Went back to the doctor a couple of weeks ago. Still seeing 20/20 (yay!). I do have reading glasses now, however they're not "readers" like most people need. They're to balance out the right eye, which was set for distance vision, with my 'near vision' left eye. Actually, I can read just fine without the glasses, but since I work at a computer all day (and spend too much time at one at night), the glasses just take some of the load off my eyes. I don't wear them all the time--in fact, its been a couple of weeks since I've worn them. I just don't think of it some days. They're the most help when my eyes are already tired.
There's been no improvement with the halos. The drops work great, when they're not used all the time. In the summer time is when they work the best, because then I'm only using them at the movies, in dim restaurants, etc. But as fall approaches and the days are shorter, I'll be using them more often. After a couple of months of daily use, they lose their effectiveness. But then when spring returns and they're used less often, they'll work much better again.
Still having a lot of dry eye problems (I had dry eye prior to surgery). Doctor thinks that may be ocular rosacea, since I have been diagnosed with regular rosacea. Who knew you could have that in the eyes? Not me! Anyway, trying some new prescriptions for the rosacea, so maybe that'll help the dry eye.
8 comments:
Nancy,
I really appreciate the details of your experience. Now that we're 5 months out since your last post, has there been any new developments? Do the halos continue to persist, do you feel the ICL in your eye, are you still 20/25? Thanks again, John
Hi John,
Nothing new to report at this point. Halos are as much a problem as they ever were, although I have found that I wasn't giving the drops enough time to work. Dr. had said they'd kick in within 30 minutes, and sometimes they do, but I find that I really need an hour on most nights. Now that the days are longer, though, I don't need them as much.
I do have some sensation at times - usually when my pupils are dialating quickly from sudden darkness (walking into a dark room). Dr. seems to think I shouldn't be able to feel anything, but I know what I feel, he doesn't. It's not uncomfortable, it's just something I notice.
My eyes are still 20/20. I gave up on the reading glasses, for the most part. They made it hard for my eyes to adjust back when I took them off, and I could read fine without them anyway. They just improved what I was seeing.
Thanks for reading!
Hi Nancy,
Thanks for following up. Sorry to hear about the halos, they sound annoying. I'm curious, what was your profile prior to surgery? (e.g. age, prescription, etc.). I turn 43 next week, have -10.5 script, and hate contacts and glasses at this stage. I am equally nervous about some of the risks, however, including potential cell loss, retinal detachment, cataracts, etc. Are you receiving regular checkups to assess the status of your eyes beyond halos and acuity?
I very much appreciate your candid feedback and look forward to hearing from you.
Best,
John
I was 38 when I had my surgery, and my vision was around a -12 average.
I'm not any more concerned about retinal detachment than I was before the surgery. I'm sure there is a high risk among ICL candidates, but I think that's because only those with strong nearsightedness are candidates for ICL and its the nearsightedness which brings that risk. Whether that risk goes up with ICL surgery, I'm not sure.
And yes, I still go for checkups to make sure everything's looking right.
Don't discount the risk of having halos. There seems to be a lot of us having them. I have them every day. I don't have to be in darkness to have them, either. If I'm looking at a website with a dark background, the cursor will have a halo, even if I'm in a fully lit room. You have to weigh the pros against the cons. For me, if my sole reason was my wanting to get rid of contacts/glasses, I'd still be wearing them. But I had severe dry eye prior to surgery, couldn't find strong enough contacts that fit right, and glasses gave me a headache.
For awhile after surgery, I was sad to think that I had spent thousands of dollars just to exchange one set of problems for another. But after awhile I did realize that my overall situation was better. Seeing the alarm clock in the middle of the night was a good thing, being amazed at how clearly I see in the daylight, especially in the distance, was a good thing. My dry eye problem persists, but it has improved some now that I don't have contacts in my eyes sucking out what little moisture is there.
Are you at the stage where surgery is scheduled, or are you still evaluating?
I am still evaluating, and if I opt for the surgery it would be in January '11, since I want to ise pre-tax dollars (i.e. Flex Spending) to help mitigate the cost.
Regarding the halos, did the prop-op evaluation provide any indication as to the possibility and severity? I have blue eyes, and am generally light sensitive, with very small pupils in the light. Conversely, my pupils go to the larger end in low light conditions, which might make the halo effect more likely. Perhaps it's not that simple.
I really appreciate your experience and feedback. As you noted, there are few out there to contact that had the procedure, thus every data point helps. I saw that "thegirlbassist" got ICL's, and has a blog, but I haven't gotten a response.
The process of determing whether ICL is right for me is further complicated by the decision of what surgeon is right for me. I live in the burbs outside NYC, and am trying to find the most experienced surgeon in the area, as much as 2-3 dozen surgeries can be called experienced. I've narrowed it down to three.
Thanks again for the help, John
John, you said: "my pupils go to the larger end in low light conditions, which might make the halo effect more likely. Perhaps it's not that simple."
It is that simple. When the pupil dialates beyond the edge of the artificial lens, you get halos. In certain situations, mine dialate to the point where I can actually see (in halo form) the little tabs on either side of the lens.
I also have blue eyes, and I've been told that my pupils are large for my age. Also, my right pupil is consistently larger than my left pupil, so the halos are always worse in that eye.
The literature I was given prior to surgery does mention halos as a risk, along with all the other risks. And, I did ask about it beforehand, and was told that it could happen. I had a halo problem with my contacts, though, so I just sort of brushed it off, never dreaming that the halos could get worse. With the contacts, the halos were actually wedges (25% of a circle), and only on headlights/taillights. Now, they're complete circles, and every light has a halo, even the moon has a halo, plus light-colored shapes will have them if they're against a dark background. I've created some photo illustrations of what I see - I'll try to post them in a new article.
Oh, and let's not forget the images seen through the YAG holes. In my left eye I see duplicates of lights if I hold my eyes open wide enough. The YAG holes are above my pupils, and when I look at a light, I'll see the main image I expect to see, and then I'll see 2 or 3 smaller duplicates, fainter, above it. I don't have them in my right eye, despite having two YAG holes there. That's because my right pupil is larger and when it dialates in darkness, the pupil crowds the YAG holes enough that no image gets through. Weird, no?
The YAG duplicates aren't a problem for me. I see them, but they don't interfere with my day-to-day like the halos do. Most of the time they stay hidden by my eyelid, and thus no images, but I guess at night I open my eyes wider without thinking of it.
do you know if you have to have perfect corneas to have ICL performed on you?I have undergone severe conjunctivitis last years which affected my corneas which didnt heal by now.Its not a big deal because there are only small oval spots in them but the doctor keeps me on steroid drops.I have the vision only slightly blurred but the worst problem is I cant wear contacts anymore.Imagine being stuck with glasses at -14...so I am thinking of ICL since I have also got a severely dry eye problem.No contacts will be possible in a matter of years...My life sucks without them.
Mariposa,
I know your corneas have to be a certain thickness to have ICL performed, but I don't know about the spots you're describing. It sounds like it'd be worth the cost of doctor's evaluation, though, to find out. Dry eye with contacts really does suck.
My doctor occasionally holds free seminars on his services, and attendees get $100 off a consultation, so it was certainly worth it to me to find out if I was a candidate. I really had no idea what the requirements were.
Just be sure you go to someone who's done many of these surgeries and knows what they're doing. Good luck!
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