Is There AP After Cataract Surgery

ghilt · Post by **ghilt** » Thu Dec 07, 2006 11:03 pm

Just back from the ophthalmologist who told me I have two new (well maybe 6 or so years old) friends and I should have them removed while they are still relatively soft and pliable for easy removal. I asked him about replacement lenses, he said he uses acrlylic - looked at his watch and left! I was looking for some opinions about the active "focusing" types such as ReStor Toric or Crystalens etc.
Has anyone here had the operation and replaced with anything other than the "fixed focus" replacement lens?
Sure would keep the concentration on the front sight!

pgfaini · Post by **pgfaini** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 12:00 am

I just (last month), had a cataract removed from my right(shooting) eye. Before that, I had to use a +1.5 lens with an iris diaphragm to get the sights clear, but as the years went on, I wasn't able to clear up the sights no matter how I turned the iris down. My eye checked out as correctable with glasses, to 20/75. Now, after surgery, it's 20/25 without glasses, and this is with retinal damage caused by diabetic retinopathy( I had a vitrectomy done a few years ago).

I'm now using a clear, no power lens in my Champion frames, the iris is kept wide open, and the sights are "clear as a bell". and the target (B40), is fuzzy, as it should be. The lens they inserted is fixed for distance, and after I get the other one done next month, I'll get reading glasses. For now, I'm using an $18 pair of "drug store" reading glasses.

Good luck on your surgery, I'm sure, like me, you'll wonder why you waited so long! It's been over five years since my last PTO, can't wait to get back to competing! Hate that we lost Wolf Creek, It's a long way for me to Ft. Benning. :>(

deleted1 · Post by **deleted1** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 7:01 pm

All I can report after I had both eyes done four years back--the results are fantastic. With the new implants my eyes are 20/20 left and 20/25 right with the need to wear glasses for reading. The Knobloch iris is much wider and I have vision that allows me to see front sight and target clearly, in fact I can select the rings on the 25 yard target. Now if there is a surgery to fix my shooting, I will go for that next. Don't hesitate the recuperation time is measured in hours, with my right eye I had a few days before things cleared up, the left I was reading license plates that evening. Biggest pain is the eye drops, no brainer. Good luck and you will welcome how beautiful your colour TV is.

pgfaini · Post by **pgfaini** » Fri Dec 08, 2006 7:35 pm

Bob, Where are you out on the Island? I used to live in Oakdale, before moving to NC.
Paul

bereznov · Post by **bereznov** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 12:50 am

I have cataracts and my best friend is an ophthalmologist. He keeps saying wait on the varifocal intraocular lenses. They are to small a diameter now, and they only have about one diopter of variable focus. Many more are in the pipeline, "just be patient and wait until I cannot correct your vision to 20/40 or better. Then we will talk about it".

I use a +1.oo with my astigmatism corrected as well as a champion Iris.
With this set up, I can see my bullet holes when I miss and hit the white, and I can nearly put all three objects into focus ( front, rear sights and bull ).

ghilt · Post by **ghilt** » Fri Dec 15, 2006 10:26 pm

Just back from the Eye Measuring Session, the second step of cataract surgery. The technicion doing the eye ball measurements was much more informative than the ophthalogist. My concerns about the "focusing" lens inserts were academic - while mearsightedness is my most obvious problem, the astigmatism is too large to be accomodated by any of the "focusing" inserts. So back to fulltime glasses. Fortionately I use the other (right) eye for shooting. Now I have to think about having the shooting eye corrected for 38 inches, the eye to front sight distance or the more conventional infinity. Then too I'll be seeing long after I have hung-up the LP-1!
Decisions, Decisions ---

pgfaini · Post by **pgfaini** » Fri Dec 15, 2006 11:56 pm

ghilt, My insert's configured for "distance", which is SOP. I guess you'd call it "infinity", but everything's clear from arms length to infinity. Don't need glasses to see the sights clearly, and when focusing on the front sight, the target's blurry. Don't think you should need to have your shooting eye corrected to 38 inches, the normal distance insert should do that. I'm having my other (left) eye done in Jan. Wasn't the eye measuring session interesting? The device uses a type of SONAR to measure the focal distance from the cornea to the retina. This gives the proper Rx for the implant. Good Luck!

ghilt · Post by **ghilt** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 11:44 pm

Don't remember any Sonar during the eyeball length measurement ( the technician mentioned that my left eyeball -the very nearsighted one - was much longer than the right - near normal one. I got the impression it was done optically.
pgfaini,sure appreciate the benefits of your experience. I guess we both have something to "look" foward to next month!

pgfaini · Post by **pgfaini** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 1:19 am

It might be the type of measurements I've had in the past. Do you sit up and look into it, and a red light (laser) makes patterns that cross your retina?

The one I had, to determine the RX of the interocular implant, as well as I remember, required me to lie back in a special chair, so that my eyes were looking straight up. Then, a short tube was placed on my eyeball between the lids, and filled with water. The measuring device was placed in the water, and measured the focal length. I was told this was the latest technology, and the most accurate. Interesting, anyway.

I'm going for the second eye on the 3rd., I'll ask the opthamologist more about it. All the work is being done at the Charlotte Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital, and they've got the latest equiptment, having recently moved into a large facility.

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