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Round 2 With Symfony IOL - my personal journey

Posted , 7 users are following.

Sue.An
Sue.An

Hi everyone- yesterday morning I had my 2nd cataract surgery.  Chose same IOL as first eye Technis Symfony extended depth of focus lens.

After surgery all  was very blurry and light refracted off every light source in weird angles.  Basically after taking the Ativan prior to surgery I spent rest of day and all night asleep till post op visit this morning with my surgeon. What a difference a day made.  I could see very well today.  My 1st eye operated on 6 weeks ago tested 20/20 (post op I read 30/30 but missed 2 letters).  I could read line under that one but wasn't asked to test for that.  Newly operated eye missed 3 letters in 20/20 line but once it settles I'm sure it will improve.

Two eyes reading together did well. (wasn't tested for that after first op as my surgeon says Symfony does that better together).  I could read all the way down reading chart except last line.  I can read at 13 inches away which surgeon found to be excellent. He will see me in 6 weeks once both eyes are settled.

As for night vision haven't yet been outside after dark with both Symfony eyes.  I did have a discussion with my surgeon.  He says it is normal with overhead street lights night driving would be better than dark highways.  He mentioned younger patients eyes dialate more than older ones which would make glare from headlights bigger.  This could improve as I age.  Also he doesn't believe the concentric circles disappear- it may be as I get used to seeing them I will tune them out over time.  Although he didn't say prior to my surgery he said this is the lens he would choose for himself.  I asked about the newer lenses in the pipeline (LAL - light adjustable lens) and he said they aren't proving to be the breakthrough yet.

Sitting in waiting area with same patients yesterday for surgery most had monofocal lenses.  2 ladies were asking about mine as I wasn't wearing glasses and texting on my iPhone.  I said I could see gone without glasses.  Both said even with their arm outstretched they could not read their iPhone or iPad.  At 2 feet outwards things were clear.  They didn't know their lens type though.  Perhaps not all

Monofocals are created equal.

Anyways so far so good one day after surgery I am happy with the results.  Unbelievable to walk around and be able to read everything see vibrant colours.  Hopefully get on with life again!

0 likes, 47 replies

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  • lin59
    lin59 Sue.An

    Posted

    I also hope some other people who have Symfony lenses and have no problems with night driving (in a very populated area) will comment here.
    • Sue.An
      Sue.An lin59

      Posted

      Yes would be nice to get that feedback.  I live in a smaller city in Atlantic Canada - not sure what driving at night would be like in Toronto Montreal or Vancouver where there certainly would be many lanes of traffic that I do not have to contend with here.
  • Night-Hawk
    Night-Hawk Sue.An

    Posted

    I had my third eye surgeon cataract consulation today and I think the "third times the charm"

    This surgeon doesn't do the grueling 12+ eyedrops/day regimen for weeks after surgery - instead he uses a newer method: one single injection of the drugs in the eye at the time of surgery and then for a couple weeks only two eyedrops/day is needed (a steriod drop and some other drop). He mentioned many studies showed this method offered a much lower risk of infection as well as being less work for the patient!

    He does all the popular premium IOLs too, the Tecnics Toric and Symfony, Crystalens and Trulign accomodating IOLs too.  I think the best for my right (dominant) eye due to ~3D astigmatism is a Tecnics toric monofocal set for distance and later on the left eye could possibly be a Tecnis Symfony Toric or another Tecnics toric set for intermediate distance (mini-monovision).  He also uses femtolaser and ORA equipment for getting the best refractive results.

    I'm hoping to schedule the right eye surgery for sometime in October since his surgery schedule is about 1month+ lead time.

    • Sue.An
      Sue.An Night-Hawk

      Posted

      Good news.  Yes sometimes persistence pays off.  Having a surgeon with vast experience  and who will dialogue with you certainly helps.  Interesting about drop regiment he had.  It certainly is a pain to do keep up with all the drops for 4 weeks.  Glad I have 2 bottles and not 3.  I have heard some do a combo in one drop.

      Although my eye had more pain and was blurry longer than 1st eye done it is now healing nicely.  I have no sensation that there is something like an eyelash in my eye like the other one still has.  

      I am returning to work Monday.  

      At least you have some time before your surgery to decide in which lens you want.  If you correct for astigmatism using monofocal lens is that covered or is there a charge for that?

    • at201
      at201 Night-Hawk

      Posted

      Glad that you have found a good surgeon.

      Good plan!

      May be worth checking if your surgeon includes LASIK enhancement as part of the toric monofocal (or other premium lenses) package free of cost or at a minimal cost. The toric lenses often rotate from the installed position and thus need to be corrected. My lens did and I was glad that my surgeon package  did include LASIK enhancement. At the minimum, rotating it back to the correct position should be included.

       

    • Night-Hawk
      Night-Hawk at201

      Posted

      Yes he offers $100 LASIK touchups only charged if needed.  Another place I had a consultation at you had to pay in advance an extra $2500 plus for a premium package to include that but you pay that even if you don't turn out need a touchup.  His total price was less than that premium place by about $1000 and a few hundred more than another place I got a consultation that didn't have femtolaser so that was expected to be the cheapest.

      All premium IOLs have an extra out of pocket cost that includes Toric monofocals, multifocals, Symfony, Symfony Toric, and accomodating IOLs.  Tecnis toric IOL extra charge is $1300 to $1500, Symfony and accomodating IOLs extra charge is just under $2000,   ORA adds about $400, femtolaser adds about $1500.

    • Night-Hawk
      Night-Hawk at201

      Posted

      I also asked the surgeon today about his target accuracy and with femtolaser he said he gets 90% or better cases to within 0.5D of the target and he always targets for distance a little under plano, like -0.25D to avoid the chance of ending up farsighted.
  • Night-Hawk
    Night-Hawk Sue.An

    Posted

    I found an interesting recent online article quoting the eye surgeon I consulted with yesterday (Dr. Mah) about dropless cataract eye surgery techniques:

    https://www.eyeworld.org/going-dropless

    • Night-Hawk
      Night-Hawk

      Posted

      My link I posted a few days ago is finally available - check out that interesting article about the dropless cataract surgery techniques.

       

    • Sue.An
      Sue.An Night-Hawk

      Posted

      Thanks - not sure it is available in Canada.  Would make sense though.  Especially for seniors - can easily see people getting mixed up, forgetting orbwondering which drop they put in their eyes - particularly since you have to wait min 5 mins between drops.  I have a routine that I always start with antibiotic drop so if I get a call or interrupted I know which drop goes in 2nd
  • Sue.An
    Sue.An

    Posted

    Thought I would post another update 9 days after 2nd eye operated on with Symfony lens.  I had thought near vision would remain at 14 to 16 inches out but today noticed I am not holding my iPhone out as far as I was initially to find that 'new' sweet spot.  So I got out a ruler and am amazed that it is 11 inches away from my eyes.  Totally happy with this improvement.   Guess with the healing well in its way and with both eyes done near vision has improved.  I looked into distance wondering if surgeon did a bit of mini monovision with Symfony IOLs but don't think so - TV guide lettering is same for both eyes.  I have a post op on Sept 28 so will get an official update then.

  • Night-Hawk
    Night-Hawk Sue.An

    Posted

    Today I contacted the schedule coordinator for the eye surgeon I had a cataract surgery consultation last week.

    Sounds like they won't work on scheduling me for a week or so, have to wait for them to call me back.

    However I did get more info on pricing as well as the doctor's schedule.

    I learned he only does surgery on Tuesdays, office visits are the other days of the week and that he is at the office close to me (<2miles) on Wednesday afternoons so that should work for the day after checkup.  The surgery is at a location farther away, 15-20miles.  He uses an outpatient surgery center if you don't get femtolaser assisted surgery and a hospital if you do.  ORA is available at both locations however. Currently the earliest data available is Oct 17, but I expect later than that if they don't schedule me for another week or so.  I also have to get a pre-op check within 30days before the cataract surgery date, with my primary physician or their nurse practitioner, so I got that scheduled for Sep 25 - will have to push that back if the surgery date ends up being beyond late October.

    The out of pocket prices for the options not covered by insurance were quoted over the phone as:

    $1300 for a toric monofocal IOL

    $300 for ORA (optional)

    $1750 for femtolaser assisted surgery (optional)

    Also mentioned was premium IOLs ranged in price up to a little over $2000, thats probably for multifocals and the Symfony.

    • Sue.An
      Sue.An Night-Hawk

      Posted

      The surgeon I gave does 2 full days at the hospital per week.  Does the surgeries back to back one day and following day does pre-op exam.  They are busy.

      Have you settled on a toric monofocal?  Sounds like it's a good bet.  I am not sure if I had laser assisted or traditional surgery.  Will ask out of curiosity next visit.  If I had traditional I am quite amazed how quickly eye healed.

      Is ORA only if you're opting for laser assisted surgery or is that the machine that does the reading prior to surgery?  

      I ended up paying $900 per eye just for the lens.  My private insurance won't cover any of it which I still when up to it contact them to plead my case.  They offer up to what they'd reimburse for eye glasses for lasik so not sure why cataract lenses are considered 'cosmetic' 

      looks as though you won't have much longer to wait.  Although nerve wracking prior to it.  So nice now to walk around without glasses.  I was too young to know what that was like - wore glasses for distance a long time.  Even with one eye still wore them with one lens poked out.  This week reached for them a couple of times when turning tv on but soon realized didn't need them.  Still have several pairs around the house - not sure what to do with them.

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