Case Study – Steven Johnston, Cataract Surgery
Steven’s story
At 56 years of age, Steven’s cataracts were beginning to severely affect his life and he was told by his optician that they would potentially cause him to go blind within 12 weeks. After receiving this frightening news, Steven immediately started looking into surgery. As an Architectural Technologist and Senior Design Manager, Steven’s career is heavily dependent on his eyesight, especially when looking at document plans as well as attending site inspections for potential projects, so there was a lot at stake.
To avoid the long waiting list that often comes with the NHS, Steven opted to go private, deciding on The Spire and surgeon, Mr Venki Sundaram, down to them both having an excellent reputation and being easily accessible to him from home.
We caught up with Steven to hear more about his surgery journey as well as his thoughts and feelings on the process and surgeon, Mr Sundaram.
On the day
In the lead up to the surgery and on the day, Steven was naturally a little nervous. However, these nerves were soon alleviated. “I don’t like touching my eyes in any way and to date didn’t even like eye drops. The team was very calming and the whole team explained the stages clear slowly and made sure I understood what was happening and why.”
Following the successful surgery that only lasted 20 minutes in total, Steven was walking out of the hospital within 30 minutes and after a couple of days, he was “100% fine”.
Although his eyesight was fully functioning within a few hours, Steven decided to take a few days’ rest in order to ensure a smooth and relaxing recovery.
The results
Prior to his cataract surgery, Steven’s eyesight had a prescription of +4.5 which has now improved significantly. Steven previously required the constant assistance of a +1.5 reading lens and a blue screen filter. However, his improvement means that this is no longer the case. “My vision is 95 % now, improved beyond scale” explains Steven. “The improvement is beyond words, removing the need for glasses all the time, only for close computer work.”
As well as a massive improvement in his ability to work, a personal benefit has been being able to drive again as he found that the car headlights were no longer “totally blinding” and has enabled the lesser use of yellow lens glasses.
Steven has now regained fully fledged confidence and ability. He went on to explain how the successful surgery has had a positive impact, saying that “this treatment has given me back years of my life, returning my confidence and ability to conduct myself normally when outside the home environment.”
Reflecting on his life-changing surgery and his treatment by Venki Sundaram, Steven said that “Mr Sundaram’s friendly, approachable, relaxed and non-hurried nature, leaves me with no reason not to recommend him.”
Get in touch to book an appointment
Mr Venki Sundaram offers cataract surgery at The Spire Hospital in Harpenden and Bushey, as well as at The Cobham Clinic, Luton. Contact us today to find out how cataract surgery can help you.