Sean Mundey

Lens Replacement Surgery

51 year old Sean Mundey is a true lover of all things water related whether it’ s diving under it or sailing on it but due to very poor sight, his passion for both sports was being severely hindered.

Now, thanks to pioneering vision surgery, Sean who suffered from an extreme form of myopia, is able to indulge in his beloved water sports without having to worry about losing his glasses or contact lenses. Sean lives in Driffield with his wife and three sons and is a professional diving instructor. He is also an avid sailor having recently bought a catamaran for the family.

Training for his sports has been fraught with problems due to a need for complex lenses and different glasses to correct his poor sight. Since the age of 7 he has worn glasses and has since always suffered from extremely poor sight – he had a -14.5 prescription and also suffered with astigmatism, a condition where the cornea is rugby ball shaped rather than round.

As an added complication, as a result of wearing hard contact lenses in previous years his eyes were scarred – as the eye blinked, the lens created a void at the corner of the lens where an acid build up actually etched his eye. His diving continued to be a big problem and much of his dive training was completed with his eyes shut with contact lenses in place so they wouldn’t dissolve in the water!

His deteriorating sight was the catalyst for Sean’ s pioneering treatment, something he had pondered for over two years before taking the plunge and going to see Mr Milind Pande, consultant eye surgeon at the Vision Surgery and Research Centre in Hull. Mr Pande recommended Lens Replacement Surgery whereby his own lenses would be removed and replaced with a bespoke combination of powerful lenses to correct his vision and restore a full range of focus.

Prior to his surgery, Sean’ s sight was measured using Milind Pande’ s very own vision measurement technique called ‘PANFOCAL Vision’. This is a technique he has pioneered which includes measuring a patient’ s vision at distances needed for a range of everyday tasks. Items used to determine eyesight even include a Harry Potter book, an iPad, a laptop, a desktop PC and a mobile phone, all in different light illuminations.

This way, Sean’ s lifestyle requirements were measured so the correct customised combination of lenses could be used to achieve the same sight as a normal 21 year old!

Sean who is a self confessed sufferer of ‘ white coat syndrome’ and avoids any unnecessary medical procedures, said: “I am absolutely delighted with my vision and am so pleased I went ahead. The results are incredible and at last I can see much better than I have ever done in my life. It took me two years to build up the courage to have this procedure but wish I had done it before as the results are astounding. I even avoid seeing my GP but Mr Pande’ s calm approach really helped and as soon as I met him I was confident that he was the surgeon I was looking for. It is definitely not a vanity option either – this has and will continue to change the way I live my life.”

Commenting on Sean’ s vision, Milind Pande said: “Sean’s vision was a challenge to correct so well. He was one of the most myopic patients I have seen. With a prescription of -14.5 he was very severely short-sighted and this was affecting his quality of life. Now he can even see the bottom line of the chart with ease so the results really are life changing. The difference between having the vision treatment which Sean had and standard lens exchange treatments is that the overall result is ‘ seamless vision’ without any vision gaps. Because we measure functional vision rather than a simple chart, we are able to predict the outcome accurately and get our patients the best possible vision without glasses.

To ensure Sean received the ultimate vision correction, he also had a second lens implanted to enhance his focus even further. This has worked extremely well for him.”Sean who is self employed works a lot on his computer and drives around the country so his work has also seen a major benefit of the new treatment. He continued: “Every aspect of my life has benefited from this vision treatment. I can complete my work more easily and comfortably and I will look forward to scuba diving without having to rely on contact lenses. I am looking forward to that dream holiday diving in the Maldives then coming home and going sailing glasses-free in Scarborough!”

Almost everyone gets a cataract in their lifetime but Sean has the added bonus that after this treatment he will never develop cataracts.