The way my vision exists right now, my left eye has pretty good distance vision, not so hot near vision. It's pretty good at an arms length. My right eye is very near sighted. Distance is a blur, but it has good arms length vision, and near is about as good as anyone can see.
Today I got a contact lens for my right eye, and now my right eye has better distance vision then my left. The doctor wanted me to be able to experience what it's going to be like after I have the vision in my right eye corrected.
There's good and bad. Driving home today, everything looked rather exceptional. It's amazing how good the vision is. I can also see the dashboard of the car, including the NAV system and stereo and such very well.
At reading distance, which I could do at 20/20, it's not so good now with the right eye corrected with the contact lens. The doctor explained to me that people with Crystalens do not get 20/20 reading vision. Normally at about a year out, they have "J3" or about 20/40 vision. My vision is not that good yet.
The arms length distance is still fairly decent because my left eye can focus it fairly well. My right eye without the contact focused it very well, but with the contact, not so good. So, looking at the computer monitor, it's not as sharp as it was prior to the contact lens, and it's depending on my left eye for the clarity that it does have.
It's entirely up to me what happens next. I can have nothing done, in which case my near and intermediate distance will be pretty good because of my right eye, but distance won't be very good and night vision pretty bad because of how blurry all the lights look with my right eye.
I can have the LASIK surgery done on the right eye, and my distance vision should be excellent in the day time and pretty good at night. Intermediate might improve as my right eye implant starts flexing. Near won't be so hot, despite the fact that one of the selling points of the Crystalens is good vision at all distances. My left eye will be left as it is to aid in intermediate and near vision.
Using reading glasses, I can see fine print at a reading distance with perfect clarity. I was hoping to have that sort of vision with the Crystalens. That's just not how it works.
The doctor told me that if I had had a traditional implant (IOL) used in the cataract surgery, I'd have good distance vision but could see basically nothing at intermediate and near vision. The $7000 extra I spent bought me what looks like a decent intermediate vision and so-so near vision. I'll probably have the LASIK done to fix the distance vision in my right eye. I'm probably going to need to keep using reading glasses. I'll have a variation of mono-vision with the possibility that the lenses will work the way they're designed and start focusing better at closer distances in time.
Or, I could just leave everything as it is and use a contact lens in my right eye when I leave the house.. and maybe glasses for watching TV.
Getting a cataract at a young age sucks. If you can help it, I'd avoid having one until you're too old to give a shit. I'd avoid getting LASIK surgery because it reduces your options later for cataract surgery. But, I guess.. if you're really young, getting LASIK makes sense for decades of good vision and you can worry about a cataract later, if you live long enough to get one, which is normally the case.
....
From the Crystalens web site;
9) What should I expect during the recovery period?
Patients vary widely in how they are affected during the recovery phase. For example, for some patients it takes longer for their near vision to come into focus, while others achieve great near vision almost immediately. The best way to learn about the recovery period is to talk to your surgeon about the procedure.
Here's hoping.
I do have to say, though, that even though I'm having these issues.. the world really looks so awesome now.. like I've never known. When I was driving home, it was just beautiful.. all the signs.. the cars.. the texture of the roads. Just amazing.
I took the dogs outside to potty when I got home.. I could see a dragonfly land on the patio about 10 feet away. I could see the blue color of it's body. I could see the webbing in it's wings. I could see a tiny ant about 15 feet away, weaving it's way across the patio. Prior to the surgery, I don't know that I would have been able to see the dragonfly at all.. much less see the details of its body.
I really want that awesome distance vision permanently.. and I absolutely must have perfect vision on my computer monitors. It is super important to me. If I need to wear a pair of reading glasses to read a book, or see a menu.. well.. whatever. I don't really give a fuck about that. Hopefully the Crystalens can start flexing and focusing at the arms length distance. That would be tremendous.
And finally.. more props to the Key-Whitman eye clinic. Most reviews I've read of them whine that it's an "eye mill". In a sense, it is.. and I've seen 4 different doctors post-operatively.. but everyone there is very good at what they're doing, and they don't treat their patients like a pay check. I've seen the same doctor the last 3 times I've been there for appointments, and he's really good at being patient while I ask tons of questions and he explains everything in tremendous detail.. talking to me as if I'm a very bright person that understands what's going on, and not like I'm an idiot. He's having my follow-up appoints now coinicide with his office schedule so that he'll be following me from now on.
Dr. Whitman (the big kahuna) is pretty much just a surgeon - but he does supervise everyone else. The doctors have often left the exam room to consult with him, and have had him come and look at my eyes a couple of times post-operatively just to double check things. My case has been unusual from the start, going back to the very first doctor I saw, who said he wasn't comfortable doing my surgery due to the unusual characteristics of my eyes.
Ultimately, I'm not happy that they got the power of the implant in my right eye wrong. That's on them. What they're doing now to help me get the best vision possible seems to be very positive to me. I can't complain about that at all.
This is the doc;
Dr. Agnew is extensively trained in preoperative and postoperative management of cataract and refractive surgery patients, including LASIK, Limbal Relaxing Incisions, Crystalens and Refractive Implants. He has served as an investigator for sponsored FDA laser studies on myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism. He performs comprehensive dilated eye examinations for diagnosis and treatment of ocular disease, including glaucoma, macular degeneration, corneal disease and diabetic retinopathy. In addition, he specializes in fitting soft contact lenses and low vision rehabilitation.
1 comment:
Hope all ends up the way you want it and is succesful.
Bill
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