Vision correction with intraocular lens implants

Actually, when you're correcting vision, they don't actually remove your natural lens. Instead, an artificial lens—designed to fix your prescription—is inserted either into the posterior chamber (behind the iris) or the anterior chamber (in front of it). The catch with placing a lens in the anterior chamber is that it might speed up the loss of corneal endothelial cells. On the other hand, putting it in the posterior chamber could potentially accelerate the development of cataracts, or basically, clouding of your natural lens. And now, we're finally starting to see long-term studies suggesting there might be a slightly higher incidence of elevated intraocular pressure about ten years after the procedure.

Alright, I finally got my appointment scheduled. Barring any crazy last-minute surprises, I'm heading in for surgery this Wednesday.

Wish me luck 🙂—I’ll try to check in here day by day to let you guys know how everything is going...

That sounds great—I really hope everything goes smoothly for you. Where are you heading for the surgery, and which specific intraocular lenses are you planning to get?

1. Mayo Clinic
2. Unfortunately, all I know is that they’re monofocal—though I’m really crossing my fingers that they’re aspheric. The catch is that Medicare won't cover the cost for multifocal lenses. I haven't been able to track down the specific manufacturer for any of the ones being mentioned here on the forum yet.

EDIT: Just a quick heads-up, I'm getting an IOL implanted because of cataract surgery, and I'm also dealing with nearsightedness.

Benjamin Rivera4 said:Alright, I finally got my appointment scheduled. Barring any crazy last-minute surprises, I'm heading in for surgery this Wednesday.

Wish me luck 🙂—I’ll try to check in here day by day to let you guys know how everything is going...

Good luck, Mirko!

I still need to run one more search through everything. My next appointment isn't until Tuesday,

Benjamin Rivera4 said:I still need to run one more search through everything. My next appointment isn't until Tuesday,

That’s just how that old rule goes. Measure three times, cut once. Since you've waited this long already, waiting another week shouldn't hurt...

Exactly! I’ll be checking back in on Tuesday—fingers crossed I can actually get it done and everything goes smoothly. To be honest, my eye is going to be all bandaged up for the first day, so I probably won't have any groundbreaking news to share right away, but we'll see how it goes.

So, here’s how the whole morning went down—I showed up at the surgical unit ready to go. In a nutshell, it looked a bit like this:

- First thing in the morning, I arrived at the ward, changed into my hospital gown, and got settled into bed. 🙂
- Then they started dilating my pupils and doing one last round of eye measurements to make sure they picked the right lens.
- I grabbed a jelly donut for breakfast while I waited. 😉
- By about 9:45 AM, I was being wheeled off to the operating room...

Basically, they get you suited up in those green scrubs, pop a cap on your head, and even put those little green fabric booties over your feet. Once you’re lying on the table in the OR, the worst part hits: they cover your entire head with this heavy green drape that only leaves a tiny opening for the eye being operated on. To make sure you can actually breathe, they give you oxygen through a little tube in your nose. Honestly, it felt like having a tent flap draped over my face! They open the eye and secure the eyelids, but before the "drape" even goes on, they apply the anesthetic and sterilize the area. I don't really count that part as the actual surgery itself.

The real deal starts once the surgeon walks in. My discharge papers say the procedure itself only took 6 minutes (!). Personally, the only thing I actually felt was a bit of pressure in my eye at one point—I'm guessing that was when they were removing my natural lens. The surgical lights were so incredibly bright that I didn't even notice the moment they swapped in the new lens; I could just sort of sense its shape. I didn't feel any needles or anything, just some occasional light pressure. According to the paperwork, there weren't any complications during the procedure at all.

My nephew was running a little late picking me up, so I didn't finally make it back home until around 11:30.

My eye is taped shut, of course, but I have a follow-up appointment tomorrow, so I'll check back in then with an update.

So it’s probably not as bad as it seems... just a bit uncomfortable, I guess.

So, I just wrapped up my first follow-up appointment.

Once they finally peeled off the bandage, the protective shield, and the gauze...

well, let's just say things are looking decent. It’s a massive improvement compared to when I was dealing with cataracts, though maybe I was expecting a total miracle right away. See, the main reason I went through with this was the cataracts—but before the surgery, my prescription was sitting at a heavy -10.5. Now, while I was sitting there in the exam room, the doctor checked me and said I'm at -1.75. Honestly, given the state of my eye, he says that’s a fantastic result. I’m still kind of adjusting to this whole "new vision" thing, and the doctor mentioned that I won't truly know how much I can actually "see" until a few more days pass—ideally by my next check-up in 14 days, and then again at the final exam after about a month and a half or two months. I also have to swing by the pharmacy to pick up some ointment and drops that I need to apply four times a day.

Other than that, I feel fine—no pain, just a bit of itching here and there, but nothing like having something stuck in my eye.

The doctor gave me the usual warnings: don't overdo it physically before the next visit, don't let water get in the eye, and stay super disciplined with the ointments and drops...

Anyway, that's the update. I'll check back in with you guys in a few days.

My prescription will probably drop even further. Maybe not all the way down to zero, but this is already incredible. I'm sitting at about a minus ten in both eyes, so if I could just get down to a 1.5... that would be more than enough for me.

Steven Stewart5 said:My prescription will probably drop even further. Maybe not all the way down to zero, but this is already incredible. I'm sitting at about a minus ten in both eyes, so if I could just get down to a 1.5... that would be more than enough for me.

Keep in mind—if you decide to go through with the surgery just to fix your vision, you actually get to keep your natural lens inside your eye. That's a huge deal. It’s likely a totally different experience than mine, since my natural lens had to be removed entirely. Honestly, I think things would work out even better for you because of that.

Day two post-op:

I don't really have much else to report, to be honest. There's absolutely nothing in my eye—it feels like there isn't even anything there. My near vision is still great. Distance vision? Not quite there yet. But man, the combo is working wonders: I've got my classic refractive lens in the left eye and an intraocular lens in the right operated eye. Basically, I'm using one eye for distance and the other for reading. 🤔 🤦

But alright... here's the one hiccup. I tried to take the lens out of my old glasses for my right eye, thinking, "Hey, maybe this works?" Well, nope. It doesn't work like that—my brain just can't fuse the images from both eyes together because the difference in prescription is just too massive.

EDIT: And for heaven's sake, I'm not allowed to brush my hair yet...

Hey Mirko. How are your eyes doing lately? Has the vision actually cleared up after those first ten days... I'm curious. What kind of lenses did they end up giving you? I’ve finally made the decision to go through with the lens replacement myself. I just need to get on the schedule, but I'm feeling a bit lost on which type to choose since there are so many different options out there...

I just had my second follow-up appointment (it’s been two weeks since the surgery).

Everything turned out exactly how the doctor predicted during my check-up the day after the procedure. On that eye, I’m left with a "tiny" residual prescription of -1.5—which, honestly, feels like nothing compared to the -10.5 I was dealing with before. With that eye alone, my near vision is fantastic; I can even sit back and watch TV without any issues. Right now, I’m using a bit of a hybrid setup: the right eye relies solely on the IOL, while I’m still wearing a semi-rigid contact lens in the left one. It’s actually working surprisingly well for me.

The real headache, though, is the glasses situation. I can't really get a pair of prescription glasses made anymore because the difference in vision between my two eyes is just too massive—my brain basically can't fuse the two images together.

All things considered, I'm pretty thrilled with the outcome, especially considering how bad my vision used to be.

I did some digging into the lens itself, and it turns out they implanted a standard spherical lens from Alcon. To be honest, I have no clue if—or even how much—aspheric or multifocal lenses would actually be an improvement over what I have.

Best of luck to you! Honestly, the actual surgery is probably the easiest part of this whole process.

I headed over to the doctor yesterday and we finally pulled the trigger on the surgery. I’m going with the Alcon SN60WF lenses. One is monofocal and the other is toric to handle my astigmatism. My surgeon mentioned they usually leave a tiny bit of nearsightedness in there—it's just their standard protocol. Apparently, when you're measuring prescription levels, it's easy to overshoot, so they prefer aiming for a slight negative rather than making things too strong... I’ll admit, I've got some nerves about it, but then again, I’m terrified of the dentist, so I guess I just have to face the music.

I completely forgot that at 48, my natural vision is already starting to shift... and if I don't take care of things now, I might be looking at cataracts in just a few years, which would mean going back under the knife for surgery. With this procedure, I should finally be set for good and stop messing around with my eyes...

Steven Stewart5 said:I completely forgot that at 48, my natural vision is already starting to shift... and if I don't take care of things now, I might be looking at cataracts in just a few years, which would mean going back under the knife for surgery. With this procedure, I should finally be set for good and stop messing around with my eyes...

It’s pretty wild that they're planning to take out your natural lens. Honestly, my dad didn't even deal with cataracts until he was 78...

By the way, the Alcon lens I have is the SA60AT, just in case you wanted to compare specs.

These lenses are actually quite similar. Mine happen to be aspheric, and they include some kind of UV protection too. Hopefully, they'll do the trick...

So, when’s your appointment scheduled for? Are you really planning on tackling both eyes at the exact same time?

Definitely reach out and let me know how everything goes—I have a feeling it’ll turn out just fine 🙂...