I bought my current eyeglasses last December in 2014. The left eye sph is -5.0 and the right eye is -7.5. I am very nearsighted. In the past couple of months my right eye has gotten even worse and I saw an eye doctor last week to get this checked out. He said my right eye was now -9.5 and that he wouldn't give me a new prescription because eyeglasses with that big a difference between the eye would make me very dizzy. He checked my right eye further and said I had a cataract that should be removed first. I asked him how much that would cost and he said about $3600 and that he could do it at one of the local hospitals. I have been using this local eye doctor because he was recommended to me and he has an office near where I live..but I've only been seeing him for yearly eye exams (he is an ophthalmologist) .. but he is not part of my insurance, which is Kaiser Permanente. I decided to have this further checked at Kaiser because if I need surgery..I want all the records there in one place and because I expect the price would be less.
In any case...was this doctor right with what he told me?..that is.. that you can only wear eyeglasses if the difference between the eyes is within a certain range?...
Now, assuming Kaiser does the cataract surgery and puts an artificial lens in and assuming I go for the long distance monovision..what should I then do about correcting my vision?
If the right eye cataract surgery makes the vision in my right eye better, would my right eye then be still too different from my left eye to where eyeglasses?...Do I need to wear contact lenses and would those work? (I never wore contacts before and expect them to be a hassle).
What would be the best way to handle/arrange for this prior to any operation so that I am not, essentially, myopic blind after cataract surgery without any correction? Should I look into getting contacts for my left eye at least prior to surgery on my right eye?
Also, after surgery, will I further need correction on my right eye?
Any suggestions on how to best handle this situation? Thanks.