I will try to keep this brief. For reference, I’m a 51 YO M, had deteriorating vision (mostly close-range) and mild astigmatism. My prescription glasses continued to change and I could no longer read computer screen or phone without them, certainly couldn’t see anything smaller than J8 and even that was a stretch.
Based on a recommendation from a friend met with surgeon who I must say takes a conservative approach and did a very thorough job of outlining all the pros/cons of clear lens exchange (important point - I didn’t have cataracts). The pros of being able to function without glasses IMO outweighed the potential negatives re: halos, etc. He felt strongly that we proceed with non-dominant eye first, wait two weeks and then do eye two (and choose lens accordingly).
Eye One - 7/19/23 - Panoptix Toric lens implanted in non-dominant eye. Smooth and easy surgery. Woke up next morning and had a “holy crap” moment where I clearly could read my phone and an Rx bottle (it was a bit blurry but still). Yes, had the halos, etc. but again, nothing I wasn’t prepared for. The next 10-12 days were great - wore contact in my dominant eye and basically had perfect vision. Saw doc for one-week post-op and we discussed options for dominant eye. As I am an avid bird-hunter and golfer, long range vision is important to me. He recommended the Vivity lens (also toric) in my dominant eye for better contrast and performance at longer ranges. I agreed (based in large part on some of the threads on this forum).
Eye Two - 8/2/23 - Vivity Toric lens implanted in dominant eye. Again, smooth surgery. Next morning not as “wow” but within a couple days, very good vision at computer screen distance and longer (20/15). Still have halos but they’re not as significant as the Panoptix. Very pleased with the result.
So here’s where it gets complicated. Back at office on 8/9/23 for second eye post-op checkup. Vivity eye looks great, lens is centered and vision 20/20 or better. However, Panoptix eye not good. Actually very blurry ( I of course had been noticing the deterioration over the past 10 days) and I test at about 20/40 up close (which had been 20/15 post surgery) and about the same at distance. Doctor suggests that toric lens may have rotated and now prescription is off (causing blurry vision).
Return next day - eye is dilated and they see that lens is actually only 1 degree off original placement - but astigmatism.com (yes, that’s a real thing and highly respected among opthalmologists) suggests rotating lens 23 degrees will fix astigmatism and provide the originally intended result. (This is when I say to myself - perhaps they got the initial measurements wrong - all I’ve read is that a 1 degree rotation on a toric lens is generally not enough to cause noticeable change in vision). Oh well…
Eye One - Surgery Part Two - 8/9/23. Three weeks to the day from the implant, Doctor goes in through the original incision and rotates Panoptix lens 23 degrees. In-office procedure, a valium and bunch of drops and it’s a 10-minute deal, no biggie. I’m thinking I wake up the next day and have that same “holy crap” moment where my vision is back to great, Nope.
Today (8/14/23) - Vivity (dominant) eye is still great (thank goodness). Perfect, no. As good as my 35 year old eye, no. Performs as advertised - yes. J3 from 14 inches (albeit blurry) and excellent for computer distance (call that 30 inches or so).
Panoptix - not so much. Blurry at all distances - I can read J3 but damn, it’s hard. The two eyes seem to work together so I can read my phone etc. but what’s disappointing is that if I only use my Panoptix eye it’s far worse than the Vivity at any distance. I go back tomorrow for my one-week post-op on the rotation procedure, so we’ll see how I test.
**I’m not writing this to discourage anyone from one lens or the other. If my vision were as good today as it was day one/two after the Panoptix implant I’d be delighted with the results. I’m actually writing this to see whether anyone’s 1) had a toric lens rotated and been pleased with the result or 2) has had a similar good/bad/good with any IOL where first you’re pleased, then you’re bummed, then you’re pleased again. ***
My surgeon has always said this is a process (and since I paid OOP, Lasik adjustment, etc. is all covered if needed). I remain hopeful that we’ll end up with good close/intermediate/far vision (good, not perfect) but just wanted to share the saga so far and see whether anyone else had experienced anything similar. I have no idea what the culprit might be in the left eye but I’m starting to wonder if it’s PCO just given what I’ve read on other posts.
And I do appreciate this forum - I’m not much of a social media/forum type but I’m thankful for the insights I’ve gained here, nice community.