A lot less than trying to make a living blind.
A lot less than trying to make a living blind.
FUNNY! Seriously do you know the amount?
Originally Posted by chip anderson
:)
Hey Chip. Just thought you would like to know. I am no longer unable to see with my left eye. I see great! The out of pocket cost for the procedure was $825. I have no insurance and I have no medicare benefits since I am underage!Originally Posted by acredhead113
:)
Look I just paid $8000.00 for shoulder surgery. Why because I need my right arm to make a living and for other things. It's a lot of money but I would loose a lot more not useing my right arm.
Since when do we have to have some third party paying all our bills. $825 is what 10 days pay? And you don't have to go through rehab for a cataract.
If you had insurance you would have paid a lot more for the premiums, so pay for the surgery. Unless of course you don't really feel seeing is important.
Chip
[QUOTE=chip anderson]Look I just paid $8000.00 for shoulder surgery. Why because I need my right arm to make a living and for other things. It's a lot of money but I would loose a lot more not useing my right arm.
Chip:
I really am saddened that you had to have shoulder surgery! I hope you will recover soon!
Since when do we have to have some third party paying all our bills. $825 is what 10 days pay? And you don't have to go through rehab for a cataract.
I think our insurance programs are overrated!! Yes I would rather pay it out of my pocket. It is less!!
If you had insurance you would have paid a lot more for the premiums, so pay for the surgery. Unless of course you don't really feel seeing is important.
The most important thing is seeing do'nt you think!! Good luck on your recovery
:)
I thought I would post an update on my Mom's surgery. She had the left eye done with the Restor lens 4 weeks ago and the right eye 2 weeks ago. She is seeing 20/40 in the distance and that is probably about as good as she will be able to see. The doctor found some cell changes in her retina and can't correct her vision any better. However she is seeing better without glasses in the distance then she saw with glasses before.
She can read without glasses, but small print is blurry and she needs a good light. She got a prescription today for glasses with a +2.50 add. I am surprised at the add. The distance is
right eye -1.00 +1.00
left eye +.25 +.25
I am going to make her a pair of progressives this week.
Add means that the implant is not working as a bifocal. +2.50 is pretty standard for all aphakic patients without macular problems. 20/40 ain't bad, you can get a driver's license most places with this.
Yet she CAN read with no add. She can read J2 on the card at the doctor's office, she read the menu at a restuarant the other day without any correction. I showed her some small print and she read it to me.Originally Posted by chip anderson
She says that the reading card the doctor uses is very black and white and books and newspapers are more gray. She is also trying to read with a 100 watt lightbulb in a lamp with a medium brown shade. She scoffs at me when I suggest she get a stronger lightbulb. I think I will just buy her one!
She used to be about a -3.75 and is used to be able to see very well up close without any correction.
From what you say so far, it sounds like the doctor checked distance only, didn't remember the new implant was supposed to be bifocal and just prescribed +2.50 std. aphakic reading addittion. If she can read with nothing, and does not require a minus distance Rx, she sure doesn't need a +2.50 near.
Chip
My Mom told them she was having problems seeing small print. They had her look through +1.00 readers but she said it wasn't strong enough. They gave her another pair to look through and she said it was better, it was a +2.00. Then the doctor wrote the rx for +2.50.Originally Posted by chip anderson
I bought her a 150 watt repose light bulb and she says it is better. She can read, but really likes the add better.
The Restor lens provides a surprisingly high add (around +2.5). Actually, the add is less of a problem than the distance. The distance can be subjectively diminished because of the diffractive zones, night halos etc. However, the reading vision is turning out to be rather good. Therefore, it's not feasible that after surgery a patient would be given a +2.50 add with a Restor lens.
Calculations for the IOL implant have had to change somewhat with the Restor lens. Traditionally we calculated on the minus side so that if we got a minus "refractive surprise" then at least the patient could read. For example, if we would up with -1.00 instead of plano, the patient would still be happy because they had good, uncorrected intermediate vision. Likewise, if they wound up -2.00 they would have good close vision. However, winding up on the plus side would leave them without distance OR near vision. The Restor lens, however, is changing this. If you plan for the minus side they can wind up with near vision so strong that it involves moving the print to an uncomfortably close distance. We are therefore targeting now on the plus side so as to avoid this. This, ofcourse, leaves us in the uncomfortable position of winding up with +1.00 or more which can cause distance blur.
Was your mother's ReStor lens covered by insurance?Originally Posted by Happylady
Does anyone know if United HealthCare (or any other ins. co.) covers ReStor lens and/or surgery?
...Just ask me...
She had to pay $1,950.00 per eye.Originally Posted by Spexvet
The doctor I work for says it is possible that my mom is getting glasses with a +2.50 add is because she has pre or early macular degeneration. The doctor saw some cell changes in the back of her eye and they can only correct her to 20/40.
I only know this because I went in with her for her first follow up. I am sure she wouldn't have told me, she is very close minded about stuff like that.
I have a optical question! Since my operation on my left eye the doctor said it was ok to use my old glasses.
My right eye I can use for reading up close. My left eye I see very clearly for distance.
Is there any problem using my glasses like this until I get my new RX?
:)
Your doctor said it was OK, don't you trust him? It's fine unless you plan to wait an extremely long time to have new Rx filled.
I am a opend minded person. I like to ask other people's opinion then make a decision I can live with!Originally Posted by chip anderson
Kind of like reading the newspaper. Do you believe everything that is printed?
:)
I predict that we will see problems with these IOLs similar to those seen with multifocal CLs.
Most of my post op cataract pxs see surprisingly well with a non-accomodating IOL if their distance is plano. If their distance is -1.00 they think their near is great, and they don't notice distance blur because they are seeing so much better than they were before the surgery.
You all realize that eye surgeons are asking over $2000 over the medicare fee, per eye for these lenses as they are not covered.;)
The reason MD's are asking so much now is b/c this is thie most expensive iol they've had to buy (couple of hundred vs almost a thousand). but unlike a standard IOL more testing is involved (refractions, orbscans, wavescans) more time is spent talking to and training the person. It is not the standard sx then back to your optom. When we started using the Restor, we thought we might do 4-5 a month, we are doing 4-5 a day. Cost is what peolpe are willing to pay. Hopefully though after a while the IOL will come down, Or Insurances will cover the presbyopic portion of sx.
I was offered the standard IOL or the new MF implant. After doing research on the internet and asking questions on this board I came to the conclusion that the standard was the right option.Originally Posted by ecsoptical
At first when I found out the cost was just a bit more I would take the new model. But after asking questions the money was not the issue. The way I want to see after the surgery is more imortant to me.
My surgery with a stitch to correct for not having to use glasses all the time only reading glasses came to a grand total of $920.
I am under the medicare age so I paid for it out of my own pocket. Seems like when they know you have insurance the price goes way up. Sounds like you need to do some negotiation on how much you are willing to pay!
:)
Just wanted to thank the forum participants for this thread. As a cataract surgeon who is not currently using the restor, I am struggling not to get caught up in the excitment. If someone is paying 1900 to 2000 dollars more for the procedure with a multifocal/pseudoaccomodating intraocular lens (IOL) we need to be careful that the results support the cost/effort.
TO date in my own practice, i target between -1 to -2 in the non dominant eye with a monfocal implant to provide the patient with solid near. The dominant eye is targeted for plano. Even patients that settle in the lower myopic range ---0.5 to -1.0 can read a clear j3 on the near card. -1.50 to -2.0 will net j1+. A little trial with monovision contact lenses if the cataract is not too bad is helpful. I have also suggested some trials with multifocals in select patients but my colleagues do not necessarily agree that this is a good test model. Some patients LOVE multifocal contacts, others do not. If in the best hands the acceptance rate is 75 to 80%, how could it be any higher with a multifocal IOL?
Today oct 2005 for my eyes i would still lean towards a mild mono in the non dominant eye and perhaps a wavefront (low spherical aberration) optimized IOL for the dominant eye. I would wear a nice light single vision for night driving and extreme visually demanding distance tasks. If i were retired like most of my patients who only day drive and rarely night drive, i would rarely wear glasses at all.
THis discussion is probably the most honest, straightforward, optically based information exchange I have read to date on this IOL.
Sam
Thank you Sam for your comments. In the practice I work at, until the Restor Iol came out, we shot for around -.75 ou to help with accommadation and adjusting more or less with the second eye if the pt wanted more near or far. Most peolpe are perfectly ok with that ,and like you, may only wear glasses for somethings some or the time, but glasses were almost 100% for somethings. So far, If you believe the liturature, 80% never have to wear glasses for anything. And our practice is finding close to FDA trial numbers. Call it vanity or whatever, but glasses and reader have a stigma to them about being old. And if someone wants the best chance and not needing glasses at all, then Restor is for them. Most of uor agruements between is one lens better or anthor is mute. As with frames and lenses and contacts, our job is to present the facts and help the pt come to a decision best for their life. For some money may be an issue (i know it is for me). If not for working in this practice I couldn't afford Lasik but it has been the best thing I have ever done. It's expensive, but to have a chance not to wear glasses peolpe do it. Restor is a choice, people with the will and the means have anthor option
My Mom got her progressives with the +2.50 add and is happy again. She CAN read with her Restor lens with a very good light and if the print isn't too small. She is much more comfortable with her progressives. I think she will probably wear them almost all the time.
Happy: Most aphakic patients can read quite well with a 2.50 add in any kind of lens, so what is the restore lens doing for her?
Hello again, I am gun shy with my surgeon who placed the retor lens for me. She erred after the first eyr was done by not realizing that Alcon did not make a lens strong enough for me. She had to put in the strongest one Alcon had but it was still not strong enough. Sorry she said(What ever happened to crossing or T's and and dotting our i's?) She said no problem I can touch it up with Lasik. I am not seeing well, I am seeing OK distance wise until it gets dark and if I dont put on my 2.5 glasses I cannot drive at all at night. My intermediate vision stinks(this is a point that patients should be concerned about before having this procedure. They do not emphasize this enough how affected intermediate vision becomes) and my reading is not good either. I was also told by another surgeon that I have a secondary cataract growing which my original surgeon did not notice. So you see why I am hesitant in going back to her. My question is Could the reson why my vision is not up to par even with glasses is because the fact that I have a wrong and weak prescription Restor lens in my eye that this is affecting all the parameters of my overall vision? DO the MD's on this forum think that if I correct my etes with Lasik that it will affect the Restor lens positivly and all facets of my vision will improve? I am also thinking of having the Restor taken out and just go with basic lens. I feel that they over promoted this Restor lens. Currently I have to use a 30" computer monitor with large font to use a computer. I still want to kick myself because my vision was pretty good before even with my one Cataract. It just seemed to good to be true to be able to have the cataract fixed and then not having to wear eye glasses again. I also used to like to be able to take my glasses off and look at things very close. Imp[ossible to do that now. Now I am constantly switching glasses. I cant wear them when using the computer and for intermediate viewing. Need to put them on for driving but they still feel over powered. I am so confused and don't know who best to trsut to steer me in the right direction.
Ha, Ha....well it does help at near. She was wearing a +3.25 add before and still removed her glasses to see small print. She used to wear more then a -4.00.Originally Posted by chip anderson
We went out to breakfast on Sunday and she easily read the menu without any correction. The light was good and the print was very black against white. With a standard implant there is no way she would have ANY close vision. In the real world newspapers tend to be gray and light is not always good.
She is wearing her glasses all the time and is happy with them.
She is having no problems with her night time vision with this lens.
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