I had my operation yesterday, and checkup today. So far, so good.
.
- I got the RxSight Light Adjustable Lens implanted in one eye, which had become very nearsighted due to cataract. My other eye is not yet significantly affected by cataract, and is still about 20/20.
- The surgeon targeted roughly plano for the LAL, and thinks he got reasonably close, I may be slightly farsighted for now. The artificial eye has long been my near-vision eye, and the plan is to adjust for more nearsightedness and greater depth of focus when the light adjustments are done.
- I seem to have no adverse effects of any significance. A slight glimmer just occasionally in peripheral vision, and this already seems like it may be going away. I am far more sensitive to light today, which I think is normal right after cataract surgery. No halos or artifacts of any kind, night or day. I drove to my checkup long before sunrise this morning and headlights looked perfectly normal. No pain, nothing unnatural to speak of in my vision - feels and sees just like a real eye.
- My plastic eye does see things noticeably whiter than my natural eye sees them. I don’t know whether this is due to the early-stage cataract darkening/yellowing the vision in my natural eye, or the lack of a blue-light filter in the LAL, or what. I don’t find the difference to be good or bad, just different.
- LAL vision was kind of fuzzy yesterday after the operation. It felt like maybe 20/50 vision. Today, it tested at ~20/20, and subjectively seems every bit as good as my natural eye at long distance.
- I was able to read J7 this morning with the LAL eye. The strangest effect for me is that for the first time in my entire life, I am now unable to read tiny print by bringing it close to my eye. It is very hard to read my cellphone with the LAL eye, but I can get by reading with my natural eye. (I could use reading glasses, but homie don’t play dat!) I am eagerly looking forward to getting back some of my reading vision in a few weeks.
- Doc says I can resume weight lifting as soon as Day 3 after surgery. That surprised me.
- I will get my first light adjustment in three weeks, and I hope to get my monovision back then.
.
I know that most cataract surgeries go just fine, but regardless it is a great relief to have the implantation done and successful. I feel good about my choice of surgeon, lens, and strategy. Thanks to everyone here for your advice, prayers, and good wishes!
It sounds like it went very well. Wishing you luck with your adjustments.
happy for you!
for my surgery, it went well as well. but my target of -0.6 seemed to have missed. At my post op, refraction was -1.75. so i have great intermediate vision but a bit blurry on distance.
also i used a contact lens in my other eye and eyes couldnt work well. optometrist said i need some tine to adjust as i went from -11 to -1.7. The second eye is now my distance eye but I can see a thin layer of fog even though i can see clearly!
Do you have balancing issues with two eyes seeing?
What power of lens did the surgeon finally use? Post op refraction will not be reasonably accurate until after 3 weeks, and even then it may still change some until you hit 5 weeks post op. Your eye may not become clear until it has healed further.
.
When you said your eyes did not work well together, was that with a correction to plano (0.0 D) with a contact? If so, it may be necessary to correct it to -0.25 D including the astigmatism to reduce the differential to 1.50 D.
“Do you have balancing issues with two eyes seeing?”
.
No balancing issues. Both of my eyes are now close to plano, so they are in balance and cooperating normally. My only problem is I can’t see things clearly close up. It’s manageable and hopefully temporary, so I can’t complain.
.
I’m glad to hear your surgery went well also. You certainly have a big difference to adjust to. Do you plan to get the second eye cataract surgery soon? Hopefully, your first eye settles in a good place, and you can get a good result with both eyes in the future. Good luck with your recovery!
With your IOL now in place and close to plano you may want to use some reading glasses to simulate how my myopia you will like without accommodation. You can do that without using up your light adjustment numbers.
That’s a good idea. I have +2.00 and +4.00 D lying around. With the +2 glasses, I can read 3-point type font, and with the +4, I am barely able to read 2-point type, even with good lighting.
.
My eye is still fresh off surgery and the vision may change a bit. But if my surgeon is right and I am currently slightly hyperopic, this result tells me that the point of diminishing returns for myopia in my new eye is no greater than -2.00 D. I find that highly encouraging – I would be pleasantly surprised to be able to read 3-point type, and if I can do that with a refraction of -1.50 or -2.00 D, I think that should leave me with decent intermediate-to-far vision in the near eye - close to what I had for most of the last 30 years with my LASIK monovision.
.
Thanks for the tip!
Oops - looks like those glasses I thought were labeled +2 are actually labeled +3. My reading vision really is bad now! I should have known that was too good to be true.
From all of the videos I have watched of folks that have gotten the LAL, reading J7 seems to be common when you’re corrected to Plano. I wish I could remember what trilemma could read after her LAL surgery in the distance eye.
.
My ophthalmologist told me that I can wear contacts 24 hours after LAL surgery. Phil, do you think this is possible? Then I will not run out of adjustments.
Hi Ron,
Surgeon used 9.0D Envista to target -0.6.
yes my contact lens is fully corrected to distance. i messaged my optimetrist to see if refraction would help with balancing, he said my L eye went through a big change abd needs more days to get used to. He suggests to get the second eye done as soon as possible. Now i can see my R eye has a layer of thin fog but it can still see clearly wt distance. With contact lens in it, using two eyes, i feel like i have a new prescripstion glasses to get used to. Anyone has that experience? How long does it take to get used to?
My second surgery is scheduled in two weeks but i like to postpone it until i get used to the current situation and know what my refraction is on my L eye.
That is an unfortunate miss, but it may turn out to be very good for a near eye. The trick now would be to figure out how to get a much more accurate prediction for the distance eye. On a quick look the EVO formula seems to be the one closest to your outcome but is still way off. I think for sure you want to delay the second eye until you can get an accurate refraction done at 5-6 weeks. Then you need to have a serious talk with your surgeon about how you can get much closer to plano with the second eye. It would seem that if your current refraction in the left eye is correct, you may need something in the order of +8.0 in the right eye. Once you have an accurate refractions for your left eye, your surgeon should be able to make a correction to the formula for the right eye.
.
Yes, if your right eye is corrected to plano with a contact then you will have full mini-monovision without glasses and it probably will take a few weeks to get used to it.
“My ophthalmologist told me that I can wear contacts 24 hours after LAL surgery.”
.
My post-op instructions say contacts are ok any time after surgery in the un-operated eye only. No contact in the LAL eye.
.
How would a contact help you not run out of adjustments?
.
Now that you mention it, maybe I should try a contact lens in my natural eye. It could make the next three weeks a lot more comfortable while I wait to get my reading vision back in the LAL eye. But I haven’t worn contacts in nearly 30 years (hard lenses), so probably I’ll just suck it up and go without.
hi Phil,
my second eye surgery supposedly on 1/23, but i am thinking to postpone it until a few months later. i am not sure that’s a wise choice because my two eyes are not balancing well.
Are you doing your second eye? does it have a cataract?
Ron,
The mini-monovision is what i am feeling like a new peescription? With sunglasses walking outside, I feel much better but without sunglasses even though cloudy, i feel somewhat disorienting! This is also why i am afraid to do the secobd surgery in two weeks because if the surgeon targets the same and it didnt shift for the sexond eye, I would have the mini-monovision!
I remember you also have a mini-monovision. Were you used to it before surgery? or it took a few weeks to get used to after both surgeries?
I simulated it with contacts before surgery and I really did not take that long to get used to it. I would strongly suggest postponing your second eye surgery until you get a final accurate refraction at 5-6 weeks. That will also let you get used to monovision.
Ron,
I also didn’t think -1.75 can be that difficult to get used too. Today is my 5th day, maybe i am too anxious! I have an optometrist appointment in 5 weeks so hopefully my eye is stabilized enough to get a final refraction.
Hello Sam - I have no plans yet for surgery on my second eye. Vision is still good, but the doctors do see an early stage (1+) cataract. They tell me progression is highly unpredictable, so I might need surgery on the second eye in a few weeks, or in a few years. For now, my preference is to hang on to my natural eye for as long as I can.
.
Sounds like you have a tougher decision to make. A few months with eyes out of balance sounds unpleasant, but it might not be so bad. Until last week, my eyes were about 8 diopters apart. I used no corrective lenses, and the difference really didn’t bother me. But the difference is much more sudden for you. Good luck with your decision and results.
In 5 weeks the eye should be fully healed. Also keep in mind that your refraction may change over that time. I recall that @judith93585 moved from -2.0 D to -1.50 D as the eye healed.
.
What kind of contacts are you using? If they are not too expensive or even free trial versions, you could ask to be corrected to -0.25 or -0.50 D instead of plano. That would give you a little less differential to get used to. A -0.25 or so would be more in the range of where you want to be with the distance eye, so may be a better simulation for now.
My catarats are preventing me from wearing contacts to trial mini-monovision. The ophthalmologist is suggesting pre-trying mini-monovision with contacts in my eyes that will no longer have cataracts after LALs are implanted. I will have surgery in both eyes - 1 week apart. If I can’t tolerate mini-monovision with contacts, I can choose LAL adjustments for near/intermediate mini-monovision or micro-monovision and wear glasses for distance. If I can’t tolerate any monovision, I will choose near for both eyes. I may try contacts again before the LAL adjustment for near/intermediate.
.
BUT - I am going to get a second opinion from another ophthalmologist about the contacts so soon after cataract surgery. I am concerned about infection?
I see. I would have the same concern about infection, though perhaps with the antibiotic eyedrops they give you, that may not be a significant risk. I would also wonder about a contact interfering with the healing of the cataract incision at the cornea. This seems like the kind of thing any opthalmologist would be very clear and careful about, but it’s always ok to get a second opinion when you have any doubts.