Measurements for the lens before cataract surgery

I have toric lens for my LE and the soft Acuvue for the RE. What kind of implant lenses did you end up getting with your surgery? Monofocal or bifocal? I am not sure which would work well for someone with such severe myopia like myself.I am also getting consult with the retina specialist this week

I went with a Tecnis toric monofocal lens for both eyes. I did a mini monovision, with my right eye corrected for mid range vision and my left dominate eye corrected for distance. I also had to visit a retinal specialist and he advised me to not go with a multifocal lens.

That's good to know. How do you like that combination/results of the surgery? What's the difference between monovision and mini monovision?

All you guys are lucky. I made the mistake of having my eyes lasered (PRK) when I was in my 60s which is not recommended at that age because of cataracts, but I didn't know and the surgeon never told me. Apparently, because of the PRK, they can't get exact measurements. Luckily, my RE was done with no complications and good intermediary vision on Oct 16. I can now read with that eye at 2.50 power whereas before I needed 3.25. I was also severe myopic and wore contact lenses, but I kept getting calcium deposits on my lenses. Now I'm waiting to get my LE done on Nov 13 and she mentioned mini-mono and asked me if I wanted far or close vision. I crochet and have a shop online but I also need far vision to take the bus. Such a hard decision. Couldn't make up my mind, so she chose far for me. So maybe with just a slight correction for far, I'll be ok. So I would like to know also Cazms53 or anyone else how it went with this same combination?

Thank you.

For the most part, I like it and think I made the best choice for me. I love having both distance and intermediate vision without the need for correction for most of my daily activities. The exception is any close work which requires me to use an over-the-counter 2.0 reader. I know many myopic people do not want to give up their close vision but, without contacts or glasses, my pre-surgery close range of clear vision was really only 6 inches or closer from my face. It wasn't a very useful range.

I'm sure someone here can explain it better than I can, but with a mini-monovision there is a smaller diopter difference between the eyes which makes it easier for most people to adapt. You can choose to have good distance/intermediate vision or good intermediate/close vision. With a full monovision, there is a larger diopter difference between the eyes, which gives you better near vision and distance vision. I don't know how this impacts the intermediate range. Not everyone is able to adapt to a full monovision. I hope someone will chime in here and give you a better explanation as I am very limited in my knowledge! What is your vision currently? I was a -10 prior to surgery.

I love to read, quilt, and do close handwork and I knew beforehand that choosing to go with distance/intermediate vision would most likely require me to use readers for near vision. I was okay with that but I was afraid that the readers would not give me crisp vision. I am happy to say, that is not the case! I see very well with my dollar store 2.0 readers. Yes, putting on and taking off readers throughout the day can be a pain but, as long as I can continue to do the activities I enjoy, it's a small inconvenience. When I am home, I typically wear a pair of readers like a headband so they are readily available. 😁

Hi,

Thank you so much for your post. I am very encouraged now with getting the mini-monovision intermediate and far. For years now, I've had to struggle between glasses for intermediate 2.50 for pc, preparing meals, etc., and the 3.25 glasses for close, so for me, needing glasses only for close would be sheer heaven. I didn't need any glasses to watch t.v. at about 7 feet. It was a real pain to pick up the wrong glasses all the time. I just hope that I can get good enough vision at close even if I have to go back to the 3.25 glasses. I don't know what happens if I'll need even stronger ones than that. I haven't seen any glasses at the drugstore stronger than 3.25, so I don't know if they make them. Then, I'd be in trouble. Right now, with this RE done, I can use 2.50 glasses for close. If the doctor gives me more distance in my LE, that means I may have to go back to the 3.25 well, I hope. It's a question mark at this point. I guess I'll have to wait and see what happens when the LE gets done tomorrow.

Good luck with your surgery tomorrow! I hope all goes well and you are pleased with the outcome. I hope you will post an update and let us know how you are doing.

Yes I will post an update. I don't ask for perfect. All I wish for is being able to read the signs outside, and if I need glasses only for close, I'll be in heaven! Thank you so much for your well wishing message cazms53.

Its -12 in LE and -9 in RE

Hi,

How or where do you get those numbers? I'm really interested to know. All I know about are the numbers on readers. Also, I've seen numbers like 20/40. I know that 20/20 is perfect vision. What do they mean?

These numbers are the ones that go on glasses prescription and contact lenses( they are on the box) - the bigger the number the more nearsighted you are

-12 and those numbers are diopter, like you also were somewhat myopic before laser surgery if I remember correctly.

20/20 and so on is the result you get in a vision test. For comparison you could say the numbers have to do with distance and text size, even that is is not quite right, but close enough.

20/20 is considered to be normal vision for a healthy person with no eye problems, but some people even have better vision from nature, some are seeing 20/16 or better.

This means that from the same relative distance (the "20" number) a normal vision would see text size 20 (20/20), but some have even better vision, and can see smaller text sizes 16 (20/16)or some even better.

And if you have less than normal vision, you need bigger text at the same relative distance, if you see 20/40 you need twice as big text to see it.

You can translate the numbers to %, I always do that, for me it is easier, but here in Europe we in general use other terms than US, where this 20/20 stuff comes from 😃

20/20 is 100%

20/32 is 63%

20/40 is 50%

Here in Denmark you need 50% to be able to have a drivers license, to put it into perspective.

Hi Danish,

Thank you for your message. Finally got it done 3 days ago on my left eye. I have to say Dr. Ziai, at the Eye Institute, General Hospital in Ottawa is a genius considering she didn't have the exact measurements to work with resulting from the PRK laser I had back in 2001 and also with the hole in my left eye and the exfoliation in my right eye.

I got what they call an Intraocular Lens Id Card, a lens implant identification card with an address from California, US. at the bottom left. It's a Sensar lens, Model AAB00 with a diopter of +20.0D. On the right it says 13mm, 6mm and a date 2022-08-23.

I had told her if I can get to need glasses only for reading I'll be happy. Although I was severely miopic at what I call arms' length vision all my life, the PRK gave me a full monovision with the RE for far and LE for near with no glasses needed. I know now that this was risky, but my brain did adapt. This worked for only a while and slowly dissipated over a short time and then finally where I needed 3.25 glasses for near and 2.50 for intermediate, but I could still see far not perfect but good enough. This was so frustrating eternally scrambling between the two often mixing them up. I thought if only I could need one pair, not two!

So now I am delighted that I can read on my pc, watch t.v. (at approx. 7') clearly, prepare meals, and everything around me in the house, colors bright, and still see far good enough to read all the signs outside and my bus coming. I do all my reading on the PC, dailies, etc. I'm more than delighted, it's like a miracle. I'm still struggling a bit to read on my pc but I expect this to become better with time and the brain adjusting.

We are creatures of habit, so we want whatever we're used to and we're all different. So, I can understand my miopic friends wanting near vision. I can actually remember a long time ago how I could see so clearly close-up, but I also realize that I can't have everything. I am so very thankful that I came out of this with no complication, clear vision, but I must apply a lot of Systane for dry eyes. This impacts my vision quite a bit.

So, Danish if you can help me a bit with these aforementioned numbers, I would appreciate that. What do they tell you? I wonder about the date. Thank you.

congrats on a successful surgery . Glad all turned out well for you

Hi

Happy to hear your surgeries have been successful.

The date is because for some strange reason, all iols must be used within 5 years from making. I don´t know why that is, but it is the same with all lenses, so I guess it must be some kind of rule within the business.

So the date is an expiring date, even that the lens will work until the day we don´t need it any longer.

+20.0 is the lens power, this is the lens power that your surgeon have calculated is the right one for your eye, all eyes are different, and need different lens powers.

13mm is the outer diameter, when it is not implanted, the lens have these small arms that extend like small springs.

6mm is the diameter of the actual center part that makes the picture that gets transferred to the retina in the back of the eye.

Hi Danish,

Thank you and all the others for all the info to all my questions. I now know a lot more than I did before. I will surely recommend this place to people to get knowledge on this subject.

Thanks again.

Hi Sue,

Thank you for the congrats. Yes, I'm most thankful there were no complications. I'm still struggling with the reading in the pc, but hopefully this will get better with time. My cataract left eye was more helpful to this vision before surgery because it had shorter vision. Now that she added distance to it, it's not as helpful but we'll see later what it does.