I had cataract surgery on Thursday on my right eye. Left eye is scheduled for 11/14. I’m now in that in-between stage where I can see pretty well out of my right eye for distance, but still need my strong progressives to read out of my left eye. It’s nice to be able to read the closed captions on the TV now without glasses!
My doctor recommended removing the right lens from my glasses, but when I try to walk with my glasses on, I’m really off balance with wonky depth perception. There’s no way I can read unless I cover the right eye completely and rely totally on my left. November 14 can’t come soon enough for me!
I’m really pleased with the vision correction, though - especially the brightness! White is now white again instead of beige. I paid extra for toric lenses because I have terrible astigmatism. I’ll need readers once both eyes are done but that’s okay with me. I really wanted to try the light-adjusted lenses but I wasn’t a good candidate for them because I have some corneal scarring.
I was surprised at the cost of the eyedrops, though! There are 3 different drops that you need to take 4 times a day. The doctor’s office offered a special bottle of drops that combines all 3 into 1 drop but it’s not covered by insurance and it costs $125. I’ll need another bottle for the left eye soon. I guess it’s worth it for the convenience, but I don’t see why insurance wouldn’t cover it .
Sounds great! I wish they had had the one drop combo when I had my cataract surgery. $125 really would have been worth it…keeping track of three drops was no easy task!
What if you removed your glasses and just used your right eye? You would see well at distance but would need readers for near. Does that feel any better than trying to use your left to see?
The combo drops purchased through the doctor’s office is outside of your insurance. The doctor’s office makes $0 on meds you buy through a pharmacy. They make a profit off of what you purchase in their office. That said, it is convenient to just have one bottle instead of three. Is it $125 more convenient? Maybe for some but not others. The toric lens is also more profitable to the doctor. If you had a lot of astigmatism, it might be worth it to you. Others opt for a standard lens that is covered by their insurance and wear glasses for distance and near.
I’m sure that would work better but I wasn’t going to buy readers until I know what strength to get. I just assumed my ophthalmologist would tell me once both eyes were done. Maybe I should run up to CVS and just try some on. Thanks for the suggestion!
The larger numbers provide more magnification so are better for closer reading (ex. reading in bed). The lower numbers are for better for farther away (ex. desktop computer).
Thanks for starting this thread. I will be posting probably in the next year. What made you decide to go with distant as opposed to close vision correction? I do like to read a lot and go on the computer which I do now without glasses. I am near sided.
I chose distance as opposed to close vision correction. I was already wearing glasses for reading and didn’t mind that. After the surgery (it’s been 4 years) I found that I didn’t even need reading glasses, unless the print was very, very small.
I have multi-focal toric lenses. First time since second grade that I haven’t the need for any glasses. Worth every penny! And while the combined drops were expensive it sure made things a ton easier! I did take one of the lenses out of my glasses but it wasn’t great.
I’m about 5 years out. I wear multi focal contacts. I’d love to be able to never use glasses again. Do you find you have any issues with the multi focal…like nothing is really sharp and clear, just good enough?
This is HIGHLY individual, and something that can’t be determined until after the procedure. By definition though it is a compromise, as far, intermediate and near are simultaneously in focus. That means at any given distance that you are concerned with, some of the light is focussed at the other two distances. It creates defocus and glare for everyone. How much one is bothered by it varies from naot at all to having the lenses explanted and replaced with conventional intraocular lenses.
I elected the opposite. My far point vision was corrected a LOT (I was very very nearsighted) but not to 20/20. And I read without glasses at all. I have progressives but the very bottom is actually clear with no RX.
I’m just not a readers person.
But I never could get things like rimless glasses before because my lenses were way too thick. But I have them now! It’s nice to have glasses that are so thin…and light.
You take your chances here but I have no issues at all. Everything sharp and clear and it’s been a few years. I may be a lucky one but loving every minute. I had really bad astigmatism and super near sighted. I had gotten used to monovision with contacts but decided to go for the multifocal and very glad I did.
I live in a rural area- I’m going to have to travel no matter what.
If you had to choose a place in the US ( no limit on cost) to have cataract surgery where would it be?
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