#surgery — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #surgery, aggregated by home.social.
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CW: My lived experience with ophthalmologists while legally blind. Medical details.
RE: https://disabled.social/@tomkindlon/117134288892873004
When my contract was not renewed and I needed #ObamaCare, I looked at the list of in-network #ophthalmologists with my new #insurance. Some of the listings had the dates that doctors graduated. I found the earliest date listed and scheduled my appointment.
She went to school with my former #ophthalmologist, and actually listened to me about my #eyes.
There are two specific things that doctors need to understand about my eyes in order to appropriately advise me, and they are due to my medical history.
Below is a brief #history of my eyes and vision, including all of the everything.
There are two tests for #legal #blindness.
1) Having a best-corrected #visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye. If, with the best eyeglasses on contact lenses, you can only read the E at the top of the eye chart, you are legally blind in the #US.
2) Having a visual field of 20° or less. This means you can only see straight ahead, and you have to track movement by turning your head. I am here.
Now for my deets:
I'm bilaterally aphakic, meaning neither eye has a lens. This is a post-surgical condition, as outlined below. At the time of the surgery, there was no idea that implantable lenses would exist. This was not a bad outcome or medical malpractice.
I was born with #cataracts in both eyes. My body has no clue how to grow clear lenses. Because I'm old, I didn't have my first eye surgeries until I was three. Doctors were afraid to operate on infants in the early 1960s, and one of my classmates in kindergarten had a heart issue.
I also had surgeries when I was eight, and eleven or twelve. I don't know what the actual goal was for these operations, but they weren't really helpful.
When I was sixteen, I had a new kind of #laser #surgery in #Minneapolis. In separate surgeries, doctors basically zapped the lenses and their structures in each eye.
There is currently nowhere to attach a lens implant in either eye. My corneas are so thick from all my surgeries that Lasik is not an option, either. My vision is the best it will ever be, and most of the time, I'm okay with it.
When an ophthalmologist measures intraocular pressure (this is the test for #glaucoma), there is a chart that shows how to adjust the reading to account for corneal thickness. Many ophthalmologists don't realize that corneas can be thicker than what is shown on the chart, and assume my pressure is higher than it actually is. They then #misdiagnose me with glaucoma and prescribe #eyedrops that I do not need, and #schedule additional appointments that require me to pay a #copay because they're specialists.
My corrected acuity is 20/50, but with caveats. I can legally drive in #Texas, so long as I don't exceed 45 mph and avoid #expressways.
I have a "good" eye and a "helper" eye. The helper eye can only be corrected to 20/200, but if it isn't receiving light, my brain freaks out and thinks my good eye is on its own. I have such intense nystagmus (my eye involuntarally jostles around to try to see better), that it severely reduces my acuity.
So, instead of using the regular device for covering one eye, I need to use a translucent device for the "cover one eye" part of the exam. If they don't honor this when determining the prescription for my eyeglasses, the glasses won't function correctively or correctly.
When doctors and their assistants do not listen to me about my thick corneas and need for a blurrer rather than a blocker, they also add inaccurate information to my medical records. This directly interferes with my life.
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Running behind
As I shared a little while ago, I am struggling a bit with keeping up with my blog, now that my hands aren't fully functional. I had less than 24 hours to prepare for the surgery, which meant there was no time to "prepare" my blog for it. Normally, when something is coming up that will take away my time and/or ability to write, I will do my best to prepare my blog for it. I will make sure to have several posts ready and scheduled. So, the last few weeks, I've been trying to keep up with my writing. I don't want to lose my awesome 6+ years daily posting streak. But I fear that the quality of my posts hasn't been as it usually is. I feel I'm running behind, which is making the writing more stressful. Which also means, it's taking a bit of the fun out of it. […] -
This medical journal article has an insane result that should terrify us all. My god do not use "AI" for your medical research!!
"Of the 180 references provided by ChatGPT 4.0, 58/180 (32.3%) references did not exist, 36/180 (20%) were improperly cited, and 86/180 (47.8%) were properly cited."
The article is here: https://journaloei.scholasticahq.com/article/161594-from-innovation-to-inaccuracy-the-impact-of-chatgpt-on-orthopaedic-surgery-research-citations-in-sports-medicine
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A controversial Alzheimer's surgery is said to reverse symptoms
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-02448-x
Comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49312008
#HackerNews #Surgery #Controversy #BrainHealth #MedicalInnovation #Neurology #Research
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It takes so long…
I'm in a splint now, which I need to wear like a cast. I may take it off very carefully to exchange the cotton tube under the plastic splint, when it gets too wet. I've done that once now, and it was rather difficult and a bit painful as well. So I hope I can get better at it, as the wounds heal up better. But typing goes so slowly these days. There is a slight improvement with the splint, as the casts were causing more difficulty when I tried to type a bit. But still, I feel like simple texts take ages to complete. And that they take more spoons as well. […]https://cynnisblog.wordpress.com/2026/08/15/it-takes-so-long/
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Pain & fear
A little while ago, I was surprised by a call from the hospital. They informed me that a spot opened up for the surgery that I was on the waiting list for. Things got arranged, and the next day the surgery happened. All seemed to go well enough, and I did my best to make things work at home. It went OK enough, it was challenging but mostly manageable. Until, after a week, my hand started tingling, my fingers got so cold. I tried to end the pains that came with this, and managed it a bit, by pressing against my cast, to relieve some pressure. […] -
Not quite snake oil, but proper studies needed.
"The rapid adoption, in the absence of hard evidence, prompted Chinese regulators to intervene. Last year, they restricted the procedure to more-formalized clinical research settings, rather than the ad hoc use that had proliferated previously. And Xie, the pioneer of the technique, has been in detention since September for undisclosed reasons."
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And finally, I ended the season chatting to Prof. Antonia Tzemanaki (University of Bristol), Dr. George Mylonas (Imperial College London) and Prof. Tom Vercauteren (King's College London) about how robotics and AI are transforming medicine - live at the Great Exhibition Road Festival. 🤖 🩺
https://www.robottalk.org/2026/06/26/episode-162-the-robot-doctor-will-see-you-now/ #Robots #Robotics #Live #AI #Autonomy #Clinical #ComputerVision #Diagnostics #Healthcare #HRI #Rehabilitation #Surgery #Teleoperation
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I chatted to Prof. Allison Okamura from Stanford University about developing advanced robotic systems for haptic (touch) interaction. 🤖
https://www.robottalk.org/2026/06/19/episode-161-allison-okamura/ #Robots #Robotics #HRI #Education #Haptics #Healthcare #Rehabilitation #Surgery #Teleoperation #WearableTech
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In June, I chatted to Dr. Maria Koskinopoulou from Heriot-Watt University about autonomous robotic manipulators for surgery, industry, and beyond. 🤖
https://www.robottalk.org/2026/06/05/episode-159-maria-koskinopoulou/ #Robots #Robotics #ComputerVision #Healthcare #Recycling #Surgery
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A surprise call ☎️
...stressful, very painful, but... ...also very welcome... When this post goes "live", it's been about a week since the call happened. I missed it, as I was just enjoying some food, and I couldn't swallow it quick enough (and then got into a caughing fit). I saw it was a hospital, the one I was on a waiting list with for my hand surgery, so I decided to call back. I had emailed them the previous weekend, and I had asked for an injection in my hand, as the pain kept getting worse. So, I figured they maybe wanted to schedule something for that. And yes, they did want to schedule me in, but not for an injection! […]https://cynnisblog.wordpress.com/2026/08/10/a-surprise-call-%e2%98%8e%ef%b8%8f/
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AI YOU CAN PUT DOWN 💎
This TED talk by Scott Phoenix is well worth watching.
I agree with his central point: the relationship between #human beings and #AI will become increasingly close. AI can extend our intelligence, perception, memory and #physical reach in ways we have barely begun to explore.
In that sense, we are already merging.
Where I part #company with the presentation is the idea that this merging must eventually mean physically integrating AI into the #brain tissue of every #healthy human #being.
Why perform #surgery when increasingly seamless external devices can provide the same benefits while remaining removable, replaceable, freely chosen and far less invasive?
A #wheelchair extends the body's range.
A #telescope extends vision.
A #smartphone extends memory and communication.
A #robot avatar will extend our presence all the way to the Moon.
None of these needs to become part of our flesh to become part of our real lives.
I also do not think humanity is taking control of #evolution. We may gain more power to design our individual lives in the short term, but evolution has not stopped.
Evolution is operating the #tools through us.
So yes, I believe human beings and AI are merging functionally.
But merging does not have to mean implantation.
The most #intelligent technology may be tech we can still put down.
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Top amputation surgeon had own legs removed due to fetish. Were patients safe?
Comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49137808
#HackerNews #amputation #surgeon #fetish #patients #safety #extreme #surgery #ethics
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He's BAAAACK!
Standing up is very difficult but once up with help, he was able to do his business in the yard.
Thank you for all who wished us luck, we need it. But we did it once recently, so we will do it again!#TGIF #dog #dogs #DogsOfMastodon #AdoptDontShop #rescuedog #photography #FujiFilm #healthcare #surgery
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What went right this week: the good news that matters
https://web.brid.gy/r/https://www.positive.news/society/good-news-stories-from-week-31-of-2026/
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So...the day has come. Kengo has had his left leg ACL tear repair surgery today. For those who don't know the story, he had had similar surgery on his right leg in early May. The vet says everything went well and he is ready to be picked up tomorrow. It will be another long recovery period to follow while this old dad's body will be abused while assisting him with mobility, etc.
I do hope this is the last surgery he needs🙏#dog #dogs #DogsOfMastodon #AdoptDontShop #rescuedog #photography #Pixel10Pro #healthcare #veterinary #surgery
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3,000 Backlogged Eye Surgeries Paid Forward by US-Caribbean Churches, Restoring Sight for Thousands
