Having Cataract Surgery...Scared and Excited

Clemson Fan · Jun 6, 2015

John Cummings said:
Yes, the "Restor" lens provides near, middle, and far sighting. There is no need for monovision.

The Restor lens divides the light coming into the eye into 2 focal points - one distance and one near. So it does a really good job for near and distance vision, but it does not provide middle vision. It's an excellent lens and is my favorite choice amongst the multifocals.

John Cummings · Jun 6, 2015

Clemson Fan said:
The Restor lens divides the light coming into the eye into 2 focal points - one distance and one near. So it does a really good job for near and distance vision, but it does not provide middle vision. It's an excellent lens and is my favorite choice amongst the multifocals.

I have nearly perfect vision, as my wife does also, at all distances.

Clemson Fan · Jun 7, 2015

John Cummings said:
I have nearly perfect vision, as my wife does also, at all distances.

I don't doubt that, but the Restor provides 2 focal points. It doesn't mean you can still have decent intermediate vision, but it's designed to give really good near and distance vision. The attached graph illustrates this. The red control lens is your standard mono-focal intraocular lens. 0 represents your distance vision and -3 is your near vision. -1 to -2 is your intermediate vision.

MuranoJo · Jun 8, 2015

At any rate, it sounds like the Restor lens would be a good choice for me when the time comes. I only wear glasses for driving, and still don't really need reading glasses.

IngridN · Jun 8, 2015

For those of you considering multi-focal lenses, in my research, it appears a lot of docs recommend using 2 different brands, the Restor and another. One provides great near and far vision and the other provides excellent mid-range vision.

My decision was to go with the mono focal lenses as I wasn't willing to chance that I would be one of those with issues with the multis. I decided on the near/far combo and couldn't be happier. No glasses needed. Getting rid of my glasses was my second priority, after health. That said, I do have a prescription pair for driving as I want the best possible far vision while driving.

Do a LOT of research...I postponed my first surgery about 4 months until I felt really comfortable with my decision wrt which lenses.

Ingrid

AwayWeGo · Jun 8, 2015

So Far, So Good.

AwayWeGo said:
I get 2 weeks of light duty while my surgically corrected eyeball heals up (no gym workouts, no horn playing, no strenuous activity), plus 2 kinds of expensive eyedrops 4 times every day after the eye patch comes off.

I'll still be crosseyed, so I'll have to wear glasses to accommodate that no matter how perfect my new lens turns out to be. Plus, the new lens is set for distance only, so I'll need reading glasses & music glasses in addition to trifocals.

Eye doctor who performed my cataract surgery said everything is fine after 2 follow-up appointments -- Friday (1 day after the operation) & this morning (Monday).

At the Monday appointment I got a new right-eye glasses prescription -- will stick with old prescription for left eye.

Only trouble is nobody knows how many degrees of prismatic correction, left & right, to add to my regular optical prescription to compensate for my strabismus (cross-eyed condition). Today the ophthalmologist just wrote on the prescription slip to use same prisms per record -- meaning he doesn't know & he's hoping the opticians at Price Club do. (I don't.)

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.

Elan · Jun 8, 2015

Anyone have experience with accommodating IOL's? They've been around for quite some time -- I think Crystalens was the first in the US(?) -- but I never hear/read much about them.

IngridN · Jun 8, 2015

Elan said:
Anyone have experience with accommodating IOL's? They've been around for quite some time -- I think Crystalens was the first in the US(?) -- but I never hear/read much about them.

When I was doing my research for my first surgery, I was at first excited about them until I dug deeper. Lots and lots of horror stories about this lens. My doc refuses to implant this lens because of the problems his patients have experienced.

Ingrid

silentg · Jun 8, 2015

I had the surgery in my right eye in 2011. The doctor wanted to do the left eye a couple of weeks later. I refused, I can read and watch TV without glasses, if I have the surgery on the left eye, I will not be able to do that without glasses. Fought with the doctor, I told him they are my eyes and I see fine with the one eye surgery, the cateract in the left eye is very small, but if and when I need surgery I will get it done. I may try another doctor though.
Silentg

IngridN · Jun 8, 2015

silentg said:
I had the surgery in my right eye in 2011. The doctor wanted to do the left eye a couple of weeks later. I refused, I can read and watch TV without glasses, if I have the surgery on the left eye, I will not be able to do that without glasses. Fought with the doctor, I told him they are my eyes and I see fine with the one eye surgery, the cateract in the left eye is very small, but if and when I need surgery I will get it done. I may try another doctor though.
Silentg

Assuming you have a mono focal lens (IIRC, the recommendation with multis is to have them done at the same time), have you looked into the near/far combo? This is what I did. Being nearsighted, I had decided on the near/far combo and if brain couldn't handle it, I would set both eyes to far vision only. Being nearsighted, I had the first lens set to far and loved the results. I then had the second eye set for near and couldn't be happier. Absolutely no need for glasses, although I do have a far prescription for better driving vision.

IIRC, the recommendation with multis is to have them done at the same time.

Ingrid

Elan · Jun 8, 2015

IngridN said:
When I was doing my research for my first surgery, I was at first excited about them until I dug deeper. Lots and lots of horror stories about this lens. My doc refuses to implant this lens because of the problems his patients have experienced.

Ingrid

Yes, I've talked to my doctor about them extensively (for vision correction, not cataracts), but not within the past year. I'm looking for firsthand experience.

Passepartout · Jun 8, 2015

Elan said:
Yes, I've talked to my doctor about them extensively (for vision correction, not cataracts), but not within the past year. I'm looking for firsthand experience.

I haven't hear about performing lens replacement specifically for vision correction. I've had both LASIK and PRK (for the astigmatism), and am grateful for the two ophthalmologist TUGgers for taking the time to explain in language I can understand about the mathematics involved in deciding on the proper lenses to implant when (not if) it comes time for the cataracts to go away.

Jim

Elan · Jun 8, 2015

Passepartout said:
I haven't hear about performing lens replacement specifically for vision correction. I've had both LASIK and PRK (for the astigmatism), and am grateful for the two ophthalmologist TUGgers for taking the time to explain in language I can understand about the mathematics involved in deciding on the proper lenses to implant when (not if) it comes time for the cataracts to go away.

Jim

I've always had pretty severe myopia. I also have large pupils and relatively thin corneas, so I've never been a great candidate for LASIK. When my near vision started to degrade, I began talking with my optometrist about various lens options, including IOL's. I try to read up periodically on what's new in vision correction. Fortunately, the technology is advancing slightly ahead of my needs.

I am currently wearing multifocal contacts, one toric and one not. Works ok, but there are brief instances when I basically "blur out" and momentarily lose focus. I also can't see my drives land on the golf course, which gets pretty frustrating.

Clemson Fan · Jun 8, 2015

Passepartout said:
I haven't hear about performing lens replacement specifically for vision correction. I've had both LASIK and PRK (for the astigmatism), and am grateful for the two ophthalmologist TUGgers for taking the time to explain in language I can understand about the mathematics involved in deciding on the proper lenses to implant when (not if) it comes time for the cataracts to go away.

Jim

It's called a clear lens extraction which is basically the same thing as cataract surgery without a cataract. It's not covered by insurance and can get pretty pricey. It's not optimal for anybody under the age of 45 or so who can still accommodate with their natural lens. Most of the time people just wait until there's some semblance of a cataract so it does get covered by insurance.

Clemson Fan · Jun 8, 2015

Elan said:
Anyone have experience with accommodating IOL's? They've been around for quite some time -- I think Crystalens was the first in the US(?) -- but I never hear/read much about them.

The Crystalens is the only one FDA approved IOL in this category. I don't use them because they only work about 55-60% of the time. If it doesn't work then it just acts like a standard monofocal IOL. Besides monofocal IOL's, it's the only other IOL commercial pilots can get because the multifocal IOL's can cause haloes in low light conditions.

IngridN · Jun 8, 2015

Clemson Fan said:
The Crystalens is the only one FDA approved IOL in this category. I don't use them because they only work about 55-60% of the time. If it doesn't work then it just acts like a standard monofocal IOL. Besides monofocal IOL's, it's the only other IOL commercial pilots can get because the multifocal IOL's can cause haloes in low light conditions.

Interesting...under these conditions, I might have chosen this lens. One of the unacceptable issues I read about was extreme light sensitivity. Is this one of the problems with this lens?

Ingrid

AwayWeGo · Jun 8, 2015

Costco Came Through.

AwayWeGo said:
Today the ophthalmologist just wrote on the prescription slip to use same prisms per record -- meaning he doesn't know & he's hoping the opticians at Price Club do. (I don't.)

Costco had it on file -- right 6 degrees, outside + left 4 degrees, outside.

I think I get more benefit from prismatic correction than from correction for astigmatism & myopia combined -- all the more so now that I have a new, crystal-clear artificial right-eye lens.

So I have three -- 3 -- sets of Costco eyeglasses on order: regular everyday trifocals + computer bifocals (mid-range & reading, no distance prescription) + music bifocals (distance & elevated mid-range inset, no close-up reading prescription).

Is this a great country or what ?

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.

PStreet1 · Jun 9, 2015

IngridN said:
When I was doing my research for my first surgery, I was at first excited about them until I dug deeper. Lots and lots of horror stories about this lens. My doc refuses to implant this lens because of the problems his patients have experienced.

Ingrid

Same with my doctor--and I know a person who has it, and she has problems I wouldn't want to have: halos are really bad, and she has added a small table by each door out of the house for the sunglasses she has to wear even to just step outside.

Clemson Fan · Jun 9, 2015

IngridN said:
Interesting...under these conditions, I might have chosen this lens. One of the unacceptable issues I read about was extreme light sensitivity. Is this one of the problems with this lens?

Ingrid

No. It's essentially a monofocal IOL with the arms designed to allow it to move forward in the eye when your ciliary muscle tries to accommodate. It is a smaller optic (5.0 mm vs 6.0 mm for most other IOL's), though, so if there's any decentration or if you have a large pupil it can cause glare. It's also made out of silicone which can shift more than acrylic which is what most of the other IOL's are made of. You can have a perfect surgery with a perfectly centered IOL at the end of the case that then shifts over the first month as it scars down in the bag. I've seen this much more with silicone IOL's than acrylic IOL's.

John Cummings · Jun 10, 2015

This is just a FYI. It can take several weeks for your eyes to adjust to the "Restor Lens: I didn't have to wear glasses at all from the first day but my vision did improve considerably in the first couple months. My doctor and several other people told me that was normal. Even the eye tester at the DMV told me that. So don't get discouraged if it is not perfect when you first get it done. It took my wife a little longer than me.

That is not like Lasik which was great from the very first moment.

You will get haloing around lights but it does improve with time though I still have it to some extent.

rapmarks · Jun 11, 2015

my husband just had cataract surgery and was given a prescription for glasses for driving, Medicare is supposed to pay for the first set of frames and lenses, but we can't find any place that will take it

IngridN · Jun 11, 2015

John Cummings said:
This is just a FYI. It can take several weeks for your eyes to adjust to the "Restor Lens: I didn't have to wear glasses at all from the first day but my vision did improve considerably in the first couple months. My doctor and several other people told me that was normal. Even the eye tester at the DMV told me that. So don't get discouraged if it is not perfect when you first get it done. It took my wife a little longer than me.

That is not like Lasik which was great from the very first moment.

You will get haloing around lights but it does improve with time though I still have it to some extent.

According to my doc, this is true with all lenses...it takes about a month for your eyes to settle and that's when they issued prescriptions. For my far eye, I had 20/15 vision right after the surgery and for a couple of weeks, but the eye settled at about 20/25.

Ingrid

AwayWeGo · Jun 13, 2015

Grateful To Be Seeing Clearer.

AwayWeGo said:
I have three -- 3 -- sets of Costco eyeglasses on order: regular everyday trifocals + computer bifocals (mid-range & reading, no distance prescription) + music bifocals (distance & elevated mid-range inset, no close-up reading prescription).

Just got back from Costco with my three -- 3 -- new sets of after-cataract glasses.

It's great to be seeing clearly & in 3-D once again.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.

Having Cataract Surgery...Scared and Excited

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