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Those interested will remember that I had cataract operations a couple of years ago. A couple of weeks or so afterwards, the ophthalmologist prescribed varifocal glasses with some correction for astigmatism. These worked fine and I also had reading glasses made with the same correction, mainly for the computer. No problem.
About a year ago, I realised that, when driving, my visual acuity had diminished slightly, also when watching TV. This was not serious but just an observation. One evening, while watching TV, I took my glasses off to give my eyes a rub and, lo, I saw I could read the subtitles more clearly. The following day, I tried driving without glasses and, again, I could just about read the number plates of cars at over 30 m, which I couldn't with the glasses. Even at night, it was better without than with.
I had reason to see the ophthalmologist yesterday for a totally unrelated reason and I explained what I had found. He sat me down in his big chair and carefully gave me the works and he confirmed that the astigmatism had disappeared, but he was at a loss to explain it. He waffled about my iris being smaller than average, so I wasn't using the total surface of the lens, but he confirmed that that was unchanged from earlier. I also pointed out that even when dilated, at night, I could see the stars very clearly without correction, even relatively dim ones.
I speculated with him that the lens, when inserted, is folded concertina-wise and that it unfolds. Was it possible that the unfolding takes a lot longer than a few weeks to settle down and that the astigmatism was due to the plastic "memory" of the silicone implant having been folded? He didn't think so, but he had no other explanation.
Anyway, the upshot is he recommended no glasses for anything over a metre or so distance and ordinary spherical "reading" glasses without prescription for close work. Good news!
The bad news is that my prostate cancer has taken off again (I had radiation therapy for it in 1995) and I've been put on flutamide: I'm not sure that the hormone therapy isn't worse than the disease! Fortunately, I don't have to pay for it!
About a year ago, I realised that, when driving, my visual acuity had diminished slightly, also when watching TV. This was not serious but just an observation. One evening, while watching TV, I took my glasses off to give my eyes a rub and, lo, I saw I could read the subtitles more clearly. The following day, I tried driving without glasses and, again, I could just about read the number plates of cars at over 30 m, which I couldn't with the glasses. Even at night, it was better without than with.
I had reason to see the ophthalmologist yesterday for a totally unrelated reason and I explained what I had found. He sat me down in his big chair and carefully gave me the works and he confirmed that the astigmatism had disappeared, but he was at a loss to explain it. He waffled about my iris being smaller than average, so I wasn't using the total surface of the lens, but he confirmed that that was unchanged from earlier. I also pointed out that even when dilated, at night, I could see the stars very clearly without correction, even relatively dim ones.
I speculated with him that the lens, when inserted, is folded concertina-wise and that it unfolds. Was it possible that the unfolding takes a lot longer than a few weeks to settle down and that the astigmatism was due to the plastic "memory" of the silicone implant having been folded? He didn't think so, but he had no other explanation.
Anyway, the upshot is he recommended no glasses for anything over a metre or so distance and ordinary spherical "reading" glasses without prescription for close work. Good news!
The bad news is that my prostate cancer has taken off again (I had radiation therapy for it in 1995) and I've been put on flutamide: I'm not sure that the hormone therapy isn't worse than the disease! Fortunately, I don't have to pay for it!
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