glare with monovision iols?

[mudrunnersmom]

I am 52, active, in grad school and a designer who works on a computer.

I have been wearing monovision contacts for the last years, adjusted perfectly fine to them.
I have cataracts in both eyes (and I thought the blur was from getting makeup on my contacts)
I am schedule in about a month.
My Dr. is supposed to be the best surgeon in town, she however is making suggestions to me, not recommendations.
My first consult she said I could consider multifocal, but that since I was already used to monovision I could do that.
found out an acquaintance about my age had surgery in December - same dr.  I asked what IOL's she had and she said standard ones. set for distance. she said she had always worn glasses so glasses for reading did not bother her. she said she had asked about the multifocals and the dr. told her they "weren't there yet and not to consider them.

So I pretty much decided on monovision.i Went in for my preop conference, met with the preop person, not the doctor.  She was going over everything and stopped when she saw a note saying - no monovision - too much glare. So she went to talk to the dr and came back and said the dr said that there would be severe glare issues with monovision becasue there is so much difference between the lens strengths. She offered phone numbers of people who had the Restors iimplanted. I looked at the phone number and said thiese people are not from this state - did the doctor do thier surgery, and I was told no - the rep gave us these names.

I cannot stand the idea of being set for distance vision and having to wear glasses all day at work and then school... that would be fun (not) .  Refer to text, look at laptop screen, then to the video monitors or whiteboards, back to text....



does this make sense? I am totally confused, do not know what to do.
Went in today for my preop conference - not with her, but her assistant.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

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[Glad4Help]

Wow!  I'm glad to hear you are happy with your choice and getting it figured out.  

Did you get a second opinion or go back to your surgeon and discuss again?

I am trying to decide whether to trust my surgeon who is recommending Crystalens or my optometrist who says i should get standard lens.

[mudrunnersmom]

Had surgery on the right eye 5 days ago - I am more than happy with the results - my vision was far wrse than I thought and through the completed eye things look great! No surgical issues, never even uncomfortable.    she implanted acrysf IQ aspheric sn60wf  17.0D. corrected fr distance.

gave me three different powers of contacts to try tin the other eye, and with the lens that gives a greater differential between the eyes(-1.50) I think I know what she means by glare - it is not like halos or light reflecting off a shiny surface but more like an overall haze.  did not notice it with the lens that is -1.0 and will try that lens tday and tonight again.  I still think I will go with the mini monovision, not full distance correction.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

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[betheplunk]

I've just joined this website, so I'm perhaps too late to respond.  It is clear that your doctor was taking her information from the sales rep for Restor.  I hope you went for another opinion or three.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

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[JodieJ]

You say that your doctor believes that monovision involves too much glare, so she's pressuring you to get ReStors. (And she's offering the names and numbers of other ReStor recipients who had a different surgeon,)  No, that absolutely doesn't make sense to me.  There must be other board-certified surgeons in town--get another opinion.  You sound like a good candidate for monovision with aspheric monofocal IOLs.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

I would suggest strongly that you get a second and perhaps third opinion about your options.

Patients that have successfully worn contacts for monovision and done well are ideal candidates for aspheric monofocal IOLs.

JCH MD

[peakhope]

Restor is an option, but beware that some people have terrible night vision with them. Search the forums to hear the stories. If you opt for Restor, be sure to get the newest model.

Crystalens HD is another possibility, which might give you full vision at all distances without glasses. However, some people have various problems with Crystalens too, so search the forum to read more about them.

With monofocal lenses, you could have both set for distance; or monovision (one distance, one near); or mini-monovision (one distance, one intermediate). Perhaps mini-monovision would work for you. Definitely worth discussing with your doctor.

Since you have already adapted to monovision, hopefully a doctor here can explain whether monovision with IOL's would have more glare than with contacts. I haven't heard of that before.

Don't be afraid to keep asking questions. You'll probably have to live with this IOL the rest of your life, so you want to make the right choice. If you don't feel like you are getting the right amount of attention or clear answers, express your concerns. And consider getting a second opinion.