Going blind in one eye 😟

LIFETIME HIP & KNEE

Read on: danhwilliams.com

Read time: 2 minutes

#075: Going blind

15 years ago, I went completely blind in my right eye.

Driving home, I noticed a shadow..

Rising up on my right side.

As you know..

Hips and knees are my thing

And they were back then as well..

BUT even I could remember enough from med school to tell that my retina was peeling off and detaching. A retinal detachment. And..

I went completely blind in my right eye.

As a surgeon who needs both eyes.

It was a bit disconcerting.

Luckily for me:

The NHS sprung into action

Now the NHS has many problems

(don't get me started)

But when you need it most..

It really is there for us, and..

There is no better care.

Over the next few days my treatment was nothing short of exemplary.

I will be forever grateful.

Within 2 days, I’d had 4 hours of pinhole surgery to my right eye..

(+ with same priority as the 65-year-old gent in the next bed)

My retina was painstakingly massaged back into place.

Painstaking for my eye surgeon.. I was out cold

(under GA, general anaesthetic)

I still find it amazing that all that was possible

And that the vision in my right eye recovered.

That I can see, work, play, read..

And write this newsletter.

As part of the treatment, I was told there was a..

‘100% certainty’ that I’d need cataract surgery

‘within 12 months’

I brushed that off with a ‘yeah, but I’ll be okay’

Before slowly going blind again..

This time the lens clouded over

Cataract

I was back on the operating table again..

This time a 10-minute job under local anaesthetic.

Cataract swapped out for a highly engineered piece of plastic.

You can spot the glint from the lens in my right eye here..

Cataract surgery is the number one operation..

In terms of improving quality of life.

I now get this.

Hip replacement comes a close second.

Improving someone’s hip pain and function is amazing..

BUT restoring someone’s sight?

It was, and continues to be, truly life changing for me.

I didn’t understand what that phrase really meant until I’d been threatened with losing my sight in one eye.

That technology and how it’s applied is wonderful..

And something I will always be grateful for.

I feel privileged and lucky.

In short, I’m a big fan of implant technology.

So, this triggers a deep dive over the coming weeks..

A look at the remarkable story of medical implants.

And the story of hip joint replacement.

As ever, hit reply if you’ve got any questions..

Or anything else that you’d like me to write about.

2 things to help..

1. 340 of you read this newsletter every week (thank you!). Click the button below or subscribe here to join the crowd: www.lifetimehip.com/#subscribe

You'll get my introductory mini-course for free. Also here.

2. My Hip Pain Toolkit course goes deeper, with a full set of evidence-based tools and a deep understanding of how to do more with less pain. Copy this -30% subscriber discount code 👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇

J2R4IKY

Good luck!

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Duchy Hospital
Truro
TR1 3UP
United Kingdom