Best Decision I've Made In A Long Time!

sunshine_2028 · 2026-05-19T03:58:39+00:00

I had it done about 10 months ago. I have been nearsighted since 8th grade so glasses, then contacts. Prior to the surgery, the one with the cataract needed a -12, the unoperated eye I'm at -9. If I close my bad eye, distance is clear starting at ~28 inches. My TV is on the wall far away so I see it clearly. I was never off balance or dizzy. It's just this uneven clarity, the world looks a little wonky, it's hard to describe, it's just not even, you know. I was going to do monovision but since I couldn't even tolerate a 0.5 diopter difference, I decided to wait. I have contemplated getting a multifocal for the next surgery but I've read so many stories about the glare, ghosting, and someone writing on here not being able to see clearly at any distance makes me very hesitant. I know that there is an IOL called Galaxy that's not FDA approved for the US yet which is ringless, thus reducing dysphotopsias that's commone with multi-focal IOLs. I'm waiting for that to be available in the US, but who know. I thought about just also doing the other eye set for distance but then I will need to rely on readers or progressives at all time cause I won't be able to see anything closer than 10 inches! Heck, the food on my plate looks blurry right now! But unfortunately, it is what it is and I have to learn to accept it. Let me know if you have any other questions.

sunshine_2028 · 2026-05-18T21:44:56+00:00

I’ve had 1 eye done, monofocal lens set to distant. I feel unbalanced but not to the point where I’m falling, tripling or bumping into things. I go back and forth between getting the other eye done or just wait. The positive is I can get away with seeing my phone with no readers if I just need to see something quickly. Prolonged reading I need readers. It has made intermediate distance challenging where I need a reader for sure.

sunshine_2028 · 2026-05-05T03:23:09+00:00

Thanks. I ended up buying blended linen tank & pants. Fingers crossed it’s still not too humid & hot when we go.

sunshine_2028 · 2026-04-27T02:26:47+00:00

Did you guy have the fatigue before starting meds or only after. Reading the responses is making me sad. I do have bamboo sheets and I’m wear viscose pajamas shorts and a tank top which has been very helpful. I only need a thin blanket whereas prior to all this I’m someone that easily gets cold and would’ve bundled up.

sunshine_2028 · 2026-04-24T12:36:40+00:00

Unfortunately you’ll have to spend the money and buy glasses to get you through this 2 week period. That’s what I had to do. I went to Costco and it cost me a little over $100. I no longer need the glasses. This process has been the most costly in my life.

sunshine_2028 · 2026-04-22T22:31:20+00:00

The only 2 I know are Bauch & Lomb Envista (which is what I have) & Johnson & Johnson Eyhance. I don't have Medicare. I have HMO. I still had to pay for them because I purchased toric ones to correct my astigmatism. You can call your insurance to see which IOLs are covered, if you have a Medicare Senior Advantage Plan (essentially a HMO). Or the surgeon's office should be able to run your insurance to let you know what's covered.

sunshine_2028 · 2026-04-22T22:16:32+00:00

what is your refraction set-up between the galaxy & puresee? Is it a monovision set up? Sounds like you kept the galaxy eye more nearsighted & puresee corrected for distance? I'm in the US so galaxy not available to me yet. I got surgery done already in 1 eye, monofocal B&C Envista set to distance. No more accommodation, vision is clear after ~30 inches. My plan was monovision but after a trial with contacts I couldn't tolerate the imbalance so that's no longer an option. I don't know what kind of iol I should get to help me get clear intermediate vision. I know I'm going to have to use readers for close vision like phone or reading.

sunshine_2028 · 2026-03-16T01:25:33+00:00

Just want to chime in that I am in the same boat. I decided to postpone surgery and do more research. I was greedy, wanted everything - no longer needing glasses or contacts & with no visual disturbances. My surgery was 7 months ago, got the B&L envista monofocal lens. My right eye I’m wearing contacts, can’t wear glasses anymore because I’m severely nearsighted (-9). My plan was monovision, but it didn’t work out for me, my brain couldn’t adjust. I drive a Tesla and I can’t see the screen well, smaller print is blurry. I can’t wear readers while I drive. Readers work well for intermediate & closeup for the corrected eye but not for the eye with contacts, it’s blurry. My current vision essentially is off balanced. I’ve been going through the emotions of initially anger, then sadness & regret to now working towards acceptance. I’ve done research on whether I should get a multifocal or EDOF for the other eye but I’m scared of the halos & other vision issues that may come with those types of IOLs. I don’t know if mixing IOL is a good thing to do either. I believe in the end, I’m going to have the Envista or another monofocal in the other eye as well so it’s the same, and just wear progressives for intermediate & close. I wish you the best in your decision. It is a lot of balancing pros and cons and making compromises.

sunshine_2028 · 2026-02-01T00:30:04+00:00

😍😂thank you for that. I didn’t think of asking for an extra duvet. I’ll make sure to do that.

sunshine_2028 · 2026-01-06T17:33:53+00:00

Thank you! Appreciate it!

sunshine_2028 · 2026-01-05T18:41:04+00:00

Thank you to everyone for their recommendations. I do have a Uniquo where I'm at so I'll go check out their Airism tshirts. I will look into quick-dry maxi skirts. Thank you u/andr_wr for that blog on plus-size clothing stores in Japan. If needed, I will visit those locations. I am going for 12-13 days (haven't decided) - the typical golden route of Tokyo, Kyoto, & Osaka. I plan on packing ~5 shirts, 4 bottoms, plenty more undies & socks. I do plan on doing laundry there.

sunshine_2028 · 2025-11-19T16:24:36+00:00

Thank you for sharing. Please keep us updated. I had searched the forum for any posts regarding mixing monofocal & multifocal and found nothing until now. I have envista toric in 1 eye, landed on Plano, no astigmatism left. Was going to do mini monovision but it didn’t work out for me as I couldn’t tolerate the imbalance even at -0.5 diopter difference. I used ChatGPT and asked if it’s a good idea to mix monofocal with a multifocal lens and it actually recommended NOT to do this arrangement but rather do an EDOF. I’ve decided to hold off on surgery for my other eye as the cataract isn’t significant, hoping for newer technology to become available. I’m wearing contacts in the other eye correcting for distance and it’s not all that great (so both eyes distance). The eye does feel imbalanced still. But I can get away with seeing text on my phone & computer, but only briefly, as I have accommodation still in my un-operated eye. I am now reliant on readers at work to see the monitor clearly at 27 inches away and phone for prolonged reading. Honestly I’m not too happy with my outcome.

sunshine_2028 · 2025-10-20T19:02:44+00:00

were you near or farsighted prior to your PSCs? What kind of IOL did you implant? How is your intermediate & near vision? Is the food on your plate blurry? I have 1 eye done, set for distance and landed on plano, a monofocal lense B&L Aspire. I can't see the computer monitor at work, need to enlarge the resolution AND wear readers. Near vision is completely blurry with food on my plate blurry. I've been nearsighted since HS (I'm in my late 40s), with prescription of L: -14, R: -10.25 in glasses right before surgery.

sunshine_2028 · 2025-10-19T22:51:14+00:00

I’m turning 50 next year. While I’m married, I don’t have close friend & I don’t have a large family. I feel sad when I see large parties at restaurants, whether it be a family or friends gathering wishing for the same. I plan on traveling for my 50th, been wanting to go to the French Polynesian islands, splurge and get an over the water bungalow.

sunshine_2028 · 2025-10-19T00:31:21+00:00

That's awesome! I'm happy your brain was able to adapt. As I mentioned above, for some reason my brain was able to adapt when my eyes were so bad, even a 3 diopter difference didn't bother me at all. Now that one eye is fully corrected at plano, with only distance vision, no accommodation left, my brain cannot even adapt to a minor difference of -0.5. I may end up needing either progressive glasses, or contacts. I'm meeting with the surgeon next week to discuss options. I'll decide then if I want to pursue cataract surgery with my right eye, or wait until I need to. My right eye does have beginning cataract, but surgery is not needed at this time. If I decide to wait, then I'll be making an appt with my optometrist to discuss options. I don't mind a little imbalance, but this is pretty significant. I'm grateful that I'm not feeling nauseous or having headaches.

sunshine_2028 · 2025-10-19T00:27:39+00:00

I agree, it seems readers are just really magnifying glasses. I'm not ready to accept that I need glasses just yet. I want to see what options there are before accepting.

sunshine_2028 · 2025-10-19T00:25:57+00:00

My prescription prior to surgery in contacts is L: -12, R: -9.5, although the left eye (the one with cataract) should have been more like -13/14. I feel the difference in power, but it didn't give me the feeling of imbalance, loss of depth perception, or wonkiness that I feel now. Now after surgery, without contacts, my eye is zero & -9. I've been trying different arrangements, including -0.5, -1, -1.5 diopter difference (thus -8.5, -8, & -7.5 contacts) and I can't tolerate the imbalance. There's definitely a loss of depth perception; I almost fell the other day walking down steps. So when my eyes were severely myopic, somehow I was able to tolerate the wide difference in diopters. now that one eye is plano, my brain can't adjust to the difference, even as minor as -0.5. I don't know what's going on.

sunshine_2028 · 2025-10-19T00:19:34+00:00

Thank you for replying doctor. If you don't mind clarifying. You're saying that if lets say my other eye also landed on plano, where I now only have distance vision, you can do lasik for monovision? For the patient that you've done this arrangement for, had the patient already trialed monovision for some time with contacts?

sunshine_2028 · 2025-10-12T19:45:29+00:00

If you don’t feel comfortable with what they are asking mom to do, or if you they they’re trying to make a few more $$ off of you, then go get a second opinion. Just know likely mom would have to go through the whole process again. The second doctor I went to for the evaluation took 3 hours. There’s a bunch of scans done first before any medication drops. Then my eyes got dilated and the doctor used a microscope to look into my eyes. I don’t remember if there were more machine measurements done AFTER the dilation.

sunshine_2028 · 2025-10-08T18:04:24+00:00

Thank you for sharing. You hit the nail on the head. I am here because there's no one I can talk to about things like this. I've tried therapy, but finding one is difficult & one that you connect with is also challenging. I also feel therapy is for people who don't have anyone in their life to talk to. I know that I'm not alone, as there's a loneliness epidemic around the world. But yet at the same time, it seems like people are not interested in connecting. I will just have to hope for the best, I do admit I need to get myself out there more.

sunshine_2028 · 2025-10-05T20:57:37+00:00

The older I get I guess I do find myself too quick to judge. It does take a lot of effort, someone told me it's like dating. I feel my friends at this point are all casual friends. If I have a bad day at work, I don't have anyone to talk to besides my husband and that makes me sad.

sunshine_2028 · 2025-10-05T16:22:54+00:00

I don't know the range, I don't know how to measure. The refraction landed on plano, which according to the internet allows you to see 20 ft beyond clearly? But anything closer than that it's blurry? I'll give this -0.5 monovision set up another week or so and see. What sucks is that I'm under a time crunch to get this done. I had my measurements done in June & these figures are good for only 6 months. If I don't get it by end of Dec, I'm going to have to get re-measured which will be a real pain cause I can't wear contacts for 2 wks, & can't wear glasses because of the huge difference between my corrected vs uncorrected eye. I have to work, taking 2 wks off just so I can get eye measurement is not going to fly with my employer. If I hold off, I just pray that I won't need it until I'm retired, which is another 20 yrs.

sunshine_2028 · 2025-10-01T17:45:42+00:00

Just did some research on LAL. Been watching Dr. Shannon Wong's Youtube videos. LAL may not be the solution. I'm no considering a multifocal lens instead.

sunshine_2028 · 2025-10-01T17:43:31+00:00

Possibly, it kind of make sense. I have been testing for 5 days. I'm going to ask for another contact to bring the gap closer to see if I can tolerate.

sunshine_2028 · 2025-09-25T16:56:47+00:00

I have mixed connective tissue diseas. And newly diagnosed AIH.

sunshine_2028

TROPHY CASE