I have lived with the large opacity in my left eye for over a year, hoping it would either disappear, reduce in size, or move out the center of my vision. It has not. In bright light, normal eye movement causes it to move around the center of my eye, intermittently blurring as it moves. In dim light the effect is much worse as even the periphery of the opacity causes blurring. This is most noticeable while driving at night, as the opacity causes oncoming headlights to “flare”. With only one eye at full capacity, I have abandoned “monovision,” which worked very naturally for me at my job (computer programmer). Reading glasses are not as effective for me and create more eye strain.
Without treatment, it appears I will have permanently reduced utility in this eye: not useful for distance viewing, and the intermittent motion of the opacity makes it difficult to maintain focus on close-in text. I imagine my risk factors will only increase with age, so if the surgeon agrees, I would prefer to have the opacity removed as soon as it is convenient.
Jeffery T. S.
December 12, 2016