Dr. Less finishing a
cataract surgery.
Members of Dr. Lee's
surgical team, Donna Berry
and Janet Knox with Aaron
Burch, center.
Dr. Lee mid operation.
A LOOK BEHIND THE SCENES:
MY EXPERIENCE WITH AN OPHTHALMOLOGIST
Aaron Burch
IT ONLY TOOK ABOUT FIVE MINUTES IN THE OPER-
ATING ROOM BEFORE I WAS BLOWN AWAY.
Right around the time Dr. Julie Lee made a small incision in her
patient’s eye and began to break up the cataract protein that had
obscured their vision, I knew I was in for a treat.
The delicate hand motion and mental dexterity required to make
that precise incision numerous times each day, and the resulting
smoothness of the procedure taking place directly in front of me,
was truly impressive. It was a good thing I had a mask on because
I’m certain my jaw dropped as the initial incision was made.
I had been invited by Dr. Lee, an independent ophthalmologist
with surgical privileges at Baptist, Jewish and other surgical facilities,
to sit in on a morning of cataract removal procedures at the Dupont
Surgery Center. For readers less familiar with cataract removal and
lens replacement, it is one of the most common and most successful
surgeries taking place today.
16
LOUISVILLE MEDICINE
Cataracts are the deterioration (or denaturation) of proteins in
the lens, causing vision to become blurry or dull. The body will not
correct this change on its own, so corrective surgery is required. To
restore eyesight to its former glory (or even better), the cataractous
lens must be replaced with an artificial intraocular lens. Glaucoma
and astigmatism can also be corrected during this procedure.
When I arrived at Dupont, that was just about the extent of my
knowledge of the subject. I knew that the original lens was replaced,
but what I didn’t know could fill books (and surely it has).
Dr. Lee was performing close to a dozen surgeries that morning.
As I was led to the operating rooms, I was asked to put on scrubs
of course. Well, my feet are huge, and no matter how much I tried,
those shoe covers weren’t going to look anything but silly. So nat-
urally, I chose to walk around with hairnets on both feet instead.
Later on, one of the nurses playfully asked “Who dressed you?” and
I unfortunately had to answer that I alone was responsible.