The London Vision Clinic Blog

I don’t think that it would be fair to share here Rosa’s age (I am certainly not going to tell you mine!) but I will give you a clue … after Rosa had her eyesight corrected by Dr Dan two years ago she discovered the joy of being glasses-free for the first time in seventy years!

Is this, I wonder, some sort of record? And, if so, why should it be unusual for anyone – whatever their age – to safely undergo laser eye surgery with all the subsequent liberating benefits for the rest of their lives?  I am certain that wearing glasses is just as irritating at eighty as it is at eighteen.

Rosa was born in Piedmont in Italy and her family later moved to Turin in 1948. She spent time in London enjoying painting water colours before moving to Torrevieja (near Alicante) in Spain in order to achieve a life-long ambition - to learn the technique of working with oils.

Along the way Rosa heard about Dr Dan and his outstanding skill as a laser eye surgeon and was determined to meet him.

She had found that her glasses had become increasingly uncomfortable and decided to look into the possibility of getting rid of them.

“The moment I met him I knew that I wanted him to operate on my eyes”, she told me.”I wasn’t nervous – I had absolute confidence in him.”

And how does Rosa feel to be without glasses for the fist time since childhood?

Like many other London Vision Clinic patients, she found herself, in the early days, rubbing her nose as she retained the habit of pushing up her slipping specs. Now –like the rest of us – she just enjoys being glasses-free.

Recently I have found myself thinking a lot about birthdays.

This is probably because my birthday calendar (a legacy from my Dutch years and a truly vital piece of organisational equipment) is jam packed full of names of friends and family at this time of year. I have also been spending hours (well, almost) browsing around card shops looking for that perfect humorous/elegant/nostalgic/loving message to send to my nearest and dearest.

In addition I recently celebrated my own birthday and am writing this while enjoying a lingering, last look at my birthday cards paraded on my windowsill before I put them away. Clearly they reflect how others see me - several feature shoes ( a passion of mine) while another, from my sister, shows a drawing by the hugely talented Quentin Blake (who I had the pleasure of interviewing a couple of years ago) of a lady lounging on a chaise longue with glass of champagne in one hand and birthday cake in the other.

Unfortunately this is closer to the knuckle than one might suppose as I have also been spending a lot of time languishing on my sofa while a torn adductor muscle and a damaged hamstring (yes, it was painful) are taking their own sweet time to mend.

After the accident, while lying in an ungainly heap, waiting for an ambulance, the person filling in the accident report asked me for my date of birth ( incidentally, this was a couple of weeks before my birthday).

“Wow, you don’t look that old!” said this kindly woman – and, even through the white hot pain and frozen peas, I couldn’t help but feel a glimmer of joy! 

Does that make me a shallow and vain person and one who is truly worthy of all the greetings cards with fashion references?

I would argue: “No, it doesn’t”.

I believe it makes me a pretty normal woman who wants to stay youthful, not just in her appearance, but more importantly in her attitude to life, for as long as possible. And when I met Rosa Della-Ferrera at the London Vision Clinic the other day I knew that I had found a kindred spirit.

Perhaps, like me, you wonder what might be going on in the laser eye surgeon’s mind while he is operating.  Obviously he is going to be extremely focussed … but on what exactly?

Dr Dan is famously quoted as saying that if a bomb were to explode in the next room and, while he was operating, he wouldn’t even be aware of it.

How then could Glenn Carp meet or even top that level of concentration.

“Actually, this is where I have an advantage over the Prof”, says Glenn.

But how could that be? Might Glenn have an analogy even more shocking and potentially disturbing than Dr Dan’s exploding bomb scenario?

“I’ve actually had eye surgery myself – so I know what it’s like”, he explains.
 
Dr Dan still has untouched perfect eyesight; but Glenn has experienced things from both sides of the operating table so to speak.

He first became short sighted at university and although his prescription wasn’t too high (minus 2 and a half) he also had an astigmatism.

Glenn found that he didn’t tolerate contact lenses well and that his sight problems were especially inconvenient on the sports field. Also, as a junior ophthalmologist in training, there was another huge disadvantage to wearing glasses: his specs acted as a barrier, preventing him from getting his eyes as close to microscopes and other optical equipment’s eye pieces as necessary. And the contact lenses, which would allow the eyes closer access, were proving uncomfortable.

Once in London and working alongside Dr Dan (or The Prof, as he calls him), Glenn had  the opportunity not only to get his eyesight corrected, but also to discover first-hand what it feels like to be a patient on the operating table looking up at those bright lights.

“All patients are nervous and – although I had complete confidence in the Prof – I was no exception”, he remembers.

Undoubtedly the experience makes it easier for Glenn to relate to the emotions that each patient feels.

“The protocols we both use are identical – there is no difference in the treatment whether the operation is conducted by the Prof or by me. However, possibly, we have our own personal way of approaching the patients and helping them over their stress.

“It is a quick procedure - usually no more than 20 minutes for both eyes. Both the Prof and I are completely focussed during that time on two things: number one is the actual surgery and number two the patient himself.

“Everybody is nervous – even I was nervous when I had my treatment – but it is a matter of picking up on the subtle signs that the patient is presenting with so that you can make sure you can make them as comfortable as possible and to give them the time and space they need to cope with each step of the procedure.

“We want the surgery to be successful - not just its outcome, but also the whole experience. We don’t want our patients to come out of it feeling as if they have had a rough ride. It should be a very gentle, easy going experience... just a matter of lying down and looking at a little green flashing light and then, a few minutes later, sitting up and enjoying their new vision.”

Like all former patients, four years on and Glenn is still thrilled with the results.

As Dr Dan gets older and inevitably feels as if his arms aren’t long enough as he squints at print, then Glenn will be able to return the favour when it becomes Dr Dan’s turn to try out the LVC operating table for size.

As a school boy, Glenn Carp, knew what he wanted to do. Of course he would study medicine and become a doctor when he grew up... but a doctor of what?

Glenn’s mother had an idea ... he should watch a specialist doctor in action and see whether the work appealed to her son. Fortunately things were a little less regulated in those days in South Africa and Glenn was allowed to watch a cataract operation in progress.

“I quickly became fascinated by the workings of the eye and how it could be repaired with a comparatively simple procedure”, he recalls.

Perhaps the young Glenn also foresaw that because various eye conditions, such as cataracts, have the potential to affect everybody - if they live long enough – that this would be an especially far reaching, dynamic and fast-evolving field of medicine in which to work. Eye treatments have come a long way in the last thirty years (when laser eye surgery began), ten years and even more radical improvements have been made recently.

He also explains that the thrill of the “wow factor” never diminishes.

“In a way it is similar to performing cataract surgery. Despite the fact that that laser eye surgery is more precise -hence the even bigger wow afterwards –  a patient comes in with blurry vision and instantly – after the surgery – they can see clearly again.

“The patients tell me (and I agree), I have the best job in the world. It is especially exciting seeing their joy at being able to see properly at the appointment on day after the operation.

“Since laser eye surgery began some thirty years ago, changes and improvements in techniques – fuelled by global demand - have been especially impressive”. Glenn went on to explain that some of these discoveries had been as a direct result of “The Prof’s”  own research. (Glenn refers to Dr Dan as “The Prof”)

“Now, not only can various eye sight conditions be corrected avoiding the problems of the early days; but we can also repair those difficulties – such as disturbing halos, star bursts and other problems with night vision.”

So now we know... there is no longer any need to put up with these night time annoyances. If you have been finding night driving especially awkward and unpleasant and have become the reluctant “designated driver” (due to eye strain and not the lack of a drink);  it would be worthwhile to contact the London Vision Clinic and see what they can do for you.
 

What is it about the London Vision Clinic that makes it tough to leave?

As a patient, perhaps it is the fact that on each visit you are made to feel special. Your needs and questions are always answered  and met with care and patience. Probably these concerns are similar to every other person who is undergoing laser eye surgery; but  you are allowed to imagine that you are the only patient who has ever asked them.
 
The clinic itself is an attractive peaceful haven which, although grand and impressive, is in no way intimidating or imposing.

It sounds ridiculous to say that having eye tests (and indeed the laser eye surgery itself) could be a pleasant experience: but appointments at the London Vision Clinic are actually quite pleasurable – as well as being highly professional and skilled at their jobs, the clinic staff are also friendly and caring.

It’s as if we former patients are members of an elite club able to stay in touch with the London Vision Clinic via fun annual reunions at the July 4th BBQ and now - hopefully- also through this blog where we welcome everyone’s comments and input.

But that is from the patient’s perspective... what about the members of staff that are chosen to join the illustrious London Vision Clinic team?

Take the case of ophthalmic surgeon, Glenn Carp. He had expected to stay just one year at the London Vision Clinic - a far cry from his native South Africa. Six years later he is a firm fixture and now performing up to 45% of all operations.

Recently he told me how it all happened.

Born in Cape Town, Glenn was brought up in the town of East London before moving to Johannesburg to study and later attend medical school. He had known from an early age that his chosen medical field would be eye health and, after qualifying, he was advised by his professor  that the future of ophthalmology lay in being super specialised, a trend increasingly seen in the UK and the USA especially.

After completing a fellowship in corneal surgery he learned about refractive surgery alongside Prof Reinstein. Glenn decided that he would like to watch him in action and “pick his brain” for a year. It turned out that there was more than a year’s worth of “pickings” to be had and eventually he was invited to join the London Vision Clinic team as an ophthalmic surgeon.

His plans to move on or even to return to South Africa were put on hold when he realised that any step away from the London Vision Clinic would mean taking several steps backwards in terms of the standard of work he was able to achieve with the  advanced, specialist equipment (much of which Dr Dan helped develop) at his disposal.

London, England, might not have the climate of East London, SA, but it does have quite a lot of other things going for it not least the London Vision Clinic. 

Returning to the scenario of sitting next to someone famous in the waiting room of the London Vision Clinic…. Should one put down one’s reading matter and offer to make them a cup of tea? Or would that appear too ingratiating for comfort?

I would have to contend that, in this situation,  there can be no fixed agenda… it all depends on… well every thing from pre-op nerves to general feelings of sociability or otherwise. It would probably be advisable to let the celebrity take the lead.

That said it must have been a rather odd scenario for GMTV fan and now London Vision Clinic patient Sandra, who not only found herself booked in to clinic at the same time as Phillip Schofield, but was also there as a direct result of the GMTV programme with Dr Dan.

She too had been thrilled to hear in the interview that laser eye surgery had progressed to a safe and painless procedure making almost all eye sight problems a thing of the past.

Sandra even found herself featuring in the mini documentary film shown later on GMTV explaining Phillip’s laser eye surgery journey. This can currently be viewed through the itv.com webpage or via Google and will shortly feature on www.youtube.com/londonvisionTV (watch this space for more on that).

In common with other London Vision Clinic patients (it is deliberate that I missed out the word “former” –as we all know we are all patients for life), I found the Dancing on Ice presenter’s experiences endearingly normal. From his annoyance at having to wear two pairs of glasses at the same time (or in the words of his gorgeous co-presenter, Holly Willoughby: “You had about ten pairs on your head like Alice bands – not a good look!) to his delight in finding that chocolate and a head and shoulder massage is prescribed for pre-op nerves.

He was also clearly fascinated by the procedure itself. His analytical and non-squeamish approach relays that the thickness of his cornea would be changed by approximately half the diameter of a human hair.

He doesn’t hold back on the subsequent miracle of perfect sight – the thrilling “Wow Effect”.  In the short film Phillip speaks about the joy of waking up in the morning and for the first time clearly seeing the branches on the trees outside his bedroom window.

It is also noteworthy that when he had discussed his earlier decision to have the surgery with family and friends – about 50% of them had tried to talk him out of it. This was also my experience and I have to comment that these opinions are based on a lack of up to date information and that the people who hold them -  although no doubt well meaning – should be gently guided to www.londonvisionclinic.com to find out more details and to watch and read about patients’ own experiences.

So what happened to Phillip Schofield’s “Alice band of glasses”?

All of us London Vision Clinic patients know the answer to that question.

Yes, they went in the jar in reception ahead of being shipped of to the African sight charity.

Although during her career, Dani had acquired a wide range of nursing qualifications and experiences, she had never worked with eyes before so, in April 2007, when she accepted the position at the London Vision Clinic, she found herself on another fascinating learning curve.

Recently promoted to “Senior Nurse”, Dani ‘s responsibilities include helping explain to patients pre and post-operative procedures.

She and the other nurses are on hand to help calm nerves and anxieties before the operation and to answer those frequently asked questions such as: “What happens if my nose itches and I need to scratch it?” (In case you’ve forgotten the reassuring answer… nothing that a patient might do during the procedure will effect either the operation or its outcome).

Dani is also part of the theatre team assisting either Dr Dan or Glenn Carp while they operate. Handing the correct instrument at the exact moment it is required is especially challenging as the surgeon will never look away from his microscope’s eye piece. His theatre nurse will be standing very close by –almost touching his shoulder and making sure that the instruments are handed over in the pre-established sequence and at the correct angle and pressure. During operations she will become literally his right-hand help (or in Dr Dan’s case, his left-hand assistant).

Dr Dan is famously quoted as saying that, while operating, he would not hear a bomb if it went off in the next room. Dani confirms that the atmosphere in surgery is “intense” and, any words exchanged are whispered quietly.

After surgery, patients need to learn the post operative procedures including the sequence of the various eye drops. Some of us also need lessons in how to put in the eye drops and are nervous that we might inadvertently touch our eye with the dropper. (Dani told me that this is a highly unlikely scenario – in fact she has never heard of it happening.)

“I suggest that it is wiser to err on the side of caution. If your head is tilted back, chin upwards, and your hand with the dropper is resting on your nose you will be in the correct position. Once the drops are in, immediately switch over to the other eye “, she explains.

There is definitely a knack to putting in drops and it seems that after a couple of misses – resulting in drops dripping down our cheeks –most of us quickly learn the ideal technique.

I am certain that Dani and the other nurses at the London Vision Clinic would emphasise that all their patients are equally important to them. That said, I suspect that Dani’s impartiality will be put to the test early next year when she finds herself caring for her own much-loved father when he will cross the globe from Emu Creek to Harley Street to have his eyesight corrected by Dr Dan.

Nursing has to be one of the most varied careers in existence: where and how nurses choose to practice their skills is only limited by their imagination.

A shining example of this is the London Vision Clinic´s senior nurse, Dani Barrett. Her professional qualifications have taken her from the tiny Australian outback village of Emu Creek to London’s Harley Street via a journey that would even make ER scriptwriters question the story line as being too far-fetched.

Nursing was something of a last minute career choice for Dani and, after having made up her mind and been accepted by a nearby university in the town of Bendigo, she was somewhat surprised to discover that her mother had also decided to become a mature nursing student on the same course and at the same university. Both mother and daughter graduated together before Dani began her career as a midwife in Melbourne.

She quickly got over the horrors of witnessing her first birth (“I thought I would never have sex again!” she jokes) and concentrated on post-natal care and breast feeding. A busy orthopaedic department came next and then to a high trauma unit of A and E – this is where patients with life threatening injuries are taken and clearly an area of medicine requiring a cool head.

“I treated patients who had been in car crashes or farming accidents –people who had maybe had an implement fall on them and crush their chest; or burns victims”, Dani explains.

“These people would be in a critical condition and, although it was stressful, I tried not to think about the human tragedy unfolding in front of me and just concentrate on doing my job which was usually emergency first aid and assessment.”

Among the most difficult moments, Dani recalls, was working on critically injured young car crash victims and knowing that their anxious parents were waiting for news.

Crucial decisions –like whether or not limbs would have to be amputated – had to be made on the spot – as did pain management for those who were still conscious; while Dani was also called upon to perform life-saving triage procedures like CPR, drilling a hole in the brain to allow haemorrhaging fluids escape and tracheotomies.

Clearly this job was not for the faint-hearted.

Dani’s next step was to move to the UK two-and-a-half years ago. In London she joined a nursing agency which, in addition to “normal” nursing positions, also offered her the dream opportunity of accompanying a little girl, with type 1 diabetes, and her parents on a trip to America.

“I had my own suite at the Four Seasons in LA and also enjoyed two trips to Disneyland – it really was a dream job for the weeks that it lasted.”

On her return to London, Dani heard about an opening at the London Vision Clinic and decided to apply for the job. The rest - as they say – is history.

Walking around the streets of the capital, it is not unusual to spot the odd celebrity.

In and around North London where I have been living for the last few months I’ve seen Little Britain’s Matt Lucas walking his dog near Marylebone High Street, Gwyneth Paltrow on the school run in Camden and Kate Moss in a café in Hampstead.

Even since this post began to mull around in my brain prior to writing it down – I have spotted the journalist and dancing disaster John Sargeant (somewhat shorter in stature than I had expected); and just this morning I bumped in to Zoe Wanamaker -much more attractive in the flesh than on the small screen.

So how should one react when we “spot a celebrity”?

While we might know not just their names but frequently many personal details about their lives; they, on the other hand,  haven’t the faintest idea who we are – and probably not the tiniest desire to add us to their friendship base by finding out. I would suggest that those that fall in to the “truly talented” category, are secure enough not to seek constant recognition and flattery from strangers in the street.

Having flirted on the outskirts of notoriety during my radio past -where I also had the pleasure of interviewing many “famous” people – I would recommend, as a general rule, it is advisable to respect every body’s personal space.

When the situation is merely a casual “street recognition” and in the absence of any formal introduction, my tendency is to treat the celeb as one would any other passer-by. If eye contact is established, I might smile but always with a sympathetic expression which says “don’t worry, I am not going to whisk out my mobile phone and steal an unflattering shot” or even more crassly request an autograph (a collecting hobby I have never understood).

I firmly believe that talented people (as opposed to the instant fame of reality TV stars) are pretty much like the rest of us. They have worked hard to achieve success in their chosen field and probably merely tolerate the notoriety which inevitably, in our celebrity-driven culture, goes with the job.

This may be an easy and comfortable philosophy to adopt when your paths cross on a pavement; but how do you react when you find yourself sitting next to a famous person in a waiting room? Or to put it even more specifically: while you are waiting for laser eye surgery?

The London Vision Clinic in Harley Street is no stranger to celebrities who – just like the rest of us – yearn to be free of glasses and contact lenses.

Some months ago, while sharing the GMTV sofa with Fern Britton, Phillip Schofield interviewed Dr Dan. Those of us who watched the programme couldn’t help but notice that this was not an abstract piece of journalism… the TV presenter was clearly intrigued by the procedure and wanted to experience it for himself.

So it didn’t come as a huge surprise to know that just before Christmas Phillip Schofield became a patient of the London Vision Clinic and is now happily glasses free. You can watch the video below or you can see the video on his website.

Ever since he was a little boy Paul Ryb has been the sort of person for whom the phrase: “If life gives you lemons you make lemonade”, does not go far enough. Despite, summing up the message of making the most of a bad situation, Paul’s personality urges a deeper and more analytical approach to the lemonade mix; leading to research – for example - not only into lemonade recipes, but also the history of the drink and the origins of the saying itself (it is actually attributed to Dale Carnegie author of “How to Win Friends and Influence People”).

Paul has had problems with his eyesight for as long as he can remember and has always tried to discover solutions to the various challenges he has faced.  At the age of seven he became one of the youngest children in the country to wear contact lenses – a situation he turned into an award winning experience.

“I was acutely short sighted and, because I was so young, I was only allowed to wear the lenses for a few hours a day. I was really keen on sport and there was no way that I could play rugby or football in glasses. The contact lenses were great – I took to them like a duck to water.

“It was an amazing experience and even at that young age I knew that, to get on in life, I would need to make adjustments. I wasn’t vain; but I just didn’t want to be the stereotype of the poor boy with bad vision. I didn’t want to be pitied or thought of as handicapped in any way.”

The success of the contact lens experience was compounded by a school prize for the project he later presented on the history of contact lenses – from Leonardo da Vinci to the present day.

This philosophy of making the best of a bad situation has served him well throughout his life and now enables him to hold down a top job in the City despite being registered blind.

In the article published in the technology pages of The Independent newspaper ( December 16th - see link above), I wrote about the various inventions that help him at work and at home.

Paul’s motive for “going public” was to help and inspire other people in similar situations and I am certain that he found it extremely gratifying to receive an email on the day the article was published from someone who is profoundly deaf. This person, who by his own definition is a: “very driven, performance- and people-oriented person” was on his own career path when his disability stood in his way. His direction had been forced to change dramatically after it was discovered that he was unable to use the telephone successfully.

About his frustrating job search he wrote:  “I have had very little success so far. Given two graduates with similar academic and internship experience, why risk taking me on and providing for expensive equipment that may not work very well), or finding telephones that work for someone with such a high degree of hearing loss as well as lack of auditory processing. I was feeling very low indeed, till I read about your (Paul’s) situation, and now I am determined to keep on truckin'.”

I am certain that we all wish both these courageous young men all the luck in the world ... and inspiration and encouragement to the pioneering researchers of the future that they might discover new techniques to help them and others who are struggling in similar situation.