Does anyone have one intermediate and one near distance Toric IOL
Posted , 6 users are following.
I have been doing a lot of searches but have not come across this combination. I had a carl zeiss toric lens set for intermediate distance put in my left eye after cataract surgery in 2013 in Australia. I now need my right (dominant eye) done.
I am living in the US and my ophthamologist I have seen here uses Alcon toric lenses. He said I could have either distance or near but that it was up to me.
Has anyone had the combination of toric IOLs with intermediate and near distance?
Also, i have not met my deductible on my insurance so have been quoted $3500 - $5000 for the surgery and $1400 for the lens. Does this sound ballpark price?
Thanks for any input
0 likes, 15 replies
soks barbara88871
Posted
US does not have the Zeiss lenses. I would suggest you fly to OZ and get the Zeiss LARA to match your intermediate lens.
BobDob barbara88871
Posted
I ended up with one eye at intermediate and one at distance, but think I might have preferred intermediate and near. Before, my glasses were always there on my nose when I needed to see distance. Now, I have to seek out my readers when needed for small type. That being said, I might have been just as ambivalent if I ended up intermediate/near.
I don't know what the surgery would have cost without insurance. I ended up paying about $2500 for each surgery (including monofocal lens) because I had a $1000 deductible and needed LRIs to correct astigmatism. What I didn't think about was having both surgeries during the same year. Had I done that, I would have saved $1000 from not having to meet the second year deductible.
Sue.An2 BobDob
Posted
Funny how we don't sometimes time those insurance things. Made same mistake with daughter's braces. Claimed out of pocket on tax return and hot a bit back. Maybe you can get a bit of your's back that way too?
BobDob Sue.An2
Posted
I'll see about the taxes at the end of the year, but I don't have much hope. Here in the U.S., I believe it used to be that you had to have over $7000 in health care expenses to claim them. I don't know if the tax changes (they called them "cuts") over a year ago affected that, but I ended up paying more taxes in 2018 (and I'm not talking about a smaller end-of-year refund).
barbara88871 BobDob
Posted
thanks for your response. I have decided to go with distance as my dr said the right eye would be blurry for distance if i chose near. I already have reading glasses (and a pair for distance for the theatre). Its a shame I didnt get to try out the options with contacts before my cataract got this bad. I will get the toric lens as I also have astigmatism
BobDob barbara88871
Posted
Hope all goes well with you. Distance is a good choice if you are comfortable using readers. With your right eye results close to plano, you should have a large range of focus starting with the near/intermediate vision your left eye currently provides.
My astigmatism was in the range where LRIs are recommended instead of toric lenses. Insurance providers find it in their financial interest not to consider astigmatism correction medically necessary, so I had to pay extra because of the LRIs and you are paying more for the toric lenses.
barbara88871
Posted
i have now decided to get the near distance alcon toric lens.
my right eye with the cataract has become near sighted and i find i am loving not using glasses.
I figure that my distance wont be any worse than now as my left eye compensates.
Surgery is in 2 weeks
sstephen832 barbara88871
Posted
I'm on day 11 after my second toric implant lens for cataract surgery. My 1st surgery was for my right/dominant eye on October of 2017. Back then I went with a distant toric implant lens. Eleven days ago I had surgery for my left eye. I went with an intermediate toric implant lens. Both chosen after discussions with my surgeon/ophthalmologist. I can not be happier with the outcome.
After my first cataract surgery in 2017 with the “distance” toric implant lens, I quit using any contacts or reading cheaters because my vision was that good- both distant and close up for reading. After discussing and testing with my ophthalmologist we chose an intermediate lens for the second cataract surgery in my left eye. I'm typing this reply while I'm doing my eye drops for post-op. I'm happy to report; no reading glasses, no contact lenses, no squinting, no cloudy vision.
Night-Hawk sstephen832
Posted
Excellent - your situation sounds similar to my own. I also got a toric monofocal IOL for my right eye back in Oct 2017 set for distance focus. My left eye doesn't need surgery yet (vision still corrects to 20/15 with glasses) so probably have to wait several years for that eye. But I too am considering for the left eye when the time comes a toric IOL set for intermediate focus for good computer monitor and smartphone focus of about 20" or so.
What was your left eye Rx target around -1.25D? Will be interesting to what you end up with in that eye after 6+ weeks of healing time. Please keep us updated here in this thread with your progress and results including what distance from your eye you can focus with the intermediate left eye.
barbara88871 Night-Hawk
Posted
this is my readout from the optometrist
barbara88871
Posted
Thank you for your input
I i can read up close with my right eye. Blurry from 20 inches on . This is the eye that needs surgery.
With the eye that I have had done, I can read my phone at arms length and see distance, but not extra sharp. I use distance glasses if sitting in the back section at a play or concert to sharpen it.
Im basically hoping that with the near toric lens, I can still read with no glasses and use my distance glasses if i need it sharp in the distance
barbara88871 sstephen832
Posted
Wow that sounds great I was going to go with distance for the second one but my dr said I would need reading glasses .
Anyway hopefully with the near lens I will still get some distance. At least more than the blurriness from the cataract now .
soks barbara88871
Posted
hi barbara
thanks for posting the optometrist readout.
if you set your right eye for near you will probably need -2.5 glasses for distance. distance will be significantly blurry with that much correction much more than someone with natural myopia of -2.5.
Night-Hawk barbara88871
Posted
That makes sense with your posted optometrist auto refraction results.
Right eye is -2.75D which is close to what reading glasses would provide with a distance eye. Left eye is -1.00D which should be intermediate focus like for a computer monitor at 24" or so, so indeed arm's length viewing but distance beyond 20feet would be blurry about 20/40 or so. Thats what I would want for my left eye in the future to go with the right eye set for distance focus.
barbara88871 soks
Posted
Thanks for the reply. My dr said if I set it to near it will be blurry in the distance but not as much as it is now with the cataract . As I get around now without distance glasses (my brain must use my left eye) I am hoping it will be much the same after surgery.