Yes, you can get LASIK in an eye with an IOL. In fact, getting a LASIK "touch up" after cataract surgery has become increasingly popular in the past few years.
I'm one of the few people who can't do monovision--I developed strabismus with monovision contacts. (This is very rare and probably involves a genetic vulnerability.) But I loved monovision and envy those who can take advantage of it. ("Blended vision" or mini-monovision is a great alternative, too.) Currently, both of my eyes are at plano with monofocal IOLs, and I need glasses or bifocal contacts for the computer, cooking, or any close vision task.
Can you get LASIK in an eye that already has an IOL? Thanks for the encouraging words about monovision too.
Who says that you can never correct the first mistake? LASIK, a contact lens, or glasses can correct it.
You mentioned that you don't want to "feel like you have monovision." Have you had a bad experience with monovision? If you can adjust to it (and the great majority of people can), it feels very natural--like you still have the same range of focus you had as a young adult. Having both eyes at plano with IOLs is great for some tasks, but everything within arm's length will be blurry.
I'm glad to know that you found a good surgeon. Best of luck.
Thanks, all. I suppose I was looking for a miracle but I should probably just resign myself to the fact that I can never correct the FIRST mistake. (And, yes, I did choose a different and more experienced specialist for this surgery....the one I should have used in the first place!)
You should probably get a second opinion.
Crystalens HD is probably your best hope of having vision at all distances without glasses, which would also give you stereo near vision (to whatever degree your Crystalens HD eye can focus up close). However, it is not a perfect lens, so you should be aware of all the risks and potential problems with it.
A doctor might say differently, but if you end up with a distance-only lens in your right eye, you might be able to get glasses (bifocals, probably) that could give you some amount of stereo vision. Or maybe a combination of a contact lens plus glasses. Or maybe you could get laser surgery on your left eye to make it less nearsighted, which might open up more options with contacts and glasses.
I'm not an eye care professional, but it seems that the refractive error in your left eye greatly exceeds the customary error noted above by Dr. Hagan. You might consider having a different surgeon do your right eye. Try to find a doctor who is experienced, board-certified and uses an IOL Master to do your eye measuremets.
1. Picking the IOL power is not an exact science and an error of + / - 0.50 is the rule, larger in cases of long, short or post RK or lasik eyes.
2. A fixed focus lens is just that if you set if for distance 0.00 refractive error you will not be able to see intermediate or near.
3. You should probably resign yourself to wearing progressive bifocals at least some of the time post surgery.
4. You can only have matched eyes if you set the left eye for distance, have lasik on the right eye and wear progressive bifocals.
JCH MD