Vision After Cataract Surgery

[tenntom]

My wife had surgery on her left eye a week ago and her vision is no better than it was before.  Sensitivity to light/glare, can't read a pc screen, distance vision is not usable, etc..  She continues to use 3 eyedrops 4 times a day and of course some of the side affects mentioned is blurred vision.  We've spoken to people that had the surgery and got answers that indicated their vision had improved greatly after the bandage was removed.  We've been told that it could take as long as 4 to 6 weeks for her vision to reach its' best.  She says that when she looks a distance away it's like looking through a veil which sounds like cataracts.  Is there any rule of thumb about what the vision should be like after surgery?  Should there already have been some improvement??  She's scheduled to have the other eye done and is really depressed about the results of this eye.

Thanks for any information!

[tenntom]

Well, Folks, it's now Nov 16 and after 5 opth doctors, 2 retina specialists, and a neuro-opth doctor, nobody has a clue what is causing my wifes visual problem.  White-out in bight light which never goes away and aberrations (squigglies, flashing lights, curlie-cues, etc. which really also affect her vision ).  All say that those problems are not caused by the eyes since everything about them is normal.  One opth doctor thought maybe the dysphotopsia (for lack of a better description) might be caused by the type of IOL used.  An exchange was done replacing the acrylic lens with a silicone one,,, zilch change.  Of course she had an MRI looking for a chiasmal lesion which showed nothing wrong as well as no tumors, etc..  No MS, no Shogren's Syndrome, no medication issues and well respected opth docs say that the eyes are good to go and the IOL replacements look perfect.  She has an ERG scheduled because the neuro-opth doctor says that the problem is not in the brain but the retina, even after all others have said different.  One doc (a good one because he truly listened and discussed options that others would brush off) had her go to a retina doc that specializes in vitrectomies to see if she is a candidate for that.  The retina doc said her vitreous had some cloudiness and debris but no more than he sees in people of our age and they don't have the symptoms my wife has.  He suggested waiting about 4 months and then examining her again hoping that some of this might clear.  I asked him if he expected the ERG to indicate anything irregular about the retinas and his opinion is that it will not.  She's had 6 OTC scans as well as almost 6 of every other test and none have yeilded irregularities.  By the way, she had a Visual Evoked Response/Potential test and it was normal also.  We have a lead on another retinal specialist that also specializes in vitrectomies as well as other maladies of the retina.  It seems that my wife has something that nobody else on earth has experienced and the medical profession has never seen before.  One would think that a doctor would like to be part of finding something new and a fix for it but they all have their own little worlds and mostly just throw their hands up and said "I just don't understand it".  We called an institute out
west that is supposed to be well advanced in research of eyes problems like this but the treatment given on the phone was one that made us think that they are no different than any other eye institute to speak of.

I'll certainly let this site know what's found, if anything is.  All of the hopes I had along the way have been dashed each and every time and of course the wife is about to give up.  There was an article I ran across on the internet that says that the trouble with most doctors nowadays is that they just don't listen, are pre-disposed to diagnosis, and if they can't figure it out in a short amount of time with the general test they have, they let the patient drop like a rock.  When someone is in fear of going blind (and of course that isn't the only critical illness) one would think that a doc would say "well, I don't know what's causing your problem but we'll find someone that might be able to help.".  It's as if doctors have all the patients they want now and when one that comes in with a really difficult fix, they go on the back burner.  I can tell you from experience, since I've sat through all of her exams, I know what I'm talking about.

TT

[peakhope]

You didn't say what kind of lens she received. Different lenses also have different recovery paths. Crystalens in particular takes longer to settle in. I have posted about my own Crystalens experience, with a happy-so-far ending.

[JodieJ]

Everybody's different, and there are many things that can affect recovery time.  My vision was pretty good one day post-op.  Hopefully, your wife's vision will have greatly improved in a couple of weeks.  Her surgeon should be able to give you an idea about what the current problem involves.

[tenntom]

Thanks for the comments.  She had a follow up exam by the surgeon two days after the surgery, one 5 days after, and one is scheduled for Monday.  The surgeon saw nothing the last appointment but is going to dialate her eye at the next one to look more closely at the retina, etc..  She had been to two docs about her eyes and both diagnosed cataracts that were affecting her sight.  We've researched a lot and found conflicting answers or opinions I should say, about recovery time and the quality of vision after surgery.  The information on the internet is a good tool but a lot of times confuses one more as more sites are viewed.  The surgeon has an excellent reputation and has been practicing for many years and we have no reason to doubt his ability.  We've spoken to many of his patients and they are all very satisfied with his care over the years.  There certainly may be multiple issues of which cataracts are one but only time will tell on that.  I was curious as to what people that had the surgery have to say about recovery time and I have found that there are some cases of instant vision improvement and some that say the same as ace399, 5 weeks.  I do appreciate any comments posted and thank you both.

[ace399]

According to my Dr. it trakes about 5 weeks for complete healing.  My vision did not stabilize till afetr 4 weeks.  Try to wait until at least 4 weeks before considering the next surgery.  If it does not show signs of improvement get a 2nd opinion.

[JodieJ]

Your wife should NOT get her second eye done until she is satisfied with the results of her first eye.  Why doesn't she schedule an appointment with her surgeon to discuss what might be causing her problems.