Cataract Surgery post op

interesting. I hope my doctor will make some of these suggestions. Do you know if I can wear contacts Igbo I had Lasik 20 years ago?

I’m so glad I have this forum to bounce things off of. This has sent me into a depression. I know it hasn’t even been a week for me and y’all are saying it takes 3-4 weeks for vision to stabilize. Why then, is my intermediate distance vision crystal clear? It seems that if my mid distance has stabilized then my distance has too. I’ve been glasses free since my Lasik,  therefore I don’t have a backup pair of glasses laying around to help me see to drive.  Right now I see best at 3 feet in front of me. Still need low grade readers for up close which I don’t mind. I’m so torn because part of me wishes I didn’t have the cataract surgery because I saw better at distance even with the cataract and that is the distance most important to me. Again, I so appreciate you all trying to help me through this. 

Diane when is your next appointment?  Unfortunately it does take time for vision to stabilize and for some the drops they have you on (antibiotic and steroid) can cause blurring for people.  

Another possibility is that the target wasn’t achieved and you are more nearsighted.   If that is the end result your surgeon can target the other eye for distance and you’ll be able to see well at most distances with exception of fine print.

But the best thing to do is wait it out for 3 or 4 weeks.  It is better to know where that first eye has settled before having the 2nd surgery.  Do you have time off right now or having to work?

I feel ya Diane. I was definitely depressed and angry too. I have probably 6 pairs of readers. 3 from previous prescriptions and then over the counter glasses as well. I attend a book club and would bring 3 different reading glasses to try to get through. Things changed daily for me, so stick in there. It will improve and you will find the right solution to next eye when things settle. 

For me, it has been a huge lesson in patience. And I choose to look at how grateful I am, for the things I do have, to help lift my spirits. Glad you are here too. It helps me to share with you  

Oh and with the ya’ll statement. Where are you from? I’m in Florida  

Julielyn, lol..... no I’m from Michigan.  I went to type you all and y’all came up through autocorrect so I just left it. Patience is not one of my strong suits, not in the least. I’m hoping that he will at least give me a contact to get me by until my next surgery. It seems i read somewhere that those of us who had Lasik had a more difficult time getting fitted for contacts. 

SueAn, I am originally from Windsor, Ontario. Are you anywhere near there? 

For peace of mind I called my doctors office this a.m. to ask if they indeed did use a standard lens set for distance and she confirmed that they had.  

SueAn, I hope you are correct in that the can target better for distance when they do the second eye. My worry is that even if they target for it, as they attempted this time, it still may not work. 

Thank you so much ladies!❤️

Diane - I have been to Windsor Ontario.  Lived most of my life in Montreal Quebec and now live in New Brunswick.

OK, so if your vision in your eye stays at that point, focus at about 3feet thats probably about -0.75D or so.  There is always about a 0.50D error possibility due to that the IOLs come in 0.5D increments, also there is always variance in how the cornea of the eye heals for each individual which can end up with a little astigmatism introduced. So you are probably still in that error range, since cataract surgery is never exact.

However your vision can still improve in the coming weeks and months as the eye heals more it did for me.  The first week after surgery I was around 20/40 distance vision and a few weeks later it was 20/25 or better. So I advise being patient still.

Thank you, Night Hawk. I sure hope so (even though I had Lasik surgery all those years ago) 

Yes it is!😃

I would love to be in Florida right now. 

So, can I ask you what you did for your distant vision after the cataract surgery didn’t work out as you were hoping? 

I cannot believe the issues people have with cataract surgery. I’d always heard it was one of the simplest most common of surgeries. 

Well, cataract surgery has a high success rate. But they don't define "success" in this case as getting close to perfect refraction, just low risk of complications that could hurt eyesight even with glasses.

They don't guarantee you will be glasses free, the best that can be hoped for is getting close to the target, but have to plan it will be off somewhat and require glasses or contacts to get the best vision.

Agreed.   It doesn’t guarantee target or glasses free.  I think the surgeons in their consultations should be more straightforward and set realistic expectations.   There is a high success rate and it sure is better than what I remember my grandmother had done for cataracts!   

Night Hawk and SueAn, I guess when you put it that way it makes  sense. What I still can’t figure out is on the first days follow up I was at 20/20. This gave me incredibly false hope

For everyone it is do different.  My first day was something out of the twilight zone.  Streaks of lights at odd angles off every light.   I had read some accounts were everything was clear right from the surgery.   First eye had a very painful eyelid and second surgery no pain at all.  First eye cleared faster than second eye.  That’s why we ate all saying there is no norm.  Even eyes on same person can be different.  The drops prescribed also impact people differently.   

That is why doing the surgeries too close together is not a good plan either. Much as it’s hard  to wait - the time will

pass.   And you’ll get through it.

Thank you for your input and suggestions! Just very nervous and depressed. Praying for answers on Friday.

Diane,

I read through your comments. Like Nighthawk said, if you're clear at 3ft, you're probably less than 1D off. Since your vision is still not necessarily "final", if you don't want to pay for an expensive pair of glasses you can try some over the counter ones. Go on Amazon and search for nearsighted glasses and buy one pair at - 0.5D, another at - 0.75D, and - 1.0D (just make sure that they are negative nunbers). These are going to be lower quality lenses like readers but they are pretty decent actually. It you manage to get them all from the same vendor and with the same frame you can even pop out the lenses and create a custom pair (with different strengths for each eye).

If your vision changes use a different pair. I didn't even know that these existed, but when I had to go 7 days without contacts before my eye measurements and again before surgery, I suddenly realized that I couldn't use the computer and I needed to work.

I didn’t know you could purchase distance glasses on amazon.  Yes for those that have to work it really isn’t convenient to have to wait for both surgeries and try to figure something out in the interim.  With my 6 week wait between surgeries just poked out a lens from one side but had I have know I could get an inexpensive pair that may have been better.  Operated eye took over most things but it tired in those early  weeks 

I didn't know either until my first day without contacts when I sat in front of my computer with my glasses on and realized that I couldn't read the screen. I took off the glasses and the natural focus point was maybe 8" (also not viable). I ended up wearing readers over my normal "distance" glasses and this worked but was very difficult to keep centered (and also looked really silly). I then searched on "cheap prescription glasses" or something like that and stumbled on them and they worked very well for me. I was able to create a pair with different strengths so that both eyes functioned.

I'm not sure what to do when I finally have to do surgery on my other eye though as the difference between the two eyes will be too great for my brain to cope with. At the moment, if I take the contact out of my left eye and put on glasses, the image is too small compared to the one with my IOL. 

I did some testing by stacking - and + lenses for the eye with the IOL and compared it to the other eye and I think that I'd eventually be able to come up with a configuration where the image sizes are close enough that I can tolerate it. If this works. I'll probably glue the two lenses together to create a lens "sandwich". It only has to work for two 1-week periods so not too bad. 

 

 

Sounds like you have had to try a number of options to balance your eyes.   It must be a month now since you had the Restor lens implanted?  Are you able to see at all distances clearly?   I recall there was an issue with eyes adjusting to a change in focal point when reading and then changing to distance.  Hope that is resolving itself.  The moderator removed a link I sent you on that.   There was an article on vision aware.  Suggestion there to vary focal points to train your brain do to speak.  Hard to do if you work.  I spend so much time in front of a computer that it can take a few blinks to adjust to another focal point.  Sounds like it’s been hard to balance the eyes - and not needing to have surgery on your 2nd eye a solution must be found to live with comfortably.  

Hello Sue. An,

I think my stability has improved over the past few days, after I ended 2 of the 3 eyedrops. I've also been trying to stop and focus at different distanced periodically during the day and that's helped a bit too.

I haven't worn glasses at all through since surgery except for reading glasses once or twice while reading small text on drawings.

Today was a more mixed task day for me, several meetings and less computer work, and at 11pm distance vision is great,so I'm pretty sure that improvement will continue and maybe so many consecutive hours on the computer so soon after surgery wasn't the best idea.

My comments on glasses were related to the "no contact wearing periods" before surgery (which will be tougher for the next eye). That's how I found out about those inexpensive glasses. I haven't needed them since the surgery because my eyesight eventually recovers and I always have perfect distance vision with the other eye.

For someone who maybe missed their target but who's vision might still be gradually changing, I think they might be helpful and much cheaper than paying for multiple pairs of glasses.

Hi Derek, WOW! You seem to really know your stuff. I was trying to follow you but I got lost in the back and forth. So just so that  I’m understanding you correctly, are you saying I can buy distance glasses online through Amazon? I know I can get cheap readers just about anywhere. MY eyesight becomes blurry at about 3-4 feet. I am wearing a 1 strength reader for computer. 

Hello Diane:

Yes, go on Amazon and search for, "nearsighted glasses" of "distance glasses." Most of them will state something like, "these are not reading glasses." You want to make sure that they have negative values. They get down into similar price ranges as readers, a 4-pack for $10 but most of them are more expensive than that (especially for the weaker ones).Based on having clear vision at 3 ft, I would like to have pairs from -0.5 up to maybe -1.25. You'll see that -1.00 and above is very easy to find. They do have companies selling the -0.5 and -0.75 strengths but they may take a bit longer to find and won't be Prime (they don't seem to pop up as high on the search list). A company called Southerns Seas has several styles in that lower range. You might also search for "distance glasses -0.75". They are about $15 a pair, but you could get (4) pairs at -0.5, -0.75, -1.0, and -1.25 and see which strengths work best for each eye. Try to get the exact same style, and ideally ones where the frame goes all the way around the lens. That way if you discover that you like -0.5 in the right and -1.0 in the left, you can pop the lenses out and create your own custom pair of glasses. 

These wouldn't be meant to be permanent. Your vision might be changing now and might even change from day to day (or hour to hour) and rather than spending several hundred dollars on new glasses which will only work for a few weeks, this is a much less expensive option. If you are lucky enough that your eyes are the same, you can end up using them like readers, maybe use a weak pair to watch TV and stronger pair for driving. LIke readers, they aren't made as well. The lenses are plastic and scratch so you have to me more careful.

They were a lifesaver for me though. During the week before my measurements and the week before my surgery I couldn't use the computer (since I had to take out my contact lenses). I had prescription glasses for distance but due to presbyopia, I could no longer see in the intermediate range (like a computer). I started by wearing readers over my prescription distance glasses and that worked but not very well. Then I found these glasses, bought several pairs and ended up making two custom strength versions, one for the computer and another for reading closer.  

Thank you Derek, very informative!

Hi Derek, any idea how I can get these glasses faster. I saw a pair on Amazon but the delivery date isn’t until April 6 or later. I don’t think they were eligible for Amazon prime. And you’re right the smaller numbers are hard to find