Julie Pearson

Lens Replacement Surgery

When she was a baby, doctors diagnosed that Julie Pearson was almost blind in her right eye. That, coupled with the very poor vision in her left eye, meant Julie had to wear glasses with unflattering, extremely thick lenses.

She put up with them until she was 16, and for the next 30 years she wore contact lenses. “It wasn’t really convenient because I couldn’t go swimming with them in, and if I took them out, I couldn’t see anything. If it was windy I would always get bits of grit in my eye which was really painful,” she said.

When Julie took her father to have laser treatment on his eyes, she started thinking about having her own eyes done. But she was told it wasn’t an option for her as she was extremely long-sighted and also had very high astigmatism. It was only later, when she heard about Mr Milind Pande that Julie’s future began to look rosier. The Vision Surgery & Research Centre has a worldwide reputation in vision correction surgery and has considerable experience of treating very severe and complex prescriptions, carried out in a local private hospital.

Julie was advised that Lens Replacement Surgery might be an option for her. Very similar to a cataract operation, its aim is to achieve good distance and near vision without glasses; as a bonus, the risk of developing cataracts later on in life is eliminated. She was also told that because she had a very high astigmatism she could also consider laser surgery afterwards, to really sharpen up her eyesight. This planned two-stage surgery is called BIOPTICS and is used in patients with very severe and complex focusing errors.

“Mr Pande told me about the benefits and risks and asked me to go away and think about it,” says Julie. “After I’d made my mind up, I had to leave my hard lenses out for four weeks so they could measure my eyes properly. This was the worst part of the whole procedure for me as it meant I had to wear my glasses again.

“I had my first eye done in March and the second eye done in April. I was very nervous but it turned out to be less of an ordeal than going to the hairdresser. I had a general anaesthetic, so I was put to sleep, although you can have it done with a local anaesthetic. When I woke up, the nurse took my eye shields off and my daughter took me home. Because you have to careful not to get your eyes wet immediately after the procedure, I had to take a couple of days off work because I work with tropical fish.

“My vision was much better right away although things were slightly blurred, as if you are looking at a street light. But that passed within a couple of days and it was amazing. I would lie in bed and I couldn’t believe I could see without glasses or contacts, go to the bathroom without having to put in my contacts, or go downstairs to make a cup of tea without worrying.

“When I had my eyes done, the procedure was very quick and painless but on the journey home my eyes began to hurt. I couldn’t stand the light and I had a rough 12 hours.

“I’ve just had my check-up and I’ve got 20/20 vision in my left eye and even my right eye is much better than I’d expected. I only have to wear glasses to read very small type and I have just bought a pair off the shelf. I am so glad I found out about Mr Pande and had this procedure done. They say that money can’t buy you happiness but it goes a long way.”