Am one week out from cataract surgery for left eye. Had distance lens implant with astigmatism correction. Distance vision is now 20/20 but realized after surgery how debilitating it is to have lost my near vision ~ difficulty with phone, pill bottles, makeup, which I did not anticipate. The original plan was to correct both eyes with same type distance lens implant. My right eye (uncorrected) still has near vision with my glasses off which began quite some time ago. I am concerned now and thinking of possibly not having surgery on right eye now and have Rx progressive glasses made to accommodate both eyes. Would appreciate any advice from anyone with info or experience with similar situation.
An option is to have your other eye cataract surgery set a target for a little nearsighted to get monovision.
But progressive glasses are always an option if your right eye only has an early stage cataract and is still able to correct to good distance vision with glasses.
I had cataract surgery done on my right eye only a few months ago for distance vision, but my left eye won't need it probably for years, so I am using a progressive eyeglasses with the right lens popped out so only the left eye gets distance and near vision, with the right eye's distance vision and that works pretty good.
If you have a pair of progressive eyeglasses from before your left eye cataract surgery, you could try using them with the left lens popped out.
Similar thing happened to me. Had my right, non-dominant eye corrected for distance and was going to do the same with the left. However, I decided to go ahead and do monovision. My left, dominant eye was corrected so I could see things close up. My brain is still adjusting to the monovision. Normally, you are supposed to correct the dominant eye for distance. I had my last surgery in January.
I had both eyes done in December with mono focal lens set for distance and am experiencing the same problem. My left eye was very bad but my left still corrected to 20/20 and more importantly I could see things close up. If I had it to do over again I would have just had the bad eye done and preserved the near vision sight in my good eye for as long as possible...
Now I'm still wearing glasses which is no big deal as I've been wearing them for 50 years but I cant see anything closer than about 6 inches....
I'd say all in all you've had an outcome most of us would dream of. I think to see well 6 inches and beyond is a great outcome.
G
Not to hijack the thread, but would love to hear how you adjust to your mono-vision as time progresses. I hope you can update us at some point. Thx.
G
That is a very good result unless I misunderstood something. Seeing at 6 inches to distance with a monofocal lens targeted for distance sounds excellent to me.
Betsy, Sounds like you've got a mono-vision set up at the moment. I'm in the same boat except my first surgery hasn't happened yet. My left eye also is the affected eye. My right eye is still good for reading. You may need to give more time for the neuro-adaptation period.
One thing you could try is a contact lens in your right eye and play around with different powers to test mini-monovision scenarios. That's sort of what I'm planning on doing once I get my left eye implanted for distance. Please keep us updated. I'm very interested to know what strategy ultimately works best for you.
Kind Regards,
G
If you can see at 6 inches why would you need glasses? I have Symfony lenses and see well from 11 inches which is a decent reading distance and haven’t needed glasses. Unless you have a hobby or something which requires really close vision?
Hi Betsy - if your right eye doesn’t have a cataract impeding your vision perhaps playing around with a contact lens is worth trying. I had a 6 week wait between surgeries (both eyes had cataracts and needed surgery) however in Canada there is a minimum 4 week wait to allow for healing and any adjustments that might be needed. During that time I wore my glasses with one lens poked out. I managed ok with that. Didn’t think that would be possible but it seemed for distance the operated eye would take over and anything near my unoperated eye took over (was holding reading material 8 inches out and after first surgery Symfony could read at 16 inches. Once 2nd eye was done reading was easier at 11 inches out.
But given you likely don’t need surgery it would be nice if you could get monovision with a contact lens and manage that way until 2nd surgery is required.
I can see 6 inches and beyond WITH glasses, without bifocals corrected for both far and near vision in both eyes I can't clearly see anything past a few feet and I have no useful vision at all closer than 6 inches with or without the glasses....not my idea of excellent...
As I say, knowing what I do now would never have the other eye done..being unable to see very close up is a BIG problem for some of us....
Thanks for clarifying - thought you meant you could see through the operated eye at 6 inches. Yes can certainly see your point of view on the results. Some say they experience vision at all ranges with a monofocal lens so thought you may have been one of the fortunate ones that can.
Perhaps exploring monovision when it comes time for 2nd surgery would provide good distance and intermediate as well as usable reading distance with glasses only necessary for fine print.
I know in my own struggle to decide on a lens I did not want to lose near vision and it tipped the scales in favour of Symfony knowing I would compromise the night vision.
I am considering a multifocal(symfony) lens for my right eye now and would appreciate any thoughts from a similar experience. The cataract has been removed from my left eye and a monofocal implant for distance. I don’t mind wearing glasses as I have worn them for many years but find after the first surgery that the loss of close vision in that eye was not what I anticipated. After expressing this to my dr, he said an option would be to use a multifocal lens now in the right eye and should do well since I am already using my eyes with one for distance and the other for close. From my research, it seems there are some suggestions that mixing the lens may be good idea as one may diminish the cons of the other as there are pros and cons of each. I would have very good distance in the left eye and hopefully near, intermediate and distance in the right eye. The thought is that the halos/ streaks sometimes experienced with the Multifocal may be mitigated by having mixed lens. I am very anxious about upcoming surgery for right eye in two days. Any advice/info is appreciated.
I do have progressive glasses and currently have the left lens popped out. However, prior to first surgery and for some time, I was having to remove my glasses to read. I feel I have “good enough” distance vision with my glasses for my right eye still but there is noticeable difference when comparing both eyes. Wondering if possible to get new Rx for glasses progressive lens with close up in left lens only and right eye for distance. I just want to be able to see my phone, pill bottles, makeup, , casual reading without glasses if I need to.
My first surgery was two weeks ago and I had a toric monofocal lens implant since I indicated that I would continue to wear glasses but was told with this lens I would just use glasses as an accessory! I didn’t realize of course that my close up vision would be so compromised. Since I still have close up vision in my right eye (need to remove glasses) am wondering if should ask if new Rx for progressive lens in glasses could work and delay surgery for right eye for now. Or, if I should go ahead and opt for the multifocal lens in right eye only, knowing I would wear glasses most of time but have the ability to retain close vision in that eye only. Thanks for any suggestions.
I was advised re: monovision prior to first surgery but felt I did not want that as permanent since years ago I did wear monovision contacts and then went to progressive glasses and stopped wearing contacts. Hindsight makes me feel I should have chosen Multifocal for both eyes but from research, there was some indication that mixing monofocal and Multifocal is recommended to some patients and can have good benefits. Just curious if this would be similar adjustment to monovision. I will still wear glasses which would be progressive in left eye but just want the close up option without glasses for casual reading, phone, pill bottles. Thanks for sharing any info/ experience.
The plan now is to implant the symfony Multifocal in my right eye. My research did indicate that monofocal and Multifocal can be mixed and can be beneficial as cons of the two lens could be diminished by using two different lens. With having only one Multifocal, was suggested that glare/halos for night driving could be diminished. I assume the adjustment would be similar to monovision but not sure. Thanks for any info.
Hi Betsy - yes you can mix and match multifocals with your monofocal. Just a side note the Symfony Lens is in a category all of it’s own. It’s an EDOF (extended depth of focus) lens. Multifocals generally provide 2 focal points and there is a dip in between those (so if targeted for distance there is ususually a bit of blurring in the intermediate (what I read on them). With Symfony the vision is seemless. I really happy with the panaramic all round vision they provide during the day. In the beginning glare and starbursts (only at night) was hard to adjust to but at about the 6 week mark they subsided. Lights now are just a bit fuzzy but I can now drive at night just fine. In the beginning I had to plan my routes where there was overhead lighting but now even dark unlit roads are fine. Just came through our winter months where it is dark from 4:30pm till 7:00am. (I live in Canada). Had to drive from work every day after dark. I can honestly say I don’t even think about driving and routes (my surgeries were July and August 3017). I do see the big concentric circles. They appear more around red and amber / yellow lights. Look like spiderwebs. Sounds bad I know and although I wish they weren’t there they are much lighter and I can see through them. they appear on red traffic lights or brake lights on cars (regular brake lights on as I travel behind a car don’t have the circles). They also appear at a certain distance. As I approach the light they disappear.
I do think if you were to target your Symfony Lens .50 closer you may not even see the concentric circles. This would also give you the advantage of closer vision. I didn’t see well enough close up until both eyes were implanted with Symfony. Also your monofocal will counter balance the night time visuals.
I sympathize with your difficult decision and wish you the best. If you have any questions about Symfony reach out. I am always willing to share my experience.
Good luck Betsy. Please share how you make out.
Find a good surgeon is my advice (one who has lots of successful surgeries implanting Symfony if going that route).
Should also add that it wouldn’t be quite the same as monovision due to the fact Symfony sees well at all ranges except for small print. I got lucky in that my near vision with 2 Symfony lenses was better than expected (11 inches vs 18 expected). Which is why I am recommending the target should be .50 to .75 diopter in. this would also lessen the impact of the concentric circles as you only see them when about 40-50 yards from light source
Thanks for your reply. Do you have symfony Multifocal for both eyes? My concern now is the plan to mix lens~ monofocal toric in left eye(distance) and Multifocal symfony in right eye. I have worn monovision contacts in the past and did adapt but feel I don’t Want that permanent. With mixing two different lens, I was told that I should be able to go without glasses for some of the time as the Multifocal would give me close vision for my phone, casual reading, makeup , etc. I plan to wear my glasses since they are “part of me” but like the option of being able to see my phone, casual reading, and other things I did not realize until I had the monofocal lens in left eye and the results of loss of close up. My research indicates that this mix can have benefits of diminishing the cons such as halos some experience with night driving with Multifocal since I would only have one multifocal lens. Distance should be very good and not compromised. So much I did not realize initially.