I opted to have multifocal lens replacement surgery because I wanted to have eyesight that didn’t need correcting. The multifocal part means that I don’t need glasses or contacts for distance, intermediate (60cm – computer work for instance) and reading (30cm). I previously used to use a combination of multifocal contact lenses and glasses.
The first time I heard about multifocal lens replacement surgery was when I asked my optician about laser eye surgery and he suggested lens replacement surgery instead. Lens replacement surgery is essentially the same operation as a cataract removal one, with a prescription lens being inserted instead of your natural lens. My optician did suggest waiting a few years until I was 50+. In the meantime I did some research.
As we were coming out of lockdown for coronavirus, I had a call from my optician asking me to arrange an eye test for my son. I knew I was overdue a check up too, so I booked us in on consecutive days. My appointment was first and I asked my optician about multifocal lens replacement. By this point I was 51 and he thought it was a good idea. He said to leave it with him and he would do some research.
The next day I was back at the opticians with my son for his appointment. I stepped in to see the optician too and he’d got two recommendations for me. They were both within reasonable travelling distance. One though was very local, cheaper (slightly) and my optician said that this particular surgeon was the one he would pick if he was having it done. My optician said he would do me a referral letter and that arrived within a few days.
In the meantime I did some research about the selected surgeon and everything seemed positive. He is an eye surgeon at a local, respected, regional hospital. There weren’t a lot of online reviews, but there was nothing negative. I checked out the website for the private clinic that the operation would be carried out at and checked online reviews for that too. I saw nothing that made me change my mind about the surgery.
The referral letter was sent and I arranged an appointment with the clinic. I went in to see the surgeon and talk through the pros and cons of surgery. He did tell me about potential issues like night vision and needing more light for seeing small things. In fact, whilst he didn’t put me off the treatment, I did give me pause for thought.
They do want you to have a cooling off period of a week, which was understandable, but a bit frustrating. Things had already taken more weeks than I’d expected because the surgeon had been on holiday delaying the initial appointment. I did then book in for the first and second operations – three weeks apart to allow for recovery time.
I had a pre-op phone consultation with the nurse to check I wasn’t allergic to anything and had no serious health issues. Because of the pandemic, I had to have a Covid test a few days before and then self isolate to avoid infection.
The surgery was really quite easy. I arrived at the clinic in good time. There was some paperwork and some more questions. They took my blood pressure and checked my oxygen saturation. The surgeon came in to see me and marked up which eye he was planning to operate on. It was my left eye which was my worst eye. Then I walked through to the operating theatre. I settled myself on the bed.
As part of the preparations a shield was put over my face. The material is like a thicker version of a surgical mask. It covered my face with a sort of pop out section over my eye. It held my eye lid in place with a sticky strip. Then I had anaesthetic eye drops applied and I was told to look directly into the very bright light overhead. The brightness of the light dazzles you and means that your eye doesn’t move around in the socket.
A tiny slit is made in your eye and then more eye drops are put into the slit. This made my eye sting a little, but quickly passed. This was only time I felt anything remotely like pain during the whole operation. There’s a bit of poking around and there’s a feeling of pressure, but no pain.
My second operation went without incident. During the first there was a problem with the artificial lens and the cartridge it was in. They couldn’t get it out of the cartridge and into my eye. Thankfully in theatre they always have spares and I knew there was a spare lens to go in. Using the back up lens worked and everything else went smoothly.
The operation only takes about 10 minutes. There’s no pain and there are no stitches – it’s the tiniest of cuts so it’s not needed.
I’d walked into the surgery, but I was wheeled out in a chair – this is just a precaution really as your sight in the effected eye will take a little while to recover.
Afterwards I had tea and biscuits whilst I was taken through post-op care. My blood pressure and oxygen saturation was checked again. Then I was free to go home.
Tips for the op:
- wear comfortable clothing
- no need to starve yourself, so eat an adequate meal (unless instructed otherwise)
- get someone to drive you
To find out about my recovery from multifocal lens replacement surgery, click here.
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