Last week was a busy one as the optometry team were guests at the Centre for Sight in East Grinstead, for their 2013 optometry education day. The private eye clinic is run by Mr Sheraz Daya. This pioneering eye surgeon performed the first laser vision correction procedure (LASIK) in the UK in 1995. He has since developed a number of surgical techniques and has been involved in the area of Stem Cell Transplantation and tissue engineering. He is the surgeon responsible for performing the stem cell graft that has started to improve the vision of Katie Piper, the model who was left blind in one eye after an acid attack. Mr. Daya has also invented a series of innovative ophthalmic instruments for use in Corneal Transplantation, Collagen Cross Linking (CXL), Laser refractive Surgery and more recently femtosecond laser cataract surgery. He has devised a new technique called “Trans-lens Hydrodissection” which enables easy removal of the lens during laser cataract and lens surgery We heard lectures from the resident surgeons at the clinic. Talking on the most recent developments in corneal, laser refractive, and cataract surgery. We also heard from a guest lecturer on treatments for retinal eye disease and keratoconus. A highlight of the day was watching Mr Daya perform live cataract surgery. The last time I scrubbed in to see cataract surgery was as a pre-registration optometrist at Ninewells hospital – how things have changed! The state of the art laser which Mr Daya also uses to perform “blade free” laser corrective surgery was used to do some of the most complex parts of the procedure. The highly accurate laser made precise incisions in the lens of the eye, while Mr Daya sat back and watched. This part of the surgery now being “hands free”. The introduction of this type of laser makes recovery times for the patients as little as just a couple of hours. Other surgical advances included implantable contact lenses in single vision, toric and multifocal forms for correction of long and short sight, astigmatism and presbyopia. Visiting the centre for ourselves and discussing the procedures with the people who perform and develop them really impressed on the us the improvements being made in the field of ocular surgery. It was a long day and a lot of travel but we believe it is vital for our optometrists to get the very latest information on surgery so that we can advise our patients better on treatment options.
Many of you will already know but I am sad to annouce the death of Donald's wife (and my mum) Dorothy Cameron. Dorothy was a big part of the business for many years, developing and running in particular our Direct Debit system and supporting Donald as he ran the practice. She had breast cancer in 1993 and was all clear for 15 years before it sadly returned last year. She fought it for a year and in typical Dorothy style, never complained or let it stop her doing anything. Only a few weeks ago, she was doing a 2 hour walking tour of Cambridge on holiday and playing with the grandkids. The final chapter was mercifully very short and peaceful with all the family close by. We have been so touched by the kind calls and messages from our patients, many of whom had appointments cancelled at short notice. It's that kind of gracious response that has been so touching in these difficult times and why working at Cam Opt is such a joy – the patients are so lovely! Donald is doing well and looking forward to spending even more time doing his duties as a Grandfather and plans to do a bit of travel (with photography of course). Dorothy was amazing in a quiet way: totally selfless and focussed on others, devoted to precision and doing things correctly, patient and kind. At her funeral service on Saturday which was packed with people, Donald prepared a video tribute to her which gives some insight into what she was like and set some pictures of her to music. I think this sums up Dorothy better than anything I could write and so I am sharing it here. Everyone who knew her will miss her so much but it has been the privilege of Donald, Lorna and myself to have such a thoroughly lovely and wonderful person as a part of our family. Thank you again for your kindness and understanding to us all. I will be back in practice on Thursday 13th Sept.
The risks of swimming with contact lenses are causing a stir in the media following the case of Jennie Hurst. Jennie was featured in the Daily Mail talking about how she lost vision in her left eye after contracting Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK) as the result of swimming in her lenses. AK is a very serious but thankfully very rare infection often related to swimming in contact lenses. As a result, the British Contact Lens Association have updated their advice about swimming in contacts and it's pretty good so I've copied it here: “The BCLA’s advice for contact lens wearers is to not wear contact lenses for swimming – or in hot tubs or whilst showering or participating in water sports – unless wearing tight-fitting goggles over the top. After swimming – or if lenses are removed and stored whilst swimming – contact lenses should be cleaned and disinfected in fresh solution before putting them back on the eyes. The BCLA recommendation is that regular swimmers talk to their eyecare practitioner about being fitted with daily disposable lenses for use with goggles whilst swimming. Wearers of daily disposable contact lenses should always discard them immediately after swimming.” Daily disposables are a great idea for swimming and are available so prescriptions between about +8.00 to -12.00, toric versions for astigmatism and presbyopic versions for folks who need reading glasses. Almost all prescriptions can now be catered for in dailes and having a small supply for swimming/travel as an addition to your regular lenses is a great way of minisming the risks of problems. Call us and we can send you a trial in your prescription.
You may not know but I seriously entertained becoming an astronaut. In fact I actually applied to the European Space Agency while I was at university studying optometry. I really wanted to use my optometry skills rather than just be an astronaut so I had in mind to do some research while I was out there. Now that I think about it, I never heard back from them so they must have not recived my applicaiton. Yes, that's what will have happened… In any case it turns out I can combine eyes and space in the US by working for NASA in Houston investigating the effects of space on the eye and trying to eliminate the vision problems associated with space travel such as early onset cataract and UV/radiation related issues. You have to graduate from the Aeorspace Optometry programme in Florida and you don't actually get to go into space. It seems they don't have use for optometrists during space travel unless you have other skills such as Payload Specialist Lawrence J. DeLucas who graduated in Optometry before studying biochemistry. So even my great optometry skills won't get me a seat on the shuttle so I think I'm going to stick it out at CamOpt a while longer and save up for a shot in Richard Branson's commercial space venture.
There were 100,000 more eye exams carried out in Scotland in 2011-12 compared to the year before. The increase from 1.8million to 1.9million exams is positive for Scotland, where other regions are seeing static or declining numbers of patients attending for eye exams. This comes hot on the heels of a study demonstrating that many people think an eye exam is all about glasses. Debbie McGill, operations manager for Optometry Scotland commented “The recent figures demonstrate an increase in awareness of eye health care and the importance of regular checks. Optometry Scotland is working hard to link eye care and current public health initiatives to help increase awareness even more in the future.”
One of our loyal patients today brought in this little bit of history at her annual check up: her first ever lens case, holder and ‘sucker' we gave her back in 1976. It also still had the original lenses in there… We use to give out these little packs with RGP lenses back then (when RGPs were actually ‘hard' and no one had thought of making them soft) and I don't really know why we stopped. They are really quite handy for storing lenses provided you replace the sucker and the actual plastic case regularly to keep things clean. This lady assured me that the lenses, the case and the sucker were all original 1970s. We have a lot of patients who have been with us since the 1970s and still a few who have been going even longer since 1960s and still have many lens wearing years ahead. We always enjoy seeing any eye related memorabilia so bring it with you to your next appointment. PS. This patient now wears soft lenses
Day 1 at MIDO is over. The scale of this place is incredible. The picture below is only 1 of the 5 pavilions filled with the latest frames from around the world We're finding the Scandinavians have more style than any other countries – no surprise there (think about the cool glasses on Borgen and The Killing). There are some really high quality and interesting designs many of which, we will be first in the UK to bring in for you. Worst frame of the day prize belongs to a brand called Parasite…need I say more? Maybe try to get a picture of it tomorrow.
Sort of… Eighteen months ago over a quarter of a million people applied to be volunteers at the London 2012 Olympics. The numbers were whittled down over a course of interviews and in December Gillian was delighted to accept a post as optometrist for the games. Her duties will involve working as part of a team of health professionals in the polyclinic at the heart Olympic village. She will provide acute eye and contact lens care to the athletes, their teams and spectators and general eye exams to those from developing countries who may not have access to health care at home. Her love of all things sporty, her expertise in contact lenses, and in volunteer optometry abroad make her the ideal choice. She's hoping they might even give her a bit of time off to watch an event or two. She'll keep us updated here as things develop.
This weekend Ian, Heather and Gillian are jetting off to the annual MIDO glasses frames conferences in Milan. MIDO takes over 6 huge pavilions of Fieramilano, one of the largest exhibition centres in the world. Every major frame designer in the world exhibits at MIDO and we're hoping to find some of the latest styles and bring them back to the UK. It's a long way to go but we want to continue our reputation for stocking some of the best frames you can find anywhere and travelling so far means we'll find things no one else can.
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