First Post-Op for Cataract Surgery

July 17, 2025

Yesterday (July 16), I had my first post-op doctor’s appointment for my cataract surgery. I’ve got a second appointment next week. Bruce drove me to my appointment in Florence, AL.

The doctor’s office was full of patients. With a renowned eye surgeon here to clear the backlog of cataract surgeries, the doctors for post-op care were extremely busy as well. At the hospital, the nurses were impressed by the surgeon’s speed and the number of surgeries he performed. I was told 40 to 50 surgeries a day is a normal amount. The surgeon performed over 70 surgeries on Monday and had over 50 scheduled for Tuesday. The nurse said the hospital had to bring in extra staff to handle it.

I waited for an hour for the follow-up doctor to see me. He assured me that my eye was looking great. He mentioned what a great surgeon I had had and he sounded very admiring. I mentioned that my eye felt itchy as if I had something in it. The doctor assured me that it was normal. He did give me drops to help.

Afterwards, Bruce took me to Lil Capones in Florence since I was craving comfort food. Lil Capones is a “red sauce” Italian-American restaurant and a pizzeria. I ordered the lasagna. It was so good! Bruce enjoyed the Chicken Marsala. We both splurged and got desserts. Bruce ordered a cannoli and I got the zeppole. The zeppole is deep-fried bite-sized dough covered in cinnamon sugar. It comes with a dipping sauce. I got the strawberry dipping sauce and it was delectable. Bruce enjoyed his cannoli. The service at Lil Capones is excellent. The staff is always on point, ensuring a great experience.

After we got home, I took a nap. Nox snuggled up to me and took a nap as well. Bruce mowed in the heat. Every time he came inside to cool off, he would check in on us. Bruce said Nox and I were deeply asleep every time he checked on us.

I woke up and Bruce was happy that I got a good rest. When I got up, Nox woke up. She wanted to get out of bed. She headed straight for her water dish and lapped up a lot of water. Then she needed to go outside and do a few Nox things.

I went out to the garden to see how it was doing. I harvested cucumbers since I could just pick them off the trellis. I am not allowed to bend over for a week after surgery. My glutes and leg muscles are getting a workout since I have to squat to pick up anything.

Our neighbor came over to pick up a package we were holding for him. It was delivered while they were away and he texted me to see if we could pick it up for him. We were happy to pick it up for him. I asked if he would like some cucumbers and he said, “Yes, I would love some cucumbers and any other produce you want to give me.” We asked if he’d like to see the gardens. He was admiring my bucket garden. I asked if he’d like some peppers and he was very excited to get some. I gave him some cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, lemon verbena, rosemary, and okra. He was interested in the pumpkins growing on the trellis. It was a nice visit.

While talking with our neighbor in the front yard, the two hummingbirds stopped at the feeders. One darted in and out drinking nectar. The second hummingbird flew in and they both flew off.

For supper, Bruce made a salad. It was nice to have something light after that big lunch!

We got a beautiful sunset. We saw three bats in the sky at once. We have fewer fireflies lighting up the yard.

After nightfall, the thunderstorms rolled in. We had close lightning strikes and pouring rain.

This morning (July 17), when I woke up, my eye felt normal. The fuzziness had also significantly cleared. Unfortunately, when I put the medicated drop in my eye, it still burned. The burning did pass fairly quickly.

After breakfast, Bruce went out to mow. I walked out to the fruit trees with my spray bottle of soapy water. I wanted to check on the fruit trees and see if they had aphids. Most of the apple trees had aphids on their young, tender leaves. Ugh. I was glad I brought the spray bottle of soapy water. I sprayed the aphids and the farmer ants with the soapy water.

As I walked back to the house, I saw a bluebird perched on top of the bluebird house. On Monday (July 14), I had noticed a male bluebird flying to the birdhouse. He landed on top of the house, then fluttered to the opening. He leaned in to feed the chicks. While I couldn’t see the chicks, Bruce said he had heard cheeps when mowing in the area. We are excited that the bluebirds did nest inside the bluebird house.

After I came back inside, I happened to look out through the sliding glass doors. I first saw one dragonfly on one of the sticks supporting the peppers. As I was taking a picture of the dragonfly, I noticed another dragonfly perched on a different stick.

Mostly, I am taking it easy today and hanging out with Nox.