Just had cataract surgery a few days ago hellp!
Posted , 6 users are following.
Hello ya'll I just had one eye done on Tuesday. I was born blind in my one eye and my "good eye" was just done for cataract surgery. I am 40 and feel like my vision is WORSE. I was able to read my computer screen and text messages on my cell, now I can't see anything up close, I need readers. Even when I am watching TV it is cloudy. Does this get better. I do not see my doc again for another week. I am really nervous and regretting that I had this done per my doc suggestion. My model on the id card is ZCB00 DIOPTER +24.5D I am doing everything with the drops and followed all instructions. Please any input will be appreciated. This is a scary feeling 
0 likes, 5 replies
ali58534 bobbi52693
Posted
Can take a few days to settle. Everyone seems different. I could see to read the morning after surgery but when I went for my check up on day 1 there was a man who had the same ore surgery issue as me who like you couldn't see anything at all. Hope things in motive for you
softwaredev bobbi52693
Posted
I already posted a response to this on another page/thread, but I'll repeat it here:
Most people have good vision within a day or so, but others can take a few days or more for good vision, for their brains to adapt to the new lens or their eyes to physically heal from surgery. Is your distance vision worse, or merely your near? If your distance vision isn't good, it may be that the lens power is off (its usually accurate, but its not an exact science, its an estimate based on statistics) or it could be that your have residual astigmatism (which they can correct via glasses/contacts or laser if they think the risk is acceptible in someone with only one working eye).
If you never needed readers, that suggests you aren't old enough to have experienced presbyopia (as people do starting in their early to mid forties usually), so they should have discussed these issues with you. A young natural lens changes focus to see near or far by changing its shape which changes its lens power. That process is called accommodation, and the amount the lens power can change decreases with age. Somewhere in their forties people discover that if their eyes are corrected to have good distance vision, that they can't see as well really close in and need readers. The distance they can see clearly gets further out as they get older, so they eventually need readers for things at computer distance as well.
Cataract surgery replaces the natural lens with an artificial lens, an IOL (intraocular lens), and unlike a natural lens, most IOLs can't change shape, so they can't change focus to see better at near, they can't accommodate. Its like the loss of near vision someone elderly has experienced. Most people get a monofocal IOL during cataract surgery, a lens set to be good at only one distance. Usually its power is chosen to give someone good distance vision. How much nearer in they can see with a lens set for distance varies by person, but many doctors suggest a good guideline is that things start to get blurry from 6 feet inward. A small minority can do some reading held at further out distances, but most people aren't that lucky. A small minority are unlucky and have posted about their vision startingt to blurry at 10-12 feet out.
There are premium IOLs that people pay for out of pocket that can provide some more near vision than a monofocal lens. Unfortunately none of them is yet perfect, there is a small risk of side effects like problematic halos&glare at night. A very tiny % of people find the problems bother them enough that they get another surgery to exchange the lens for a monofocal. The surgery to do that usually gives great results, but every surgery involves risks.
I suspect that since you only have one working eye, that surgeons are more cautious about risking any problems with it. i suspect they wouldn't want to take the risk of giving you a premium IOL, so they probably didn't even mention the option to you. The odds are minuscule that you'd wind up losing vision in that eye from a lens exchange, and the odds are tiny you'd even want a lens exchange, but it is a risk, and many sugeons are conservative.
It is good to keep perspective, that unfortunately you did need the surgery, or would have eventually. If a cataract isn't treated, it would have gotten worse and eventually left you blind in that eye.
bobbi52693 softwaredev
Posted
Thank you again everyone. I am just learning all the "terms" and have found a ton of support on here. I sincerely appreciate everyone taking time out of their busy day to respond. I have a monfocal lens and yes I have Astigmatism still. I can now see better distance when viewing the eye chart, but my vision is still cloudy when watching TV or whatever. And as I said if my phone or computer is front of me, I cannot make out anything without the readers. It scared the heck out of me at first but I am feeling better knowing my cataract was treated and even though I now will have to wear glasses all in all this will benefit me all around. Just hoping things "clear" up literally
softwaredev bobbi52693
Posted
Yup, unfortunately the cataract needed to be treated or your vision would have continued to get worse until that eye went blind. Although losing near vision is unfortunate, it is also something you'd have needed to deal with when you got older due to presbyopia, even if you hadn't had a cataract. Its a shame to need to deal with it, but its possible and something people get used to.
Another issue is that how much of a range of near vision you have partly depends on the lens power they inserted. If the lens power is off it could leave you nearsighted (reducing distance vision) or farsighted which might reduce the already limited near vision you get with a monofocal (while with a small amount still leaving decent distance vision). So if you are a bit farsighted, that could mean even TV distance (whatever that is for you) is a bit blurry without wearing correction.
The lens power isn't based on an exact formula, but just statistics based on the eye measurements of past patients. Its usually fairly accurate for those who had low (or no) prescriptions beforehand,but not always, and there is more of a risk of the power being off for those who had high prescriptions beforehand. Also most IOLs only come in power steps of 0.5D (though some are 0.25D) so the power won't be exact.
I'm wondering if they were concerned about giving you good distance vision since you only have one eye, and made sure that if things were off, they'd be off in the direction of being a bit hyperopic in hopes of retaining good distance vision. Or it may be the lens didn't leave you farsighted, but you are unlucky enough to have less than average range of vision with it. It could be that even with a monofocal lens your visual system will take a bit of time to get used to not being able to accommodate and make the best use of the range of vision it does have.
Many people use bifocals or trifocal glasses to more conveniently provide vision at multiple distances (if you have good distance vision the top part would just be a clear lens). There are also varifocals/progressive glasses (they are called progressives in the US, varifocals sometimes in the UK and some other places) which don't have lines on them but have different parts of the lens set for different distances.
I don't know if they risk contact lenses for someone with only one good eye, though the risk is small, since there are also multifocal contact lenses now that provide better vision over a range of distances without the need to look in different directions the way you do with glasses that are multifocals. Contacts have gotten much better over the years, and especially the daily disposable lenses are likely low risk. The tradeoff with multifocal contacts is that they split the light into multiple focal points (distance and near) which can lead to poorer vision in dim light (e.g. trying to read the menu in a dimly lit restaurant), though I got used to it and didn't find it a problem, much preferring it to progressive glasses or other options.
Astigmatism can make things blurry, though minor amounts don't have much of an impact, so it depends on how much if its an issue. You can either wear correction for it, or they can correct small amounts of it via incision (blade or laser). That is considered a minor procedure sometimes done right at the sort of slit lamp a doctor examines you at. Since the incision is just on the surface, its not as involved as cataract surgery where they go inside the eye, so its low risk and cheap. It might be they'd be cautious in your case with just one good eye.
caroline33921 bobbi52693
Posted