I have regular astigmatism in my left eye that has causes the double vision effect, which for a number of years I have corrected with contact lenses and glasses (along with my nearsightedness). But I was diagnosed with mild cataracts in both eyes in 2017, which has become more progressed in my left eye to the point of needing surgery.
I hope I can word the following so that it makes sense. I believe the cataract may be contributing to my astigmatism, so during an eye test, I don't know how much I should try to focus on eliminating the double image.
When I take an eye test now, there is no way to get rid of the double vision entirely. When I take the test, the object of getting rid of the double vision is at odds with the object of making the test sharper. For if I make it my goal to merge the double image of the letters on the eye chart into one, saying "better" to the lens that moves the double images closer, as I continue, then the letters can be moved closer and closer together, but at the price of sharpness of the letters. I wind up with the letters almost in sync as one, but not really readable.
If on the other hand, if I ignore the doubling and just say "better" as to whether the lens is making the letters sharper, I will end up with sharp text, but with two overlapping images remaining a problem.
Let me just put it this way as a way of restating the above, to make sure I am understood. If my life were on the line and I was told I had to read a page of text correctly, I would choose the latter option and rely on a lens that made the text discernible, but with an annoying double image. Because if I try to merge the double letters with the lens options provided into the text, the end result is fuzzy unreadable text, much of which I wouldn't be able to make out even if I tried.
So with the above being true, my question is : How much the results of my eye exam are used in choosing my IOL?
Here are the history of my refractions:
Refraction Dec 2015
OD: Sph -6.25 Cyl +1.50 Axis 055 VA - Dist: 20/20-1 ADD: 2.00
OS: Sph -6.25 Cyl +2.00 Axis 095 VA - Dist: 20/20-1 ADD: 2.00
Refraction May 2017
OD: Sph -6.00 Cyl +1.50 Axis 056 VA - Dist: 20/20 ADD: 2.00
OS: Sph -6.50 Cyl +2.25 Axis 095 VA - Dist: 20/25-1 ADD: 2.00
OD: Sph -5.00 Cyl +1.50 Axis 048 VA - Dist: 20/20
OS: Sph -5.50 Cyl +2.25 Axis 081 VA - Dist: 20/25-1
(this was for a prescription that combined computer distance prescription)
Refraction Aug 2018 (in this exam i focused on merging the lettering in left eye and ended up still very blurry)
OD: Sph -5.25 Cyl +1.50 Axis 050 VA - Dist: 20/20 ADD: 2.25
OS: Sph -7.50 Cyl +2.75 Axis 081 VA - Dist: 20/50-1 ADD: 2.25
Refraction Jan 2019 (in this exam I just went for whatever made the lettering sharper and readable with my left eye, ignoring double vision)
OD: Sph -5.50 Cyl +1.50 Axis 048 VA - Dist: 20/20-1 ADD: 2.25
OS: Sph -7.00 Cyl +2.50 Axis 090 VA - Dist: 20/60- ADD: 2.25