It’s not unusual to feel nervous about someone touching your eyes but for one Surrey businessman, a negative experience at a previous eye test meant the thought of eye surgery made him feel physically sick. Subsequently, he kept putting off the vision correction surgery that would ultimately change his life.
Having reached the point where he could not recognise people in the street and was constantly putting glasses on and off to manage his work, he was determined to challenge his fear. Fortunately, after a visit to Optegra Eye Hospital Surrey he no longer needs to worry and is finally glasses-free.
Luca Cabano, 50, from Redhill in Surrey, is the owner of BossDog, a specialist in vehicle graphics and vinyl wraps for cars and vans. “My work involves constantly switching between the computer and the car as we develop and refine our design ideas,” said Luca. “It was so annoying having to constantly take my glasses on and off for close up and distance work.”
However, having had a difficult previous eye appointment at his local optician, where his eye was painfully poked, Luca felt nervous about continuing with any kind of eye surgery and put off having any further investigations for two years. “I couldn’t even watch a friend put in her contact lenses, it was that bad.
“One day, a customer came to the garage and somehow we got on to the subject of eyesight. He’d recently had lens replacement surgery at Optegra Eye Hospital Surrey and couldn’t speak highly enough about the service he had received.”
It was the encouragement Luca needed to book an appointment. His eyesight was becoming worse and he couldn’t even recognise friends on the street. “One friend said to me, ‘Didn’t you see me waving?’” recalls Luca. A few weeks later, he attended a consultation for lens replacement surgery.
Now, having completed the surgery, he couldn’t be happier with the results. “It wasn’t nearly as scary as I thought it would be. I’m so happy that I don’t need to wear glasses, it makes my work so much easier. The detail I can see now is incredible!
“I would say to anyone who is considering eye surgery, just go for it, you’ll be so glad you did.”
Mr Alex Shortt, consultant ophthalmic surgeon at Optegra Eye Hospital Surrey, treated Luca and said: “It is very natural to worry about any medical procedure, and of course the eyes are a sensitive organ – but we reassured Mr Cabano that lens replacement surgery really is pain-free. The most patients feel is a little pressure on the eyes.
“He was a fantastic patient, and we are delighted that he has had such a good outcome – it should really assist him in his work now, making vision at all those different distances so much clearer.”
Optegra Eye Hospital Surrey is part of Optegra Eye Health Care and is a specialist provider of ophthalmic services. Established in 2007, with its first hospital opening in 2008, it has completed over one million eye procedures from its 31 eye hospitals and over 60 locations across the UK, Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia.
Optegra brings together leading-edge research, medical expertise and state-of-the-art surgical equipment. It performs more than 140,000 treatments annually, both private and publicly funded. Its top ophthalmic surgeons are renowned for their areas of expertise, offering excellent clinical outcomes and great patient service.
