On Thursday evening, I returned from band practice. The sky was black with night, and as I exited the car, I looked upward and saw stars. With my blurry, cataract-burdened eyesight, I hadn't seen stars in a night sky for some time. They were lovely.
I had a checkup yesterday to see how my cataract surgery is healing. The doctor said it looks great, and my visual acuity is greater than expected - 20-15? The doctor said "Wow" when he measured it. Not bad for an eye that I previously considered to be nearly useless.
The surgery on my left eye is scheduled for April 28. Now I need to make a decision. Should the left eye be fitted with a lens that will leave it somewhat nearsighted? The doctor recommends this, as I will then be able to read without reading glasses. My left eye would be for reading and close-up viewing, my right eye for driving and distance viewing.
Right now, I am leaning towards making the left eye like the right, so I can see distance with added clarity. I will happily wear reading glasses for close-up viewing.
I don't have to decide right away. I will wait until my right eye is completely healed from the surgery, and see how it does with close-up viewing.
As an optician (in a past life), I'll give you my best thoughts. He is perfectly correct that one eye will dominate for distance and the other for close - except for the 10 - 15% of people who don't adjust. Personally, I wouldn't do it. It's much like people who wear contacts to get the same effect (monovision) Many of these people never adjusted. And, in my opinion, it would have to mess up your depth perception and may play havoc with lights flaring at night. You will also lose intermediate vision (5 -15 feet) which would play havoc with your reading music. Not knowing what you prescription is, I can't comment on exactly the strength of the implanted lens, but often it is less than necessary meaning you'll still have to wear glasses for very fine print.
ReplyDeleteBest to go the same and wear reading glasses when needed. You can buy plenty of them at DollarTree. ;-)
Thanks Adrienne. I am leaning that way. I think I'd like to have two eyes seeing 20-20.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad for you, Stogie. It has to be amazing to be able to see after so many years of problems.
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