Diary Post Surgery Mono-focal lens
Posted , 10 users are following.
Hi All,
As a few of you know I had started a diary with a title indicating it was being kept for the days "prior to surgery". But now that I'm post surgery, and thinking the other title might be misleading at this point, I'm creating a new one for anyone interested. To recap, my procedure involved only my left cataract affected eye with my unaffected right eye being still good for near reading (about 10-18 inches distance). The surgeon recommended the left eye be set for distance with the strategy in mind of a mono-vision result. So here it is T+1. I've been taking my drops as instructed. After surgery yesterday, my surgeon told me all went well. I did notice for several hours after the procedure the vision in my operated eye remained a bit blurred. I chalk that up to it still being dilated. This morning I awoke to more clarity in my operated eye and it seems to have continued to improve throughout the day so far. I have to say it's a strange experience to see out of my left eye now. I do notice the colours are more vivid, the whites whiter, the blues not as purplish, than in my right un-operated eye. Distance vision seems quite good. Intermediate not as good, and of course reading not good (as expected). Honestly, I was hoping for better intermediate vision. I don't know if my intermediate vision will improve in the operated eye over the next few days (can it? I don't know) , or if some mono-vision magic will happen as it works along with my right eye... but my expectations aren't too high right now. I was a bit nervous from the beginning that there might be a range in the intermediate where both eyes wouldn't cover. It seems this may have been realized.
With all that said, I can probably go most of my day without needing glasses under today's conditions. I think for computer work or long reading sessions I'd need some correction of some sort. So depending on whether things settle in differently in the next couple of days or weeks and how motivated I am to want to change things up from here, I may explore what can be done with my right eye to get better intermediate without sacrificing too much of the near. I would prefer to have reasonably good vision from, say 18 inches and beyond.
My surgeon called a few moments ago, too, just as I began this post to see how I was doing. He seemed to suggest that my eyes will get "less cloudy" over the next few days, but I did tell him that things seemed quite clear as of right now. I am to schedule a follow up appointment in the next week or two. I intend to discuss strategies to obtain the intermediate distance I'm seeking. It may be that I need a contact lens in my right eye...I don't know. All in all, whilst not THE perfect situation at the moment, things are much better than prior to surgery.
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0 likes, 44 replies
indygeo
Posted
Day T+2. Late in the day here and things have not changed much since yesterday. Just enjoying my distance vision as I walked about town today. In regards to the drops I'm taking.. There's the anti-inflammatory (Yellox), an antibiotic, and another which is a corticosteroid. As I anticipated taking these drops over the next week or two or month I realized it would be a good idea to keep track of my doses via a table written on a piece of paper attached to my refrigerator. So each time I administer a drop, I put a tick mark for that day. At the end of the day I should have 2 tick marks for the Yellox and 4 ticks for the other two meds. I've committed myself to keeping on schedule as directed and leaving no chance for any negligence on my part. I keep thinking in my head about how I might address my intermediate vision in the future, whether through a contact lens, a laser procedure, or another monodical or Symfony lens. Hopefully my surgeon offers some good ideas on my post op checkup. That's all for now.. G'nite.
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indygeo
Posted
T+3 today. I did a bit of reading about mono-vision..various online articles. Seems it could take a couple of weeks and even more for the brain to adjust (if it adjusts) to this new scheme. One article said that one way to help move things along is just not to think about it. Don't, for example, close one eye.. then the other.. comparing the two visions. So that's what I've been trying (or not trying as the case may be) to do. Indeed, there were times today where my computer distance vision came info focus quite well for some continuous string of minutes. However, there is still this general underlying strain going on that is a bit bothersome. In order for my eyes to work together at near and middle distance, it's like I have to slip into some sort of trance or concentrated state so that the blurred image in whichever eye is the weaker fades out.
I'm not sure what the typical distance is where a mono-focal lens begins to give sharp vision, but mine seems to start around 2 1/2 feet away and continue on until, I don't know.. infinity I guess. So if anyone out there can tell me what that means, I'd be grateful... (i.e. am I at plano? or am I somewhere more like -0.50 or -1.00 in that operated eye?..or can it even be determined by that metric? I've no idea).
Seems I'm quite close to what I'm trying to achieve which is decent vision from around 18-20 inches and beyond. It will all depend on how accurate I can get my right non-operated eye tweaked I suppose. That's all for now. Have a great day.
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Sue.An indygeo
Posted
Funny how all articles talk about training your brain. I have been dealing with Tinnitus in my ears since a viral flu in January. The ringing I have read in some cases is permanent and it’s a matter of training your brain to ignore it. SO MUCH EASIER said than done.
You should really consider a Symfony Lens for the other eye targeted for intermediate. Less of a chance there being a gap. Withbsymfony thete is no dip in focus - the clarity is sharp through the the range of focus. Just my suggestion.
For now it is just a way to cope till other eye gets operated on. I recall the 6 weeks I waited being hard. I suffer migraines anyways so had a few more come my way then. But keep telling yourself it’s just temporary and you have a good result with first eye. Once 2nd one is done it’ll be much much better!
indygeo Sue.An
Posted
Hi Sue.An...Thanks for the advice. You are a valuable asset to this forum! Sorry to hear about your Tinnitus. I hope it's not permanent in your case. Definitely not easy to simply ignore. It's like saying "Don't think of a pink elephant riding a skateboard" (of course we will!).
I am indeed considering a Symfony lens set for some intermediate range. Certainly seems like a good (albeit expensive for me) option, both in theory and from the experience you've shared with it. I'm going to bring it up to my surgeon and see what he says. I personally like the idea. In fact, I'd considered implanting it initially rather than my mono-focal lens but then I reasoned that I'd prefer the more "conservative" option for my first surgery. The last thing I wanted was the risk of, say, major halos, inability to cope, and then a subsequent ex-plantation. I hate to think of worst case scenarios but that's where my mind was. But yes, under your Symfony strategy it does seem that I'd escape (maybe) some of the halo effects because a) it's in only one eye thereby perhaps minimizing the effect and b) it would, as you suggest, be set in towards intermediate.. so that may minimize halos as well.
With that said, I can also visualize (no pun intended) a fairly successful outcome from a mini-monovision strategy. I'm seeing quite well from 2 1/2 feet out to the sky in my left eye and there's some visual "information" even a bit further in... So I kind of feel like if my right eye was set just around -1.00 or so I might get some clarity at say, 18 inches and beyond such that all the blending would cover around 98% of my needs. I do think though, because your Symfony provides such a smooth range of focus, there'd be less chance of getting things wrong if you know what I mean. In my head it's somewhat analogous to a rifle vs a shotgun approach.. the rifle being trying to nail down a particular diopter target with a mono-focal, whereas I don' think I'd have to be quite as spot on with the Symfony because it covers a "range" of focus, if that makes sense.
I'm still holding out hope that I can arrive at a somewhat better situation than I'm in now.. Not that I'm not in a better situation than I was a week ago. I'm positively amazed at how much better my left eye is overall. I can finally see how many fingers I'm holding up.. I can see airplanes in the sky...I think I had about 10% functionality pre-surgery. Now, it's about where my vision was at 13 years old (apart from the near to intermediate vision). Just amazing.
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Sue.An indygeo
Posted
Sounds like you have an excellent surgeon. Always thought was key to outcome. If you want a safer bet and your surgeon hits the target right monofocal could be good alternative.
Life certainly easier when you can see properly.
indygeo
Posted
T + 5 days now from left eye surgery with mono-focal lens. Deep down I feel like I may not ultimately be able to cope with my current 'mono vision' situation as it is. The differences are too stark at around 2 diopters difference and I'm not getting much synchronization of the two eyes. It's not terrible, but it's not great. The main problem is that my right nearsighted eye is really only good for a range of about 6 or 8 inches at a reading distance from around 10 inches out to maybe 16 to 18 inches). On both sides of that my vision is pretty bad in that eye. At the same time, the circumstances give me hope because despite that limitation in my right eye, I can still appreciate the additional visual information that it DOES give, if even marginally, to the overall picture when both eyes are considered. I can imagine a scenario where if I get a mono-focal lens (or even maybe a Symfony lens) in that right eye, or a contact lens set for relatively near...then I'd have rather excellent results because such a situation would HAVE to add even more visual information from 12-14 inches out to distance which would be really nice for me and meet over 99% of my needs. I know this particular post may be a bit redundant as to some previous ones. I guess it's more to illustrate the back and forth thought processes I'm going through as I move forward in the process. Thanks for reading.
G
diane48177 indygeo
Posted
Hi indygeo, I am T+4 days out from having had my second eye done. Similar situation in that, doctor was aiming to give me mini monovision. I'm not sure how I'm going to like it. My first eye was intended for distance but because I had Lasik many years ago, they couldn't guarantee the result of distance vision and I ended up with great intermediate vision. So for the second eye, my surgeon tweaked the IOL to have a better distance result. It may be too soon to know but my distance vision is better in the left eye but I'm not getting that crisp sharp vision to where I feel comfortable driving. Not sure what to think at the moment.
indygeo
Posted
Day T+6 Today. I'm just writing because something strange is happening.. I'm not sure if this is going to be the way it is going forward, I'm probably just in a "zone"....but I've been on the computer for the better part of 2 hours and I'm seeing the screen really well. Since the surgery on my left eye, there was an intermediate distance that I just couldn't lock onto with my new mono-vision. What I'm experiencing now feels more comfortable than in the past few days. I do feel a bit of "pull" on my left eye though so maybe it's straining a bit but I think my brain is processing the visual information better. If I look at the screen one eye at a time the image isn't very crisp in either eye alone..but put together it's quite sharp. I'm finding the experience pretty strange.
I checked the instructions on my eye drops today and I'm pleased to know that two of the three meds are dropping off tomorrow. Then, I'll just have to continue on with one of them for another few weeks in decreasing frequency over the ending two of those weeks.
I still think ideally I'd like to shoot for mini-monovision but I'm liking this intermediate distance vision for now even if it's not as comfortable as I imagine it could be.
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Sue.An indygeo
Posted
indygeo Sue.An
Posted
Hi Sue.An! I may have spoken too soon yesterday... it's so strange.. I thought I was in fact adapting yesterday and today I'm finding it really hard to "lock in" visually on my laptop, for example. There seems to be a constant battle going on between the two eyes. As to my cataract or lack thereof in my, I assume you mean NON-operated eye, I've been told two things: 1) The NHS said they didn't detect any cataract at all..and 2) my surgeon on the other hand put me down for mild early stage cataract. He did say it could be potentially 5 years or more before I started seeing the effects of that. So suffice to say it's not a problem right now. The only issue with my right eye is that it's nearsighted and not quite in synch enough with my operated left eye. I'm definitely going to explore a contact lens trial. I've got my follow up appointment with my surgeon on Thursday afternoon so will be presenting all of this to him. Cheers!
G
Sue.An indygeo
Posted
Not at all strange that vision changes in first 5 or 6 weeks. It is why the recommended time to see an optometrist is 6 weeks after surgery as that’s when you can expect vision to be settled after cataract surgery.
Orkinman indygeo
Posted
My doctor set it for my RE to -1.0D. I started with good distance vision but not so good with computer screen distance (1.5 to 2 feet). But only after 4 days, today I have very good vision with my computer screen but weaker distance vision. I do believe it will take a few weeks at least to let the eye to settle.
indygeo Orkinman
Posted
Orkinman, Just wondering.. So have you had one eye done or two? Are you shooting for a mono-vision or mini-mono-vision strategy? My left eye is okay at just about arm's length....and my right eye is just good for about 10 to 16 or 18 inches maybe at present. Ideally, I'd prefer my right eye to see clearly from out from 18 to 26 inches or so, so that the two eyes can work together just a bit more. I'll probably experiment with contact lenses. And when you say that your distance vision is "weaker"...is it still useable? I ask because my right eye is really pretty bad at distance. I don't think I can even read 1 inch high print from 9 or 10 feet away. Pretty blurry.
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Orkinman indygeo
Posted
Hi indygeo, I had only one eye done for now. The other eye will be done in two weeks. I am very nearsighted before the surgery. Both eyes were about -6.5D. I thought about mini-mono-vision but I may not go down that path since my current operated eye is recovering well and I can see my computer screen and drive to work without big issues. These two are my main targets. Even if I am a little nearsighted after the surgery, I'm totally fine with that. For my current distance vision on the operated eye, it is definitely useable even though it is not 20/20 (I think I'm at 20/40 right now).
I hope your eye will continue improving as time goes on.
al26912 Orkinman
Posted
Thanks
Orkinman al26912
Posted
Hi al26912, Now I have both eyes' surgeries done so I can see pretty good now. But when I just had one eye done, I couldn't really drive during the night. Both eyes couldn't really work together well (plus I had cataract on the to-be-operated side at that time). I did manage to drive during the day time without big issues but sometime I had to use only the operated eye to see. I tried to pop the glass out of my old glasses for the operated side but that was not helping at all (it was actually worse). Do you plan to wear contact on the LE? Since I never wear contact, I don't know if that will be a solution for you.
al26912 Orkinman
Posted