Thank you for all of your valuable research and insight. You refer to yourself as a “novice”, but you seem more like an experienced cataract surgeon!
Background: I’m longtime myopic and I’d employed monovision for many years with contact lenses. Had retinal surgery in left eye in 2018 and it prompted quick development of the cataract. In 2019, they implanted the distance vision Alcon SN60 and I experienced, almost immediate PD AND clouding of the posterior capsule. I, also, had significant floaters in that eye. My Vitreo-retinal surgeon, in whom I have fairly high confidence, advised a concurrent FOV and PCO which I had done. He believed this procedure could also help the PD. However, that surgery took care of the floaters and cloudy capsule, but was no help to the PD. And, since posterior capsule is now gone, an attempt at IOL explant/implant is of prohibitive risk to many surgeons.
I appreciate all of your site and doctor references and will check them out. Doctors that I’ve seen in my Pittsburgh area are not in favor of IOL exchanges. I had good communication with Dr. Safran, and he seems to have considerable, positive IOL exchange experience.
At this point, it doesn’t seem there are any easy answers to improve my left eye PD. It’s been 2 and a half years now and I hope age-related pupiler reduction and neuradaptation will give me incremental help.
As this right eye cataract has advanced, I need to decide on the lens and power to select for best ongoing vision. With the shortfalls of my left surgery, it is not a simple decision! Again, thank you for your wonderful input and let me know anything else you find out!
You have had quite the journey with eye surgery, so sorry for all the problems with your left eye.
I hope to meet with a specialist in the next week to learn more. I will share anymore additional info I get that may help. I do feel like I have learned quite a bit and wish I had known some of this going into the initial surgery. I alsoo wore contacts for over 50 years and my cataracts were not to developed yet but I couldn't get Lasik due to the fact that the cataracts were beginning. In hindsight, I would have not done the surgery but I was told by many that they loved their new vision and even my own surgeon said I would have better vision than Lasik could provide. Unfortunately I fell into the 3% category with side effects that are quite annoying. For me they truly effect my quality of life since I am a designer and fine artist.
This whole journey for me really has me convinced that the ophthalmology industry really needs to invest more in pre-op diagnostics and be ready for more solutions post op if these situations occur. We may only be in the 3% but that is about 108,000 patients who are having visual disturbances and when its you that is 100% in my eyes. But I am determined to resolve this issue and will hopefully regain desirable vision. Thanks for sharing and listening. It does help to talk with those who know what you are experiencing and I want to help as many as I can to find answers to an unfortunate problem that I am afraid will become more prevalent with these newer lenses being brought to the market. Wonder how many in Alcon, J&J, B&L, etc. research & development departments for these IOL's have tried them in their own eyes?