My surgeon did not use an eye piece. I would have felt better if he had since even with my eyes dilated my pupils are on the small size. It was about a minute or two per eye. No discomfort during or afterwards.

As mentioned, I am disappointed about the rotating starbursts which I didn't have before but the long thicker maddox rod line is gone, and I think I will adapt to these starbursts if they are in fact permanent which I anticipate.

Regarding the macula pucker, I get relatively frequent retina checks because of my history with tears and had never been told I had a macular pucker before so whether the cataract surgery contributed to its development or its so mild that it was overlooked, I will never know. It's rather irrelevant and certainly age, past retinal issues, laser surgery etc can all be factors in its development. I read that about 20% of people 75 and older have a macular pucker and for most it won't require a significant visual consequence leading to surgery so I hope I fall in that camp.