KDHL’s Gordy Kosfeld Hopes Surgery Clears His Vision

Tuesday morning after signing off AM Minnesota and the Fair Talk segment, I head to the Richie Eye Clinic in Faribault for cataract surgery.

A decade ago, Dr. Michael Richie performed laser eye surgery on the eye where I now have a cataract problem. I noticed last fall the inability to see numbers on uniforms while calling a game at a distance and used binoculars to assist. I also noticed it was more difficult to see at night while I was driving home. Evidently this put a strain on my eyes and I developed "dry eye." After six months of treating the dry eye we finally got my tear level to a place where surgery can now be completed.

Initially we talked about enhanced laser eye surgery, but Richie told me this might be the better route for me to go because of the cataract. I started taking eye drops Sunday. Including my eye drops for the dry eye, I take four a day. Two drops four times and two other drops two times a day.

The antibiotics are preparing the eye for what is about to happen. On Tuesday morning, Richie will have more eye drops placed in the eye to dilate the pupil. Then local anesthetics will be administered to numb the area, and I'll be given a sedative so they can work on the delicate eye while I'm awake but groggy.

A tiny incision will be made in the front of my eye (cornea) and then a tiny probe will be inserted and will basically suck out the cataract that is clouding my vision. Then Richie will put in a new lens made especially for my eye, and that will serve me the rest of my life.

I won't lie, the thought of a tiny incision being made in my eyeball was a bit numbing when it was described to me, but I had no problems with the laser procedure. My mom had both of her eyes worked on by Richie, and I know he's done thousands upon thousands of these surgeries in his practice.

I really appreciate that Richie didn't sugarcoat anything. There are risks associated with any surgery, he said. Although the odds are very low if your eyes are generally healthy and you don't have other medical problems.

There can be inflammation, infection, bleeding, swelling, retinal detachment, glaucoma, a secondary cataract or loss of vision. Favorable outcomes occur 98 percent of the time. The most common problem (0.1 percent) is the possibility of developing infection.

That would be more on me than the doctor. I have to take my eye drops the way they are prescribed. All of them for the first week, and then the dosages gradually go down after about a month.

While the odds of complications are not high, I would still appreciate your prayers on Tuesday.