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Both eyes at once

Posted , 7 users are following.

bmag78
bmag78

I'm scheduled for Symfony tecnis for cataract with astigmatism in my right eye in two weeks. My left eye will need it eventually. It makes sense for several reasons to do both eyes at the same time , work being one of them.

My left eye was the problem eye and the right eye carried the load but I had torn retina in the right eye ( successfully repaired) which wound up requiring a vitrectomy. Cataracts developed and right eye is worse

Does anyone have experience or recommendations about doing two eyes at once?

I want to stay with the same doctor but he can't do the second eye for three more months.

Thanks

0 likes, 41 replies

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  • LindaPG
    LindaPG bmag78

    Posted

    Hi Bmag78 and all others on this forum

    Thanks for the helpful information.  I am having cataract surgery on left eye with symfony toric tomorrow and then right eye two weeks later.   My surgeon is using the ORA system wavefront guided testing intraoperatively to evaluate my vision and help ensure accuracy of lens placement.   I am curious to know if any of you had the ORA or similar technology during surgery.  I am paying an additional $500 USD per eye for this.   I live in San Diego now (but spent my entire life in NY).  II am really nervous about this surgery tomorrow but am feeling a bit better after reading the postivie outcomes mentioned here.   I will give you an update in a few days and let you know how things go.   

    • agnes90839
      agnes90839 LindaPG

      Posted

      Hi Linda, regards from the Scottish Highlands all the way to San Diego.

      If you have bad eyesight you have to have that sorted, your sight is important, your eyes are important.  Please ley us know what you decide and how things go afterwards for both eyes.

      Best wishes and regards Agnes

    • bmag78
      bmag78 LindaPG

      Posted

      Hi Linda

      Perhaps I'm a bit too trusting but I don't know how my doctor arrived at his conclusions. I deferred to his experience and recommendations.

      But I will say that it's obviously normal to be nervous about your eyes but it seems , in my experience here and elsewhere , like everyone is glad to have done the procedure. It also seems like there have been some issues that we've all had. I'm only two days removed from one eye and three weeks from the next. I'm thrilled about the first and if the second procedure is as good as the first I will be ecstatic.

      Some side effects seem to develop later but everyone's experience seems to be positive.

      Do your best to relax. I'm sure you're in good hands and I hope you're as satisfied as I am. I would say good luck but I'm sure your doctor's training removes the element of luck lol.

      Check back please.

    • softwaredev
      softwaredev LindaPG

      Posted

      I'm guessing you won't see this before surgery given when that was posted. The thing to remember is that there are > 20 million cataract surgeries a year worldwide and most have great results. There are far  fewer with premium lenses, but the vast majority are still happy with those results.

       I was fortunate enough not to have enough astigmatism worth to require a toric lens so I hadn't researched the issue in detail. The last I'd seen anything about it there was debate over whether ORA was worth the extra cost, but I don't know if its proven itself yet (the same is true of laser cataract surgery).  If its just used to rotate the lens to the correct position it seems there is no harm  in using it. 

      There was some debate regarding using it not just to rotate the lens, but to   make any minor tweaks regarding the final choice of lens power after the natural lens is removed. The eye's state at that point is rather different than usual so they weren't sure that was a good time to make changes, but at most that would likely mean some trivial difference in lens power.

       

      Regardless, there is never a guarantee they'll exactly correct the refractive error, even an exactly placed toric lens can rotate or be the wrong sphere power. If they don't then usually laser correction is an option to finish the job if its off a little bit. (though that can require dealing with correction for 2-3 months waiting to be sure the   vision has  stabilized before they make a permanent change via laser).

  • LindaPG
    LindaPG bmag78

    Posted

    Thanks for all your good wishes.   I had the left eye done yesterday and all went well.  I had no pain or discomfort.   This morning I went back to surgeon to remove bandage and I was amazed that I had 20/20 distance vision in the surgical eye!   I have worn glasses for distance and astigmatism for the past 30 years   My intermediate vision is pretty good too.  Although I can see close with this eye, words are blurry.and I cant actually read without using my right eye which still requires my progessive eyeglass.   I have been wearing my eyeglasses all day but the left glass lens was removed this morning to accomodate the surgical eye.   I do however see the halos when i look at lights.  I    This is only day one so hopefully I will see improvement as the days go by.  Best wishes to all of you.  
    • agnes90839
      agnes90839 LindaPG

      Posted

      Hi Linda, I am following responses to cataract op on this site, usually they are not so good, it is such a pleasure to read posts like yours that it has gone well, the halos will go so dont worry, please let us know how the second one goes please

      Regards Agnes

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