LASIK surgery some 25 years ago -- cataracts recently developed in both eyes. Can't obtain LASIK records (lost by hospital). Had cataract surgery on right eye - long distance lens. Great vision for 5 days, then drastically deteriorated, pain, double vision, watery discharge,feeling that something in the eye, floaters, now short sighted in this eye, vision worse than before surgery. What is so frustrating is that the vision seems to vary during the day. Can look at an object using only that eye and it will be in focus, a few minutes later when I look again it will be blurred. Am seeing consultant again in a few weeks but he maintains as correct measurements as possible of eye pre surgery were taken, can't expect perfect result because of prior LASIK surgery. But,having had a long sighted lens inserted I certainly didn't expect to end up shortsighted and with worse vision than prior to surgery.
He has proposed piggybacking another lens on top of the existing lens to see if this improves vision and/ or laser treatment to break up floaters which he says are causing distortion of vision and due to dry eyes!. I'm not convinced and concerned piggybacking another lens will make feeling of something in eye worse.
I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who's had a similar experience and/ or received further treatment to address similar sight problems.
I also had Lasik about 21 years ago. I was able to obtain my records from Lasik surgery, but cataract surgery came out terrible, could not see near or far in right eye, left eye was only a little bit better. I did have a piggyback lens inserted in right eye & it did improve vision, but I still need glasses for reading & for driving at night. My vision was so good before the cataract surgery. I am seeing another Dr. to see what can be done to improve vision in the left eye. I now have floaters in both eyes.
Did they use ORA to get the measurements pre-surgery.
I’m right there with you. But instead of piggy back. PRK or lasik enhancement has been suggested. I’m getting a second opinion
I can understand that having a LASIK in the past (and specially not having the records of the eye measurements at that time) makes it very difficult to calculate accurately the required power of the IOL. However, just having the power of the lens off does not explain the variation of yuor vision during the day.
So, getting a good explanation of the reason for that, and understanding how to fix that, should be your first priority.
I will also suggest making sure that you don't have dry eyes. No one's cornea is completely smooth. If there is a thin layer of tears on top of it, it makes a nice smooth surface which makes the vision sharp. If such a surface is not made by the tears, the roughness of the cornea makes the vision fuzzy. One does not always feel any irritation in the eyes due to them being dry, but one can definitely see the difference in the sharpness of the vision.
I had lasik without my old records and my cataract surgery turned out great. They have formulas to use to figure out the power for people who had lasik and don't have their records.
Nesta - did you have RK (radial keratotomy)? They weren't doing LASIK yet 25 year ago (that would be 1993, before it was approved in the United States). It's harder for them to do the surgery if someone had RK.
I also don't think LASIK was being done in 1993 in other countries either. It was still RK. With RK, they make long cuts all around your cornea and that makes it harder to do cataract surgery. LASIK is a totally different procedure.
Janice, you originally had toric monofocals set for distance, right? What kind of piggyback lens did you have put in your right eye?
Probably most doctors in the US don't have ORA and I'm not sure if insurance covers it if they do have it. Mine didn't and my after-LASIK surgery turned out fine.
Nina,
I asked for monovision, left was supposed to be for near vision, & right for distance. Right eyes vision was so far off, I don't know what kind the piggyback lens was, I only know the piggyback lens was not a Toric lens.
But were the original lenses both toric IOLs?
With radial keratotomy, the cuts are done around the cornea like the spokes of a wheel. RK is no longer done anymore due to many people having terrible complications from it. It can cause vision fluctuations, so even if someone had cataract surgery after RK, it may not turn out well due to that. It's also harder for doctors to do the incision on someone who had RK due to all the RK cuts.
No, they told me I only needed Toric in the right eye.
My dr has Ora and used it during my surgery and the calculations were still off. 6 weeks later I’m within .50 off but I still do not have clear crisp vision, I have a shadow effect so that is why lasik enhancement or PRK is being suggested.
Janice, when you said your vision was so good before the cataract surgery, do you mean before you got the cataracts? Normally people don't have cataract surgery until they can't legally drive anymore and their vision is very bad.
My vision was better before the cataract surgery. They told me I needed cataract surgery. I have heard that you should not wait until the cataracts get real bad to have the surgery done.
That's not true what you heard. You should wait until your vision is at least bad enough to no longer be able to drive legally. Did your insurance pay for your surgery? I wouldn't just let a doctor do cataract surgery on me just because he said I needed it.
Also, doctors have to use a different formula to calculate the IOL power for someone who had radial keratotomy vs. someone who had LASIK, PRK, etc. They also use different formulas based on whether someone was nearsighted or farsighted before having refractive surgery.
I waited until my vision was 20/60 in one eye and 20/200 in the other eye before I had cataract surgery (I was basically seeing 20/60 out of both eyes together though). I could still see somewhat to drive during the day, but I was basically driving illegally for a few months. My cataracts did get worse pretty quickly over the course of around 6 months. I personally would never have let a doctor do cataract surgery on me before I got to that point due to the possibility of complications as witnessed by people posting about them on here, unless I had to drive more for my job or something like that and then I would not have done it before my vision got to 20/40 or worse in both eyes.