The Medical Team has Arrived!

Amazing day! The medical team arrived yesterday and we began cataracts surgeries today! The surgeons that we were working with were amazing and the skill that they have is incredible. One of the surgeons that we were working with was an amazing teacher and I learned so much in just a day. I will never take for granted the ability of the eye or my ability to see ever again!

To give these people back their gift of sight was incredible. Cataracts are caused by UV damage to the lens in the eye. In the United States the lens will become cloudy or yellowish in color. The cataracts in some of these patients were so bad that they were black in color and a lot denser than the ones in the US. This makes the surgery more difficult to do. The surgery consists of making very precise incisions into the eye, removing the entire lens, and replacing it with an artificial lens.  

A very exhausting, but exciting day today! Tomorrow we will assist in more surgeries and also do post-op exams on the patients we saw today to make sure all is well one day post-op.