Astigmatism Correction

[bobsterbob62]

During implant of Rezoom lens for catarract surgery, my doctor did relaxing incisions to correct the astigmatism in left eye which said was a 5. That was June 27th, '07. Since then he has done one laser correction in his office to "fine tune" the astigmatism problem, and it looks like he will have to do that at least one more time. The eye is improving but very slowly and he seems confident it will be fine in time. I'm having the other eye done next week. March 12 '08. He says my results were not typical, but gives me no explanation of why my vision is so slow to come around. Will this second eye progress in a similar slow fashion? I have confidence in my dr but he is very short  on giving me explanations. I like as much information as I can get. Advise?

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS]

You can only get "the answers" on this type of question from your Eye MD refractive surgeon.  Get your quetions answered before plunging into the second eye including those you asked above.

JCH III MD

[bobsterbob62]

I am just today seeing the above response to my original question. I DID have the second cataract removed and a ReZoom lens implanted two days ago. My recovery so far with this eye is dramatically better. I can see to do most things without glasses.

I don't go back to the doctor for 5 weeks. The only thing he will tell me for sure is that everyone's recovery is different.  He tells me I had a lot of astigmatism in the first eye. I believe he said it was a "5".  Can you tell me how astigmatism is measured? What is considered a little? A lot? He says he can do laser correction as often as required, but doesn't want to do anything as long as the eye is improving on its own. This seems reasonable to me, but the process is much more drawn out than I expected. Can you just tell me if this sounds "right"??

Also, how do you check a doctor's credentials as far as how many surgeries they have performed and the success rate? Do we have to depend on the doctor himself to give this information to their patients? or is there a "board" that compiles this information that is available to the public. I live in Florida.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS]

Astigmatism is measured in diopters. There is no set definition of "a little" and "a lot".  You find out how many operations the surgeon has done by asking him/her.  It is unethical and dishonest to lie about the answer. There is no board that tallies the number of surgeries done.  There are any number of internet services that for a fee will tell you about disciplinary problems, criminal behavior, etc.

The fact that you don't go in for 5 weeks doesn't mean you can't make up a list of questions and call them in to the staff to get answers from the Eye MD.  Our practice answers literally hundreds of phone questions/day.  [our call centers answers 800-1200 phone calls/day]

JCH III MD

[AnnaE]

The doctor can also call you, or you can even go in early for questions, if you feel you need to,

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS]

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