The Eyes Have It

Yesterday I visited my eye consultant as a follow up after a minor procedure to remove a membrane. The whole procedure conducted by a laser a few weeks ago lasted only a few moments and was painless. I reflected on the developments of eye surgery in my lifetime. My grandfather had a detached retina and had to rest for a month with a head encased in blocks. When my brother was diagnosed with a detached retina in the 70s it was a major operation requiring hospitalisation. I too had retinal operations in the eighties requiring hospitalisation. Now a retinal tear can be treated by a laser at the surgery of the eye expert.

I am no expert but the only area which still seems outside surgical cure is a degenerative macula. It was this that forced Henry Blofeld to retire recently. Glaucomas, detached retinas, cataracts, once resulting in near blindness are now routinely treated positively.

My eye consultant has a large house on one of the most elegant avenues in Hove. He works very hard, has produced amazing results and you feel 100% confident in him. I do not begrudge him one penny of what he earns.