UPDATE: I had the combined surgery 4 days ago (vitrectomy/ERM peel/cataract). The IOL choice was a -1.75 lens. Pre-surgery I was -4.25 in the operated eye; post-surgery goal was a -2. There were no complications in the surgery. (As a side note, I was a nervous wreck on the day of surgery, and hence had general anesthesia; I had no problems from it.) The next day, my vision was blurry but I could see generally at close range. At this point, 4 days later, I can see well at close range, and am able to use the computer and read without glasses. I am on 4 different eye drops, 3 are 4X day, one is 2X day. One of the drops keeps my eye dilated; I was told this helps to prevent muscle spasms that can cause headaches. My biggest issue is that for distance my glasses are hard to wear because the left lens is just way too strong (by about -2.25). I am hoping at my next appointment at the one week mark my doctor can give me a prescription for a temporary lens that will enable me to wear my glasses more successfully until the 3 month mark, when I'm told I can get new glasses. Other annoyances in the recovery process (other than all the eye drops) are having to tape an eye shield to my face when I sleep, a beautiful black eye, and the activity restrictions -- no bending, no lifting, no strenuous exercise. Hoping these restrictions will be eased at my one week appointment; I'm used to being active, and am getting pretty bored. Visually, I notice that where before the ERM peel there were missing pieces in about every third letter when reading, now those areas are visible, though smudged. It seems to get a little better each day. Straight lines like the side of a wall or bookcase still appear bowed, but it's very early in the recovery process so I expect that will improve with time. Since the eye drops I have are designed to keep my eye dilated until my one week appointment, I have quite a bit of sensitivity to light; I'm wearing sunglasses a lot of the time. My expectation is that once I'm off the dilating drops I should have additional improvement in VA.
Overall, I feel I am recovering quickly, and I am optimistic about the future for my vision. I will update again after I have my next follow up appointment.
9-10 months was the approximate time it took for my vision to return essentially to it’s pre-surgical state. I’m speculating that since my macular vision was affected it took longer than you might think it should, but I was fine with it. Note that my vision was not bad during that 10 months, rather it was not what it had been. I also was diagnosed with cystoid macular edema afterward, which continues to improve to this day, three years after the surgery, but it never caused any significant visual issues in and of itself.
First read this link carefully:
http://www.medhelp.org/user_journals/show/1648102/Consider-ALL-the-Options-Before-Your-Cataract-Surgery-Working-Through-Whats-Best-For-You
Your biggest concern should be the success of the membrane peel not the IOL power. ERM peel is a much larger operation with many more potential complications than a standard cataract/IOL surgery. Moreover even if the ERM is removed you may not have 20/20 vision and you may experience some distortion (Metamorphopsia) or things could look bigger (macropsia) or smaller (Micropsia) than normal. Setting ideal target of -2.00 would be a good choice. Myopes that have read without glasses all their life that chose to set both eyes at 0.00 are uniformly unhappy in my experience.
That’s what I have, an IOL in my LE that is in approximate parity with my non-operative RE. My close up vision is excellent, as is distance vision with contacts or glasses. Granted my cataract surgery following my vitrectomy/ERM peel by about 18 months.