{"id":42476,"date":"2024-01-12T16:40:55","date_gmt":"2024-01-12T16:40:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mylocaloptician.co.uk\/?p=22819"},"modified":"2024-01-12T16:40:55","modified_gmt":"2024-01-12T16:40:55","slug":"plymouth-pensioner-opens-surgeons-eyes-to-a-bygone-era","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bedotdev.com\/mylocaloptician\/plymouth-pensioner-opens-surgeons-eyes-to-a-bygone-era\/","title":{"rendered":"Plymouth pensioner opens surgeons\u2019 eyes to a bygone era"},"content":{"rendered":"

Plymouth pensioner opens surgeons\u2019 eyes to a bygone era<\/strong><\/h2>\n

A CATARACT patient has given eyecare specialists a rare insight into the changes of sight-saving surgery during the past three decades.<\/h3>\n
\"\"
Photo (left to right): Bob Armstrong (patient) Amanda Worley (operations director), Mr Nick Edmeades (consultant ophthalmologist) and Barrie Furzeland (patient).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Barrie Furzeland was at Newmedica Plymouth eye clinic to have a cataract operation when he astonished the team with tales of having a cataract removed from his other eye 34 years previously.<\/p>\n

Consultants were amazed because they\u2019d never heard of anyone going such a long time between two cataract surgeries, so they invited him back to share more details about medical science\u2019s incredible leaps forward.<\/p>\n

Normally, people go a few months or maybe even a couple of years between cataract-removal operations, so the team was fascinated to hear Barrie\u2019s descriptions of the procedure he underwent before some of them were even in school.<\/p>\n

Barrie explained that his first cataract had been caused by a freak impact trauma he sustained when the knot on a lawnmower\u2019s starter cord hit him in the eyeball.<\/p>\n

He said he wasn\u2019t able to pay \u00a3800 to have the surgery he needed, so he was left blind in one eye by the cataract for nine months while he was on the waiting list.<\/p>\n

Barrie, 74, added: \u201cMy eye was watering like hell and it was grey and I couldn\u2019t see out of it. I\u2019d gone to the eye infirmary and the doctor asked how long it\u2019d been going on, and I said I got it the day before. He was surprised it was so immediate.<\/p>\n

\u201cEventually, after three quarters of a year, I was called in. The hospital was so old-fashioned, like the Victorian era. I felt I\u2019d travelled back in time.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter the operation, I had to wear a bandage and a shield over my eye. When they took it off, because I wasn\u2019t used to sunlight, I was almost blinded by the brightness, so I then had to wear sunglasses for a couple of weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fast forward to 2023. A cataract that had been developing in Barrie\u2019s other eye was getting worse. Unlike his first experience, he only waited a few weeks for his surgery at Newmedica Plymouth.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cAfter the surgery I was amazed at the quality of my vision. When I had my first cataract done, I was still in hospital two days later. Nowadays, it\u2019s a 10-minute procedure and you go home without any pain.<\/p>\n

\u201cStraightaway, I was able to read, row on the river, walk the dogs, play golf, do some gardening and mow the wicket on the cricket pitch.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s incredible what they did and the speed they did it. Of course, 34 years ago there wasn\u2019t the technology that they have now. Today\u2019s machinery must cost millions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know some people won\u2019t have the operation, but I really don\u2019t understand that. It\u2019s so quick and painless, so I\u2019d definitely advise anyone to have it done. The difference it makes to your life is unbelievable. I never ever thought my sight would be as good as it is now. It\u2019s better than it was 50 years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cataracts form when the lens of a person\u2019s eye develops cloudy patches. Over time these patches can become bigger, causing blurred vision and eventually blindness if untreated.<\/p>\n

In 1990 there were 105,000 cataract operations undertaken in England. Today 330,000 are carried out.<\/p>\n

Mr Vasant Raman, a consultant at Newmedica Plymouth, said: \u201cIt was wonderful to have Mr Furzeland back to tell us his experiences of surgery 34 years ago. I\u2019ve never heard of someone going so long between cataract surgeries, so his insights gave us a unique understanding of the patient\u2019s perspective of the technological innovation and how it impacts the post-operation recovery and the visual rehabilitation.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, with the progress of technology and medical research, our procedures are significantly more efficient today, in many ways. Surgery takes 10 minutes and is performed under local anaesthetics instead of what might have been an hour and 30 minutes years ago, with most operations conducted under general anaesthesia back then.\u201d<\/p>\n

Newmedica Plymouth is run by a team of five local partners \u2013 operations director Amanda Worley, and consultant ophthalmologists Mr Vasant Raman, Mr Tom Cudrnak, Mr Nick Edmeades and Miss Theodora Stavropoulou.<\/p>\n

Mr Furzeland\u2019s advice was echoed by Bob Armstrong, Newmedica Plymouth\u2019s first patient<\/strong>, who said: \u2018I really can\u2019t praise them enough. I\u2019d certainly urge anyone else needing a cataract operation to go for it. You really don\u2019t feel what they\u2019re doing, and the difference it makes is incredible.\u2019<\/p>\n

The Forder House clinic, which created 24 local jobs when it opened a year ago, provides NHS and private treatment for cataract surgery and aftercare, and also offers YAG laser treatment (a treatment used after cataract surgery).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Px left blind in one eye by the cataract for nine months on waiting list <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28397,"featured_media":21859,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2957],"tags":[2971],"class_list":["post-42476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-vision-news","tag-newmedica"],"yoast_head":"\nPlymouth pensioner opens surgeons\u2019 eyes to a bygone era - My Local Optician<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A 74 year old Px wasn\u2019t able to pay \u00a3800 to have the surgery so he was left blind in one eye by the cataract for nine months\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bedotdev.com\/mylocaloptician\/plymouth-pensioner-opens-surgeons-eyes-to-a-bygone-era\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Plymouth pensioner opens surgeons\u2019 eyes to a bygone era - 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