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A diary of a Finevion IOL implant
Before deciding on this procedure I had performed a vast amount of research and searched this forum for advice and views. As many post here with problems I have decided to write this diary from day one so others may understand how the progress is made, either good or bad. It is not designed to influence anyone's decision for or against this procedure. Please feel free to comment or add to the thread.
Male, 56 years, West Country of UK. Computer repair technician.
Lens exchange was performed on left (non Dom) eye on morning of Thursday 16th at Circle Bath by consultant Mr Jonathan Luck. A +21 diopter Finevision Micro F lens was implanted All went as planned with no complications.
Thursday evening apart from a 'bruised' feeling to the eye, there was, and had been, no pain at all all day. No vision testing was done.
Day 1, Fri 17th
Left lens removed from vari focal spectacles and specs worn all day.
First thoughts comparing eyes, the 'new' eye is noticeably lighter and brighter, with perhaps a little less colour contrast and a very slight increase in purple hues. Slight ache, but less than before and nothing really uncomfortable. Focus at 4 metres plus is clear with no ghosting. Reading a letter or newspaper (12 point) at 30cm was fairly comfortable if the overview a little small, but 30 cm is a little too close for holding a paper. At 80cm, computer distance, objects were clear enough with a very slight edge blur, but reading was not possible smaller than 18 point. Text on screen has a soft blurr edge. Night driving home in the dark presented no problems at all with halos from oncoming cars. Traffic lights have a circular pattern around the light but nothing distracting. Television at 3metres (42" screen) comfortable, with all intros menus and credits readable, if not sharp.
Thoughts for the day
Pleased with initial ability to see objects with this amount of clarity, text will have to improve at all distances to be considered a success.
Phil
Male, 56 years, West Country of UK. Computer repair technician.
Lens exchange was performed on left (non Dom) eye on morning of Thursday 16th at Circle Bath by consultant Mr Jonathan Luck. A +21 diopter Finevision Micro F lens was implanted All went as planned with no complications.
Thursday evening apart from a 'bruised' feeling to the eye, there was, and had been, no pain at all all day. No vision testing was done.
Day 1, Fri 17th
Left lens removed from vari focal spectacles and specs worn all day.
First thoughts comparing eyes, the 'new' eye is noticeably lighter and brighter, with perhaps a little less colour contrast and a very slight increase in purple hues. Slight ache, but less than before and nothing really uncomfortable. Focus at 4 metres plus is clear with no ghosting. Reading a letter or newspaper (12 point) at 30cm was fairly comfortable if the overview a little small, but 30 cm is a little too close for holding a paper. At 80cm, computer distance, objects were clear enough with a very slight edge blur, but reading was not possible smaller than 18 point. Text on screen has a soft blurr edge. Night driving home in the dark presented no problems at all with halos from oncoming cars. Traffic lights have a circular pattern around the light but nothing distracting. Television at 3metres (42" screen) comfortable, with all intros menus and credits readable, if not sharp.
Thoughts for the day
Pleased with initial ability to see objects with this amount of clarity, text will have to improve at all distances to be considered a success.
Phil
You say, "Talk with a proper surgeon though, not a high street chain, one is led by bottom line, the other by ethics. I will let you work out which is which."
I don't know whether this is entirely fair. My experience has been this:
I decided a few weeks back to pursue IOL surgery, did some research, spoke to my GP and set about speaking to a "proper surgeon" as you put it. I contacted two.
I got through to the PA of the first and explained what I wanted, asking whether the surgeon performed such an operation. She needed to go away and check. When I asked what lenses the surgeon used, she asked me what lenses I'd like! I was told I would need to see my GP for a referral (a chore in itself) and I was not sufficiently impressed with the situation to go to the trouble of doing so.
When calling the second surgeon I was again transferred to his PA. Who was clearly working from home because whilst speaking to me a child was asking for help with his homework. She had slightly less clue than the PA of the first surgeon, but set up a call with the surgeon himself. He proved to be a very helpful chap, and I am sure he would have done a fine job. However I was not sufficiently convinced to book a consultation, mainly because his dialogue came across as a bit of a sales pitch and an attempt to slate his competition.
By contrast, I spoke to the Optical Express and had two free consultations. Each member of staff I met, regardless of their role, knew what the company did, what it offered and what its aims were. They were also extremely careful to ensure that I was entirely happy with their offer. I subsequently had some questions which were answered by phone in a couple of minutes. Later I had more questions and they too were answered quickly (by this time I had paid a deposit). I was told categorically that if I had any further questions, however trivial, that I should call again.
An aside: I was reading an article about lens exchange recently and a leading specialists stated that he won't operate on any patient who asks more than five questions, because they are likely to be "too demanding".
I am also slightly more wary of "non commercial" surgeons for want of a better description than "commercial" ones. Over the years I have been referred to a few, including one or two highly regarded ones (in fact one Prince Charles uses), and I haven't been hugely impressed. I have found that it is quite difficult, too, to gauge accurately their historic performance in order to estimate the probability of future success. Commercial operations, however, live or die by their reputations (and I have used some excellent commercial providers o healthcare).
I have four friends who have had len replacement surgery with Optical Express, all have had Mplus lenses, and all are happy. One requires glasses to read fine print in low light. Two of the four have three friends who have had the same surgery and they are glasses independent.
My concerns about the surgery have been twofold. Firstly, will the outfit concerned look after me and how close are they if something goes wrong? I am as sure as I can be that Optical Express is as safe as possible, furthermore the operation will be conducted about 6 miles from my home, so if I have issues it's not too far to go. They also seem to have diarised extremely frequent return visits for check-ups.
My second concern was about lenses - am I getting the best? This was more difficult to answer. I am aware that new lenses are coming along that will be better than the current ones. I am also aware that the FineVision gets some good reviews. However, the Mplus has a broadly successful history and research suggests that it is more popular with those who want better distance vision. I have also read that the approval rating amongst males is greater than for FineVision. I am therefore, in light of the above, happy to pursue the Mplus route.
I am due for my first eye surgery imminently and I will report back, warts and all, to provide some basis for comparison.
I don't know whether this is entirely fair. My experience has been this:
I decided a few weeks back to pursue IOL surgery, did some research, spoke to my GP and set about speaking to a "proper surgeon" as you put it. I contacted two.
I got through to the PA of the first and explained what I wanted, asking whether the surgeon performed such an operation. She needed to go away and check. When I asked what lenses the surgeon used, she asked me what lenses I'd like! I was told I would need to see my GP for a referral (a chore in itself) and I was not sufficiently impressed with the situation to go to the trouble of doing so.
When calling the second surgeon I was again transferred to his PA. Who was clearly working from home because whilst speaking to me a child was asking for help with his homework. She had slightly less clue than the PA of the first surgeon, but set up a call with the surgeon himself. He proved to be a very helpful chap, and I am sure he would have done a fine job. However I was not sufficiently convinced to book a consultation, mainly because his dialogue came across as a bit of a sales pitch and an attempt to slate his competition.
By contrast, I spoke to the Optical Express and had two free consultations. Each member of staff I met, regardless of their role, knew what the company did, what it offered and what its aims were. They were also extremely careful to ensure that I was entirely happy with their offer. I subsequently had some questions which were answered by phone in a couple of minutes. Later I had more questions and they too were answered quickly (by this time I had paid a deposit). I was told categorically that if I had any further questions, however trivial, that I should call again.
An aside: I was reading an article about lens exchange recently and a leading specialists stated that he won't operate on any patient who asks more than five questions, because they are likely to be "too demanding".
I am also slightly more wary of "non commercial" surgeons for want of a better description than "commercial" ones. Over the years I have been referred to a few, including one or two highly regarded ones (in fact one Prince Charles uses), and I haven't been hugely impressed. I have found that it is quite difficult, too, to gauge accurately their historic performance in order to estimate the probability of future success. Commercial operations, however, live or die by their reputations (and I have used some excellent commercial providers o healthcare).
I have four friends who have had len replacement surgery with Optical Express, all have had Mplus lenses, and all are happy. One requires glasses to read fine print in low light. Two of the four have three friends who have had the same surgery and they are glasses independent.
My concerns about the surgery have been twofold. Firstly, will the outfit concerned look after me and how close are they if something goes wrong? I am as sure as I can be that Optical Express is as safe as possible, furthermore the operation will be conducted about 6 miles from my home, so if I have issues it's not too far to go. They also seem to have diarised extremely frequent return visits for check-ups.
My second concern was about lenses - am I getting the best? This was more difficult to answer. I am aware that new lenses are coming along that will be better than the current ones. I am also aware that the FineVision gets some good reviews. However, the Mplus has a broadly successful history and research suggests that it is more popular with those who want better distance vision. I have also read that the approval rating amongst males is greater than for FineVision. I am therefore, in light of the above, happy to pursue the Mplus route.
I am due for my first eye surgery imminently and I will report back, warts and all, to provide some basis for comparison.
It's now more than 3 months since I had my AT trifocal lenses implanted. The bright circular ring around headlights is still there but it doesn't bother me and, as Phil states, there is no glare. My near vision is excellent and so is my distance. My computer use is fine though I have a tendency to lean towards the computer when in fact my vision is better if I sit back. Just years of habit that I need to change! The only area of slight difficulty is reading a broadsheet newspaper but this is solved my turning on a bright overhead light (perhaps I should swap to a tabloid!). A superb result!
Hi
I notice you have cataracts in the early stages, my procedure was elective of the clear lens exchange type, I did not have cataracts. I have used specs from waking to sleeping for seven years and just found them inconvenient, for general life, hobbies and shooting sports.
When presented with my old prescription my eye surgeon initially thought the right eye had sufficient astigmatism to warrant a toric lens. His thoughts were to use standard on the left and toric on the right, and had no reservations in doing this.
However, after the IOL Master diagnostics, it revealed a lesser astigmatism than my usual optician had prescribed for. At -1.2 it was felt he could remove just over half this, leaving 0.5 which was within the scope of the standard lens. Mr Luck errs on the side of caution, but still rates and uses the toric version where all other indicators are showing a positive outcome. Replacing clear lenses puts more pressure on the surgeon to achieve a result at least as good as the patient had before using specs or contacts. This lens ( and the AT Lisa tri) currently offer a very good alternative to vision aided clear lens or cataract surgery.
At your age, if replacement is not required immediately, I would wait to see the results of the new hydro accommodating lenses undergoing trials. Physiol have only released the Finevision Tri in the last couple of years after several years of trials. Who knows what will be available in the next five years. If more immediate action needs to be taken, these seem to be a very viable solution. I can already see myself being glasses free for the rest of my life.
Talk with a proper surgeon though, not a high street chain, one is led by bottom line, the other by ethics. I will let you work out which is which.
Phil
I notice you have cataracts in the early stages, my procedure was elective of the clear lens exchange type, I did not have cataracts. I have used specs from waking to sleeping for seven years and just found them inconvenient, for general life, hobbies and shooting sports.
When presented with my old prescription my eye surgeon initially thought the right eye had sufficient astigmatism to warrant a toric lens. His thoughts were to use standard on the left and toric on the right, and had no reservations in doing this.
However, after the IOL Master diagnostics, it revealed a lesser astigmatism than my usual optician had prescribed for. At -1.2 it was felt he could remove just over half this, leaving 0.5 which was within the scope of the standard lens. Mr Luck errs on the side of caution, but still rates and uses the toric version where all other indicators are showing a positive outcome. Replacing clear lenses puts more pressure on the surgeon to achieve a result at least as good as the patient had before using specs or contacts. This lens ( and the AT Lisa tri) currently offer a very good alternative to vision aided clear lens or cataract surgery.
At your age, if replacement is not required immediately, I would wait to see the results of the new hydro accommodating lenses undergoing trials. Physiol have only released the Finevision Tri in the last couple of years after several years of trials. Who knows what will be available in the next five years. If more immediate action needs to be taken, these seem to be a very viable solution. I can already see myself being glasses free for the rest of my life.
Talk with a proper surgeon though, not a high street chain, one is led by bottom line, the other by ethics. I will let you work out which is which.
Phil
I'm very glad you're writing this journal, and wish more people would do so.
Let me briefly interfere with a question - I am also in the research phase now, looking for the best option out there... Finevision sure seems interesting, however I also have high astigmatism. Are you familiar perhaps with how the toric version of this iol might be doing?
Let me briefly interfere with a question - I am also in the research phase now, looking for the best option out there... Finevision sure seems interesting, however I also have high astigmatism. Are you familiar perhaps with how the toric version of this iol might be doing?
I failed to find a 'real life' explanation of what to expect. More disturbingly, in the UK, where there are a range of premium lenses available, little information is offered about them to cataract sufferers. I have spoken to three acquaintances in the last week who have had NHS ( 'free' Social medical care in the UK) cataract lens exchanges and when comparing notes, none had been told of the availability of premium lenses. Two would have paid for the premiums.
The Finevision lens took some finding as far as a surgeon locally who fitted them.
Day 9
Second eye had astigmatism manually removed when the +21 standard lens was fitted so a toric IOL wasn't required.
Eyes are now used binocularly. The difference in ability to see at varying distances (compared to the one IOL and one unaided eye) is so pronounced it is scary.
Driving at night, on rural roads with no street lights, in driving rain, was an experience. Oncoming headlights had a bright circular ring surrounding them producing a small 'spiderweb' pattern. No glare was thrown and I did not feel driving vision was compromised. Shifting vision from dash to road and further to road signs was seamless. If neural the adaption mentioned for the Mplus is needed, it has happened almost instantly.
Reading and writing on an iPad at 35-40cm is really comfortable. Reading a newspaper is easy. Newsprint text or the paper it is printed on is not the highest quality, but I have the ability to read the fine print for conditions of loans etc that advertisers rather you didn't.
I tried my hobby of wood turning on a lathe today, focus at point of tool to wood contact is vital for control and safety. I felt totally in control and found it so much more comfortable than wearing specs which steam up under the face-mask. Depth and field of vision is now excellent.
From first thing in the shower, the ability to read every label on the shampoos etc was the biggest novelty. Sharp focus at 100 yards is not there yet, although I would not be greatly disappointed if it never came, the 12 inch to 40 feet distances are what really matter. Computer use is now clearer with a comfortable reading size of 12 point, but able to see 10 point adequately if a little blurred.
Will post weekly in future to report on focus developments at computer and very long distance.
Thoughts for today.
I think even if things got no better, this has already been a totally worthwhile procedure. I feel my months of research has paid off handsomely and find it unbelievable the FDA drags it's feet and places so many obstacles in the path of these small companies preventing clinical trials and general availability in the U.S.A.
The Finevision lens took some finding as far as a surgeon locally who fitted them.
Day 9
Second eye had astigmatism manually removed when the +21 standard lens was fitted so a toric IOL wasn't required.
Eyes are now used binocularly. The difference in ability to see at varying distances (compared to the one IOL and one unaided eye) is so pronounced it is scary.
Driving at night, on rural roads with no street lights, in driving rain, was an experience. Oncoming headlights had a bright circular ring surrounding them producing a small 'spiderweb' pattern. No glare was thrown and I did not feel driving vision was compromised. Shifting vision from dash to road and further to road signs was seamless. If neural the adaption mentioned for the Mplus is needed, it has happened almost instantly.
Reading and writing on an iPad at 35-40cm is really comfortable. Reading a newspaper is easy. Newsprint text or the paper it is printed on is not the highest quality, but I have the ability to read the fine print for conditions of loans etc that advertisers rather you didn't.
I tried my hobby of wood turning on a lathe today, focus at point of tool to wood contact is vital for control and safety. I felt totally in control and found it so much more comfortable than wearing specs which steam up under the face-mask. Depth and field of vision is now excellent.
From first thing in the shower, the ability to read every label on the shampoos etc was the biggest novelty. Sharp focus at 100 yards is not there yet, although I would not be greatly disappointed if it never came, the 12 inch to 40 feet distances are what really matter. Computer use is now clearer with a comfortable reading size of 12 point, but able to see 10 point adequately if a little blurred.
Will post weekly in future to report on focus developments at computer and very long distance.
Thoughts for today.
I think even if things got no better, this has already been a totally worthwhile procedure. I feel my months of research has paid off handsomely and find it unbelievable the FDA drags it's feet and places so many obstacles in the path of these small companies preventing clinical trials and general availability in the U.S.A.
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