What could have gone wrong?

[Lua333]

I had PHACO surgery on my left eye and a 23.5D IOL implant.   Although my 'vision' (left eye) is now crystal clear, I cannot see further than my outstretched hand...   This is very distressing as I have a dense cataract in my right eye and I now find myself unable to walk around outside safely and my quality of life is now NIL!    I am terrified of going ahead with the operation on my right eye as at least I can see distances through the clouds of cataract!  What could have gone wrong?   Help, PLEASE!

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

IF you near vision is clear but distance is blurry it means you have resideual myopia.

You can ask your surgeon to do a refraction, give you a new lens for the eye just having had surgery and remove the thick glass in front of the other eye.

If you eye stays this way glasses usually address the problem or you could have lasik to tweek it and make you less myopic.

Standard IOL forumulas are not as good for very long eyes.

JCH MD

[Mayalu]

Sorry I meant original vision -23.5D. I'll be happy when everything I type and read isnt foggy and I don;t have to correct myself all the time.

[Mayalu]

I am unsure how the IOL calculation differs from glasses calculation but what was your vision before surgery? Were you -25.5 D extreme myopic? I am having surgery on Tuesday on my one good eye and am -19 D. My doc has said that I would need glasses for distance. It sounds like this is what you need but you need to be able to get around until you can have your glasses fitted. I am afraid of the exact situation you are facing now. For extreme myopes as I understand the IOL calculation is trickier. Did your doc tell you what to expect after surgery? I am trying to get in touch with my doc because I want this clarified too - want to know that I will be able to get around until I get my glasses.