Definitely an Ey(en)hance for me!

I thought I was going blind before, wearing my glasses, and even at times with my contacts; everything was so shaded and blurry. My prescription a year ago was -13 D (left eye), and -12.5 D (right eye), with about -1.0 of astigmatism. It used to be stable for the past decade at around -11.50 D (LE) and -10.25 D (RE) until at least a year ago. I went in for my bi-yearly checkup (instead of yearly thanks to Covid and OHIP ripping off optometrists in Ontario), and my optometrist couldn't figure out why I wasn't get my usual sharp distance vision with gas permeable contact lenses -- my eyes kept fluctuating a lot just in the hour I was there, so she did more tests and discovered early stages of cataracts. Because of my high myopia, these cataracts were really messing with my vision, despite being relatively early on in terms of developing. She sent me to a cataract clinic, who started the ball rolling -- as into my deep dive into the dark recesses of the world of IOLs, lol. Choices, choices, and yet more choices... yet still somewhat of a crapshoot in the end.

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I had the cataract replaced in my first eye (RE) yesterday (06-03-23) with an Eyhance IOL targeted to -1.25 D. Just prior to yesterday's surgery on the right eye, I discussed it again with the surgeon who was thinking of -1.25 to -1.50 for that eye (RE), but I told him that I didn't want to take the chance of going as high as -1.50, but was okay with -1.25 if he could hit that. He responded that the increments for this lens was .33 to .50 and that he would do his best, but it wasn't an exact science (actually felt good to hear him say that, lol). He wasn't sure until he opened the eye(s) and used the ORA scan whether or not he'd need to use a Toric lens, but which he did ending up using for my right eye. I'm scheduled to have the left eye done tomorrow (08-03-23) with another Eyhance lens, with a target of -0.50 D (see first comment).

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I was given three eye drop prescriptions to fill the week before my surgery (an antibiotic, an anti-inflammatory, and a steroid), and instructed to start the first two the day before surgery and then again the morning of the surgery -- didn't start the steroid til afterward. I'm supposed to use the antibiotic for a week, and the other two for a month after the surgery. On the day of the surgery itself, I was given a combination of drugs via IV to just relax me during the surgery (not to put me out), and they put seven types of drops in my eyes prior to surgery (antibiotics and for freezing) -- all of which I was told about, and given handouts about, weeks before the surgery itself. They had also required that I fill out a detailed list of previous medical conditions, and any prescription medications I was on. After they took me into the surgery room, they applied more drops, then the surgeon draped a protective shield over my face and upper body, and then he cut an incision in the shield over my eye and inserted some other type of protective wrap around the area. He did the insertion by hand instead of using the laser system "package" (which cost another $1100 CAD which I couldn't afford). A lot of what this laser package does was already done in the pre-op tests already. The surgeons usually do the insertion of the lens by hand anyway when cataract surgery is done in a hospital in Canada, at least, since most hospitals aren't equipped with that level of technology, so my surgeon wasn't bothered by me not paying for the extra tech.

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The surgery itself, was both weirdly cool and unnerving. They shine a bright light into the eye being operated upon (the other eye is covered by the surgical shield), and although my eye was completely frozen, I was worried that I'd be aware of the knife cutting into my eye, or the surgeon breaking up the old lens, but I wasn't aware of either. It seemed only maybe five to ten minutes before I was told to look at a red light, which was the ORA taking a scan of my opened eye, which meant the part I was worried about was already done. I'd been instructed to keep looking straight up to where the light (mostly) was, and at times I could see what looked like small shards floating above me (the broken lens??) and even after the lens must have been removed, I still had a sort of "ghost" image of the surgeon sitting beside me -- I could see his outline, but the "filler" was grey. So can we actually see something even without our eye's lens? It didn't seem to take very long before the surgeon said, "Okay, we're done, you can close your eye if you want.". I'd been told the actual surgery took about twenty minutes, and it looks like it was. When I sat up, of course I felt kinda woozy and since my pupil was huge from all of the drops they'd put in it, so the vision was blurry (completely blurry in my left eye since I wasn't wearing glasses), and they assisted me walking out to the recovery room where they went over again, what to expect, about following the rest of the eye drop schedule, what to be concerned about, and what I could and should not do for the next two weeks. I was given a pair of black sunglasses that I was told to always wear outside for the next two weeks, whether it was sunny out or not.

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I was able to walk out of the clinic about ninety minutes after I'd first entered the clinic, accompanied by my support person. Vision was of course still blurry, and my depth perception was wonky, but I could still see a lot better than when I walked in wearing my thick glasses early. Hours later after I'd gotten home, just out of interest, I put the lens of my glasses up to my left eye (-13.0 D) and opened the "new" right eye to look into the mirror at the same time, and immediately wished that I hadn't -- I almost threw up. So definitely no wearing of glasses with a lens removed for me. In general though, after the surgery yesterday, and today, there was very little discomfort in the surgery eye itself. It felt like there was maybe a tiny bit of something in the eye, but nothing that made me want to rub it, or feel that I needed to flush it out, etc -- pretty minimal. It took til this morning for the pupil to return to it's regular size (about 2mm), so my vision was a lot more stable today. I've been putting lubricating eye drops in my eye after I finish the prescription drops, so my eyes aren't feeling dry or itchy at all -- though from what I've read, that could change. I had bought a pair of non prescription (plain glass) glasses to wear around until I got used to the new eyes -- and to protect them from dust or anything else that might fly around, especially since I was told to be careful to not rub my eyes for at least three weeks, as I could dislodge the new lens). So earlier today, I cut out a piece of a Kleenex box to fit into the left lens of them, and I'm preferring that to the completely blurred vision from my left eye messing with the good vision in my right eye. Depth perception is better this way, as is looking at the computer screen or anything else.

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And oh yeah, have I mentioned yet, how amazing it feels to have the pretty much sharp, clear, vibrant vision that I'm experiencing today in at least one eye!!! I am so very happy with this lens and my current results. Although my near vision isn't quite what I had hoped for (maybe 8"), as is my distance vision (seems about 20/40 right now - was hoping for 20/30), this is only the first day after the surgery, and right now, if it even stays at what it is, I'll be as happy as can be, especially with the left eye being targeted tomorrow more towards distance. Definitely a game changer for my life! Thanks to everyone here who contributed towards my final choices, whether you're aware of it or not. Sorry if this is too long, but I was trying to give a full cohesive picture.

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My vision (right eye) first day after surgery...

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Sharpness (print):

• I can read the letter sized page I hung on the wall containing a multi-coloured chart for my eye drops pretty clearly at 5' (print: black on white, black on medium yellow, white on medium teal, and white on medium brick red). Not sure what size the fonts are but the chart fills about 2/3 of the page vertically, and 3/4 horizontally.

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• Reading print via my computer browser zoomed to 110% is sharp and clear from about 19" to over 40" (using a MacBook Pro laptop - screen size 15" / 1680 x 1050 resolution). Decreasing the zoom to 90% still gives me sharp print (black on pale grey) over the same distance. I just reduced the font size in my menu lists from 15pt to 13pt which is sharp and clear.

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  Overall clarity:

• Contrast quality in daylight is excellent, even in a dimly lit closet, as is image clarity. Contrast was still good inside the house as the sun started to go down (around 5:30 pm EST). Colours are true. The pictures on my walls are full of detail and the subtleties are easy to see (now from about seven feet with right eye only). I used to do desktop publishing and design as well as make my own clothing, so I'm very particular about colours. I'm always correcting people about the subtleties between shades of colours.

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• Haven't been walking outside in the dark yet, depth perception is too off between the two eyes until I get the second eye done. HOWEVER, I'm noticing a huge drop in contrast, and vision in general, in an almost completely dark room. I'm used to walking around in near darkness in my home, but I just walked into the living room with my left eye blocked, and closed the blinds before turning on a lamp, and could hardly see anything in the room. If I hadn't already known that there was a brown coffee table sitting about a foot in front of me, I wouldn't have known with the Eyhance eye at that level of light. When I removed the block from my untouched left eye, everything might have been blurry, but the contrasts in that dark room showed up far far better. I probably would be able to navigate that room far better with just my highly myopic blurry left eye then I would with just the new Eyhance eye. Whites looked mid grey and dark objects were almost undistinguishable. Good to know before I head outside with both eyes using the Eyhance lens. Unfortunately, this probably will not improve so I will need to make sure that I carry a flashlight at night. Sure hope it doesn't affect my night driving very much.

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• I haven't noticed any "transition" problems. The accommodation appears to be very smooth in this one eye. I'm not noticing any real delay in focus when say, looking up from the laptop screen to a picture on the wall (from 19" up to 60"), or even from the laptop screen to the light switch on the wall in the hall (from about 19" up to 10').

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  Near & Intermediate Vision: Can read my cellphone (6" screen) clearly at about 12". However, I can clearly see the small print on a small hand cream bottle (about 3.5" tall) from around 12" to 22". And interestingly enough, the instructions on the side of a large bottle of Tylenol are sharp and clear at 2'. Am needing cheap readers of about +1.75 for some closer things though.

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  Distance Vision: According to a printed Snellen Chart at 10', I'm about 20/40 for distance right now, although I can see some of the 20/30 line. My hallway is medium lit, and it's a little sharper when I turn the light on. My bird feeders are about 35' from where I sit on the deck, and they are pretty clear, not completely sharp, but I can determine what small bird is eating on them (couldn't do that with my glasses, which were only giving me barely 20/50 in the right eye -- left eye was blurry even at 20/100). I can even see the bird feeder at the back of the yard (approx 110') -- it's a little fuzzy, but I can see if something is sitting on a perch attached to it. The windows are pretty sharp on the two-story brick house behind me that's about 200' behind me. And I could read the street sign earlier this afternoon clearly at approx 35'.

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  Visual Distortions:

• Mild floaters started day after surgery:, which I expected as I had them before. They were only really noticeable before if I had been straining my eyes and not getting enough sleep. They got quite strong today after putting in the required trio of drops (see above), but then eased off considerably about two hours later to a mild occasional state again.

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• Noticing a small flickering to the outside bottom left of the right eye from time to time, mainly when in bright light (inside house), but it's not constant at all.

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• Light sensitivity increased, though I always have been sensitive and it was a lot better the next day, after my pupil had gone back to it's regular size (around 2mm). Needed to put on a pair of light tinted sunglasses to wear inside this morning when I first opened the blinds and curtains, but that eased off a couple of hours later. No distortions when looking at a bare led or fluorescent bulb.

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