Problem with Restor Lens

I had  Restor IOL surgery on Oct. 25 on my left eye.  It has been 3 weeks and tomorrow I am scheduled to have the same surgery on my right eye.  At this point I am completely unsure of what to do.  Pre-surgery I had very little problem with distance vision.  My only problem was with  reading which was a result of age.  I never needed glasses until I was 47.  After surgery I can see to read with my left eye but distance is just a blur.  At the 2 week check up with my eye Dr. I felt like he was saying this is the best it will get.  He said he could remove the lens and put in the regular lens implant but there was no guarantee that I would see distance any better and I would definitely need glasses to read.  He said I did have a haze that would need a lazer in a few months but I think that will only help the fact that everything seems like it is slightly grayer than with my right eye.  So I guess my question is should I go ahead with the right eye?  I've read not to judge until both eyes have been done.  But once they remove my natural lens there is no going back.  Has anyone had the same problem?  Did the second implant help balance the vision?  All my Dr. would say is the second eye could be better, the same or worse.  
Thanks for any help.
  

[Ray T Oyakawa, MD]

First see if you eye can be improved for distance with glasses. If so use a contact lens and see is distance and near vision are good.  Also, get a second opinion before surgery on the other eye.

Dr. O.

[CJcantsee]

My Dr. wrote a prescription for distance.  I did not fill it because I didn't feel like there was much improvement.  I could see one more line down on the eye chart but it was still blurry.  From your answer I guess you are saying not to have surgery tomorrow.  I feel really pressured because I will no longer have health insurance after the first of the year.  It's 14 years before I qualify for Medicare.  Thanks for your input.

[yarrow]

I am one of those textbook success stories with the reStor lens, but then, I had cataracts that were rapidly destroying my ability to see anything at all, near or far.

Did you have this surgery only to improve your near vision?

[CJcantsee]

I have cataracts in both eyes.  They were starting cause trouble with my vision at night.  Particularly with driving.  I am 51 and still working so I thought that a lens that corrected distance and near would be a good idea.  Did you have any trouble with the between time?  I mean did you notice an improvement in your first eye after getting the second one done?  I have much better vision right now in my cataract eye than I have in my eye with the ReStore IOL.  I just don't know if doing the second eye will have any effect on the first eye.  If not then I think I will hold out until I am blinded by the cataract.

[Ray T Oyakawa, MD]

Please post your prescription for the operated eye.  This will give me an idea of the problem.

Dr. O.

[yarrow]

I didn't have any trouble with either surgery.  The first eye saw beautifully afterwards, so I had the second one done a month later.  Strangely, even though there was a HUGE difference then between the abilities of my operated and unoperated eye, my brain seemed to figure it out and sort of ignored the info from the bad eye, throwing most of the vision chores at the new one.  

It was remarkable, actually, and for a while I thought, "Well, I suppose I could just go on this way forever."  But realistically, of course, the best thing is to have balanced eyes and good binocular vision, so a month later I had the second one done.  I didn't notice any change in the way the essentially perfect first eye viewed things afterward.

Now, I did have some haloing at night with my new lenses, but it was a tiny problem considering how blind I had been before.  The only first-eye vs second-eye change I have noticed is that the eye that was done first now sees the nighttime halos as almost gone.  The second eye is not quite there yet.

I will say that my surgeon is slow to recommend surgery; he basically waited until I loudly complained that I was unable to do things I loved, and I think it was a prudent move on his part, because obviously, almost anything would have been an improvement!

However, this doc is very selective about matching IOLs to their patients. He measures the eyes seven ways from Sunday, and takes care to assess his patients' needs as well as their expectations.

If I were you, I'd wait on the other eye, and follow Dr. Oyakawa's recommendations.