I had cataract surgery and committed for lasik to "match" both eyes which were supposed to be good enough for no glasses. I had been very nearsighted in both, with some astigmatism in both. I think the worst one was about -4 (sorry not to have the real ##s). I wore lineless bifocals since I am now 52.

After cataract surgery, astigmatism was still present, needed glasses but just waited and had lasik on both eyes. I chose monovision to give me a computer distance and was advised I'd need reading glasses for really near. The monovision thing made sense to me since from childhood I had not used both eyes together much, had a strabismus operation way back there and just favored my weaker eye, so figured mono was way to go.

My distance eye, once the cataract eye, now has some astigmatism the other way and a little overcorrection. The mono eye seems to work well for computer work and I can actually read more than expected with it too.

The distance eye is GREAT outside or in bright light. Later in the day is better too. I probably would forgo the "touch-up" planned for me if only I worked outdoors! But in weak light, not even the 'temporary' glasses I wear are enough to clear things up sometimes. It's been 2 months since 2nd surgery, pretty stable for most of that time.

Question: would giving up on monovision help with the contrast sensitivity thing, making both distance eyes? This would put me in glasses most the time since I would need them for computers & books, two things a librarian lives for.

Question 2: If I stick with monovision, is the touch-up going to address the contrast sens. thing at all?

Question 3: Realizing that nothing in life is certain, is it a pretty good idea to have the touch-up to try again with the astigmatism and slight overcorrection, or am I taking another shot in the dark so to speak. You can imagine after two surgeries, I am wondering.

All advice appreciated.

Dana,
I also had lasik and enhancements, now almost 2 years out. Did not do monovision and am happy with +1.25 readers (age 55) The low light sensitivity problem is quite common among lasik survivors, especially in our age bracket. Actually the tendency started for me even before lasik and now is slightly worse. I don't think any additional enhancements will do anything at all to improve that. If you are slightly farsighted and astigmatic in your dominant distant eye, the enhancement may sharpen up focus a bit, but you will still notice you crave more light to see well in low light situations. If you like the monovision and can function well with it, congratulations. I had defacto monovision while I was healing (was +5 preop) for a few months. It was OK for reading, from the initially overcorrected dominant eye, but could not get comfortable with a non-dominanat eye for distance, even with a soft 20/20. The brain just could not tune out the blurry image of the dominant before it was sharp for distance. But that was "backwards" monovision. Since complete healing, I really enjoy good peripheral and true binocular distant vision.

Tom