Dr. Carey Patrick, OD

Thank you for being in touch. In the early hours of the morning on August 5, 2024 my father passed away. I am out of the office immediately to attend to family matters for the next few weeks. Thank you for your understanding. I will review your message as promptly as I can after I return to the office. If your message is of an urgent concern that cannot hold until I am back in the office, please call our Office Manager, Jessica Garcia , at 214-383-5400.=0D

Yes, repeated infections, especially with high frequency of recurrence, can lead to a reduction in the integrity of the tissue structure (it just doesn't heal up as solidly after having to do so time-after-time-after-time). Our eyes do have a good amount of resiliency, and youth helps this - but any part of our body can be pushed to far, at any age.

The short answer is "it depends". Certainly the condition should be checked out by your eye doctor. Standard recovery checkups for post-Lasik surgery are at 1-day, 1-week, 1-month, 3-months, & 6-months. This planned follow-up visit can be changed at any time by the doctor that is providing the care to monitor your healing-up phase. If it's been 5 days, then your 1-week progress visit is probably already scheduled within the next 48 hours, so be sure to bring up your blurry vision as a concern at that time. However! If you are experiencing any sort of PAIN, or if the blurriness is WORSENING, then DO NOT WAIT! Pain and/or worsening vision can be symptoms that you are experiencing a complication from surgery and need immediate attention. What you should do if that's the circumstance; 1) phone the office of the doctor providing your follow-up care and let them know that you need to be seen asap. They are trained to provide this care. 2) Lube, lube, lube - add copious amounts of non-preserved artificial tears until you are seen by your follow-up doctor. 3) If you are not able to see your follow-up doctor, or the surgeon, then go to the Emergency Room and request to see the eye doctor on call. This is not a "wait and see what happens" kind of condition. Hope that helps!

Yes! One of the most successful treatments for glaucoma is cataract surgery. Also, minimally invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS) can only be performed at the time of cataract surgery. Often, MIGS involves placement of a small stent (secondary drain) to improve outflow of the fluid inside the eye, thus reducing pressure on the optic nerve. The reason these procedures are paired is due to the location of the natural crystalline lens in the eye is right above the natural drain. When a cataract grows, it fills up the space and can plug the opening of the drain. Take the cataract out and Voila! drain is no longer plugged up. Double-win! Hope this information was helpful.