The eyes have it, part four

There are times when it is impossible not to realise how fortunate we are to live in today's world rather than any other period in history.

From the age of six until three years ago I was utterly dependent on very strong glasses or contact lenses to see anything much. For most of human history a person with uncorrected eyesight as poor as mine was would have been severely handicapped by it.

And it would have got worse. Five minutes before the first of the operations to correct my sight, I learned from the pre-operation check that I was in the early stages of developing a cataract in my right eye. If I had been born a century earlier or at any time before that I would have faced going completely blind in at least one eye.
No longer. Thanks to a miracle of modern science I was able to have the lenses of my eyes replaced in 2016 and I no longer need glasses. This surgery was life-changing.

I was warned at the time that there was a small chance that some opacity might develop after the operation but if so it could corrected by a relatively simple laser treatment. (For anyone interested, it's called YAG Capsulotomy.)

Earlier this year that problem did arise, in the same eye which had been developing the cataract. I had a very simple, non invasive procedure today in Liverpool - which took a few minutes and did not require even any injections of local anaesthetic, just a few eye drops. One doesn't want to speak too soon but the signs so far for the success of the procedure are extremely positive.

I'd like to thank the surgeon and staff of the Optimax clinics at Liverpool and Newcastle for their skill, care and support.


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