Caroline Houseman

Advanced Refractive Cataract Surgery

Mum and grandmother, Caroline Houseman has been overwhelmed by the difference to her day to day life following Advanced Refractive Cataract Surgery. The 56 year old from Goole, East Yorkshire had been wearing glasses and contact lenses for over 30 years when her regular optician noticed the early stages of cataracts developing during a routine appointment.

By the time she had decided to go for surgery, her vision was so impaired she’d given up driving. She said “I knew my vision was deteriorating, but I made the decision to have surgery after the ski season. One of the main issues was not recognising changes in the slopes until I was almost on top of them – a big risk when skiing down quick runs!”

Mr Milind Pande, consultant ophthalmologist and medical director of Vision Surgery & Research Centre in East Yorkshire was recommended to Caroline and she met with him at the end of April for a detailed assessment of her sight.

After measurement, using Milind Pande’s own technique, ‘PANFOCAL Vision’, (which includes measuring vision at various distances from reading a book, Kindle or an iPad to watching TV and driving) Mr Pande recommended one of the most state-of-the-art lens’ currently available – the Symfony lens.

Milind hails the new, technologically advanced lens as ‘ground-breaking’ and describes it as something that the field of ophthalmic vision correction has been waiting for.

He said: “The Symfony lens which I implanted in Caroline’s eyes, spearheads a new category of lenses capable of an unprecedented level of smooth sight correction. We have used some excellent multifocal lenses but when having these lenses, patients have to accept trade-offs of experiencing halos and glare. For the first time, we can provide seamless vision with smooth, continuous focus over every distance – it really is incredible and the results can only be described as ground-breaking.”

Caroline clearly agrees. She said: “It was a revelation! It’s as though a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders. For the first time in 35 years I am totally unencumbered or held back by the need to think about, transport or worry about glasses, contacts lenses, eye drops, solutions, cases – none of that! I wake up in the morning and have 20/20 vision and it’s absolutely marvellous! My sight restored to that of my youth. I actually feel lighter.”

Initially Caroline was afraid to permanently dispose of her eyewear. She said: “I didn’t dare believe that I was actually going to be able to see as clearly as I can. I thought I’d probably need glasses for reading or driving – but no – I can see perfectly over every distance! It’s taken me a few months to believe that my sight is perfect and it’s only now I have been able to physically bin all the paraphernalia from my spectacle wearing days.”

When asked what she’s looking forward to most after her Advanced Refractive Cataract Surgery, Caroline added: “I can’t wait for the ski season to start. Heading down the slopes with the confidence to know that my visual judgement is faultless will be amazing. No more nursery slopes for me… I’ve got my sights firmly set at the top of the mountains!”