinic triage. This consisted of about 4 tables manned by ladies who did some preliminary checking. After a cursory examination and reading my referral, she asked where I live. When I told her Weltevredenpark, she said that I needed to report to Leratong Hospital for treatment. I objected but she was adamant.

So I duly arrive at Leratong, about 15km further than HJH, spend a couple of hours getting a file created (they put my name as John, my middle name, on the file). Then I went to get my vitals checked and then queued to see the doc. She examined my eyes and concluded that my right eye needed cataract surgery and the left one wasn’t in great condition due to the orbit being cracked, no doubt from the car that hit me back in 2015. She scheduled my surgery about 3 months hence with a pre-op appointment a couple of days before the surgery.

 I arrived for pre-op procedures at 0700, not knowing what the pre-op entailed. Eventually, at 1400 I got to see the doc. He scribbled some notes in my file and told me that I should present myself for pre-op next Friday. I said that my pre-op was today, but he said that they had overbooked, so sorry.

 The next Friday I went through the same motions again and eventually got to see the doc again. He again scribbled in my file and told me that I would be admitted to hospital, ward 23, on Sunday morning. When I questioned why because the surgery was scheduled for Monday morning and was done on an out-patient basis, he replied that there were “problems” when people were told to come on the day of the surgery.

So Sunday morning I collected my file and reported to ward 23. Of course, because my file said John Grove, they kept calling me John. Eventually I gave up correcting them. I sat in reception for about 2 hours while they completed various documents. An orderly came by with a food trolley and asked if I would like some food. I said, “yes please” and he gave me a plastic covered plate of food. It was a chicken drumstick, a greenish substance, and some potato. Unfortunately, he didn’t have any eating implements, so I put the food to one side.

Eventually they told me to report to ward 17. After wandering about for a while, I found ward17. Again, I sat in reception for about 30 minutes before being shown to my room and bed. It was an 8-bed ward. Since there was absolutely nothing else scheduled for the rest of the day, I went outside to find a patch of sun and to read my book.

 

About 1630 I thought I would return to my ward and wait for supper. When I got there, I found that my supper had already been delivered and by now was cold. Supper was hospital food. The sheet on my bed was exactly the same length as the mattress and wasn’t too stable. It was also the noisiest bed I have ever been on. Each time I moved it spoinged and spanged and rattled and groaned. The wheels weren’t locked, so it also moved back and forth and banged into the wall. All this earned me some irate looks from the rest of the ward. One dude had his arms tied to the frame of his bed, so I assumed he was a prisoner.

Around 2030 we were brought tea and bread which I enjoyed. Then around 2100, after we had all climbed into bed, we were told to pack up all our belongings, including our bedding, because we were being moved to ward 23. So off we went and again spent about hour hanging around in ward 23 reception. In due course we were shown to our beds. We made them and hopped in. After lights out I quietly went to the toilet, quietly made my way back so as not to disturb anyone, and kicked over a table as I was climbing back into bed.

 I woke up with all the lights on, and I wondered who was messing with the lights as it was only 0400. Turns out it was the nurses and our day had begun. They took blood pressure, checked sugar levers, and put drops in my eye and covered it.

 They don’t come and fetch you from the ward when it’s your turn but took all 7 of us to the operating floor where we sat around awaiting our turn. After about an hour I was bored so I went walkabout.  A nurse saw me wandering around and asked me “Pappa, where are you going”? I went into one procedure room and asked the dude there what the interesting looking machine was that was over the bed. He told me I wasn’t supposed to be in there and to please leave.

Eventually it was my turn, and I was seated in a dentist-type chair with my head tipped right back. When the doc started the procedure she placed a bright light in my eye, so I saw noting, which was probably for the best. From what I’d read I knew that they cut a small slit in the sac surrounding the lens, then they fragment the lens with a sonic probe, “vacuum” out the fragments and then insert the new lens which unfolds itself in the sac. It wasn’t a fun procedure, but it wasn’t bad and it was over in about 20 minutes. I was given drops and tablets and told I could go home.

 That was easier said than done. I had to take an Uber home since I couldn’t drive with my right eye covered and my left eye not focussing properly on anything. Trying to read my phone screen to order the Uber was a challenge. I couldn’t read any of the car details except that the registration started with a K. I watched the cars coming and saw one that I thought started with a K. I went closer and closer until I was almost touching it and saw that indeed it started with a K. I opened the passenger door and climbed in, hoping that it really was my Uber. It was.

 I went for a follow up 2 days later and a took a sharpie with me to correct my name on my file. I did so and when I went for my vitals, the nurse looked at my file and said, “Sit down, George” <sigh>.

 My right eye is so much better than it was. Colors are so much brighter, and I can read and see my computer screen without glasses. The doc said that surgery wouldn’t benefit my left eye, but they could improve it with glasses. In another couple of weeks, they will test me for specs and I’ll be good to go.

 It’s been an interesting experience and I am happy that I got top-notch attention in a spotlessly clean hospital without any cost to me.