Crystalens Result

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Hi,

I am 51.  I had a totally maxed-out PSC cataract in my right eye.  My left eye is 20/15 but needs a reader.  I had a Crystalens HD put in my right eye yesterday morning.  I removed the patch last night.  Since I have benefited tremendously from everyone's stories here on MedHelp, I thought that I would share mine.  Also, mine may turn out to be an extremely happy story.  I figure that happy patients are underrepresented on MedHelp.  Before the cataract, I had excellent vision in the right eye.  I've never worn glasses and, in the past, my eyes have almost totally rejected reading glasses.  (Too-weak readers still feel 100 times too strong.)

Let me just preface this by acknowledging that a lot can happen after Day 2.  This is just a report about how things seem now.  I will update it as I get farther along if it seems like anyone is interested.

So far, I am thrilled out of my mind.  I took the patch off last night at around 9:30 p.m. in front of a supermarket.  I had just bought bandage tape, allowing me to take my doctor up on his suggestion that I could redo my patch and didn't need it back on again until I went to sleep.  I was so curious to see my new vision, but I wasn't going to take off the patch until I knew I could repatch.  My first reaction was, "I AM SO SCREWED!"  The reasons were that a) I had a strong feeling similar to when one puts on glasses with a prescription 20 times too strong, and b) there were huge, bright, thin rings of colored light around every light source.  Because of a mispent youth in the early '70's, I could have pulled off driving at night with that much visual disturbance, but it would have been worse than criminal.  And the feeling of wearing a 20 times too strong prescription was downright depressing.  Why had I done this to myself?

I was home a few minutes later (I live across the street from the supermarket).  Inside, I noticed that from the Crystalens eye, everything looked clear, bright, and perfect.  I was told not to read, but my eyes fell on a few words of text smaller than newsprint size, and I thought I noticed that I could read the words.  I didn't want to test because I wasn't supposed to read.  I also noticed that everything looked a little yellow through the natural eye.  (I'll be using "Crystalens vs natural" throughout to distinguish the two eyes.  Remember that the natural eye can't read without a reader.)

(continued in next post)

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Excellent results!  And many thanks for your reports.  Accommodation is supposed to improve over about a six month period.  It looks likely you'll have marvellous 'natural' vision after that time.

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Day 7

Measurements 20/15 distance, 20/20 intermediate, 20/25 near.  Refraction plano.  Everything perfect in eye exam by Dr.  

Still see "the hair" fairly frequently, sometimes with the flutter.  Also started seeing small patches of rainbow that are mostly transparent.  They have a light beige theme.  They clearly arise via light hitting the lens at certain angles.  I might see as many as four little patches at once.  Presumably these things go away for 80% of people over months or a year.  I easily expect to find myself ignoring them, which seems to be what it means for them to "go away."  Ultimately the brain ignores them unconsciously.

Currently, I have to make an effort to ignore "the hair"; the rainbow patches seem close enough to natural effects to ignore fairly easily.

By and large, my vision is beautiful with the only room for improvement being reading in artificial light.  I can read well under my desk lamp, but it can be work to read under my dining room or living room light (at night).  Under even a dark shadow powered by sunlight, I can read everything easily except for the back of a small plastic bottle.

The uncomfortable feeling of wearing strong prescription glasses is about 85-90% gone.

Plan to update in about a month.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

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Couple observations:

Reading via even indirect sunlight is much easier than by artificial light.  Adding artificial light to sunlight seems more like an intrusion than a help.

I've never seen a bluish tint to things.  Just a yellowish tint in the natural eye next to the Crystalens that passed in the first 20 minutes.  But in my kitchen, for example, there is a hospital room dankness about the light.  When my aunt mentioned that she is very sensitive to neon, halogen, and other kinds of artificial light, I wondered if she'd be right for the Crystalens.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

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Day 4

"Hair" and flickering back.  Luckily I know not to worry.  Still happy.