Looking for really good eye surgeon

[blindman]

Help needed guys,
if someone has any experience with eye surgery, here in Sydney, please comment (cataract surgery).
Thanks a million!!!:help:
Clear skieas.

[Phil]

I had both my eyes done a couple years ago. I was awake when they did the surgery on me. So if you have the opportunity make shore they put you asleep. It not very nice watching then cut your eye, as for who did this i don't remember .
Phil

[Terry B]

There are lots of vey good opthalmologists in Sydney all capable of doing cataract surgery. Just go to your GP and get his/her advice. The GP should have first hand knowledge of the opthalmologists in your area.

[Geoff45]

Was it worth it?

[Miaplacidus]

Years ago I worked at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital. All of the ophthalmologists performed all manner of eye surgery, including corneal surgery for refractive errors. Virtually all of them wore either glasses or contact lenses. When I asked them why none of them had the surgery, each one proclaimed not to trust any of the others!

What Terry said. Go to your GP, express your concerns. If you trust your GP, you should trust his/her recommendation. The odds are very much in your favour. I could name four or five eye surgeons here in Hobart that I would trust with my eyeballs if I had to. (Of course, mistakes can happen, even to the very best.)

[dannat]

I can't see Any :lol:

sorry , had a bad day

[Wavytone]

GP's don't have a clue when it comes to eye surgeons.

You will need a referral from a good optician who knows who's who in the business.

The best opticians I know in Sydney are Whitehouse, 70 Castlereagh St (about opposite the MLC tower near King St).

Ask for Geoff Matthews. He will tell you what can, and what can't be done as well as refer you to a good surgeon if that is what it takes.

All the best to you, sounds like you'll need it.

[blindman]

Thank you for your comments,
I have done my left eye (awake), and it wasn't too bad. Everything went OK but I was scared to death (wasn't in Australia). Now I have to check the right eye, unfortunately cataract is progressing.
Once again you were helpful a lot.
Nev

[Spanrz]

You got that right, 100%.

I have one eye. Lost my right eye to an accident 25 odd years ago.
The surgery was done in the St. Vincents hospital in Melb.
I have an orbit / plastic eye fitted (aka glass eye).
Have been trying to find a opthamologist for a long time in Melb, as my GP didn't know where to start. Neither did I (no pun intended).

Went to one doc (an eye specialist / surgeon), said nothing wrong with your socket, I said there is, but he begged to differ. Then went to a ocularist (who makes the plastic eyes), he said "eye socket is no good, big problem there".
Now I'm in a bind on who to believe.
But I need a new eye/orbit. Think this one, is going to need surgery of a big kind.

So finally found out through my own right, that I need to see an opthamologist. Found a couple, but far and few between around Melbourne.

[ngcles]

Hi Nev & All,

Well, on Tuesday 03032009, my cheese & kisses will be getting her eyes fixed at the Eye Institute, Chatswood in Sydney. The doctor is Gerrard Sutton. The eye institute advertises regularly on Sydney AM radio.

She currently has a prescription of -12 and -12.5 (severely myopic) (cannot focus without glasses beyond about 1m) and also has a small amount of astigmatism. Without glasses, she is functionally blind. Lasic is not suitable because the amount of correction needed is so high it will leave her corenea(s) too thin so, she is having lens implants.

Interestingly enough, the implants are made of plain old perspex. It seems the human body is remarkably tolerant of perspex. Dr Sutton explained that this was discovered during WWII when a lot of airmen ended up with perspex shards in their eyes and apart from the damage from the cuts, it didn't cause further complications. Strange but true apparently.

She has used contacts for about 15 years up until recently when she had a viral eye infection (we both had it actually) which meant that contacts are no longer "advisable". So, after years of my nagging her to get it done it was time to take the plunge. She is pretty nervous about it all (naturally) but they claim a success ratio about the 99% mark -- which is a pretty fair bet.

The Dr expressed little doubt that he could restore 20/20 vision to both eyes. The all-up cost for the whole procedure (both eyes) is just a tick under $9,000 and does not attract a Medicare rebate and only a small portion is refundable through our insurance -- but I reckon she's worth it. ;)

If you're interested, I'll let you know how it goes.


Best,

Les D

[Shaun]

There usede to be a guy by the name of DR Stan Franks not sure if he still works going back a few years now but he was very good at the time.

he had an office in FairField

[blindman]

Les, of course I am interested, and keeping thumbs up, for all to go well!!!
Nev

[ngcles]

Hi Nev & All,

I did promise in an earlier post in this thread to let you know how my wife's ocular-lens implant surgery went to correct severe myopia and some astigmatism. Well the upshot is -- very well.

She had the first one eye done in early March and that one went well with a couple of minor complications on the road to recovery. In that case (left eye) he used the traditional technique of cutting semi-circular slit around the cornea, inserting a lens and stitching (dissolving stiches) the cornea to hold it in. The next day when the check was carried out the eye-pressure was abnormally high and she had to take some drops and tablets to resolve that which worked quickly and well. Her vision was abnormally slow to improve though and because of that he wanted to see a few days later to see what was wrong.

So a few days after left was done we went back again. The pressure was fine but it seems she had unusually thin corneas. The three stiches inserted to hold the lens in place were causing a pucker across the cornea that while far from permanent was making improvement hard to see. We were told that when the dissolving stiches dissolved, the puckers would smooth out almost immediately and all would be well.

To that end, the operation on the right eye was put off for a couple of weeks to the end of March. The day before that one, we went back in to get the left eye evaluated again because it was still not improving as well as expected. Gerard took one look and said the stiches hadn't dissolved, and that he would remove two or three of them the next day when he did the right eye. He also said that for the right eye he would use a slightly different technique that involved no stiches and a folded lens that would be inserted into a much smaller incision and then fold-out once in place ... wow!

So, he did the right eye Tuesday 31st March with the new technique and removed two stiches from the left cornea. Only hours after the stiches were removed from the left eye, her vision in that one was virtually perfect -- as good as mine at least. With the different technique on the right eye, it has improved very rapidly with no pressure issues and she can see out of that one almost as well now -- five days after the operation as the left one is 4 weeks later.

She had her vision (both eyes) checked the day after the 2nd operation and the upshot is 20/20 both eyes. Final check is next Wednesday but she is much more than delighted with the final result. She can now read yellow on black car number-plates easilyfrom 60m away but can still read pretty fine print at 50cm.

:thumbsup:

Best,

Les D

[astronut]

Les,
Great news!! I hope your wife's recovery is quick.
As I'm sure you know by now Gerard Sutton is one of the top eye specialists in Australia.
He saved my son's vision (my son was 6 months old) when he rolled off my wife's lap whilst breast feeding. He rolled onto a glass which broke and sent shards of glass into his right eye.
Gerard was working at Liverpool Hospital at the time.
Top Surgeon and most of all a top human being.:thumbsup:

[ngcles]

Hi John & All,



Yep the man certainly knows his stuff and is friendly and down to earth. Eyesight is progressing quite quickly now and I've got no doubt things will be tickety-boo very soon.

When things like that happen to your own kids, it's worse than it happening to you, isn't it? Well that's the way I feel. Hope he's going well.


Best,

Les D

[blindman]

Hi Les, I am glad everything is OK, although I am wondering why new technique wasn t applied when fixing 1st eye.

I went to Whitehouse Opticians and realised that vision check done in Liverpool wasn t correct, and will get new glasses for now.

Clear skies Nev