“My goodness! What had I been missing!” says cataract patient Shane Hallatt.
Shane Hallatt, 57, had worn glasses all of his life. But after noticing his eyesight getting worse he decided to do something about it.
He says: “I had been noticing driving in the dark to be more of an issue, with glare from oncoming traffic and the reflective road signs. I would get eye strain from concentrating.
“I had become more obsessed with glasses and new lenses and had even looked into laser surgery, but contact lenses weren’t really an option due to the shape of my eyes.”
“The clarity of colour was amazing, the difference in greens in the blades of grass and the vibrance. I have two dogs, one of which looked like it had beige patches- they are in fact bright white!”
Shane Hallatt, cataract patient at Practice Plus Group Hospital, Shepton Mallet
Shane was told he had early cataracts, but as they weren’t ‘bad enough’ to receive NHS treatment, he wanted to look at his options. He discovered that if he paid for surgery, he could choose a premium lens implant in the hope that he could wear one less pair of glasses!
After getting in touch with Practice Plus Group Shepton Mallet, his local hospital, and having an appointment with the Consultant Ophthalmologist, he was delighted to hear about his options for corrective lenses and cataract surgery.
He said: “It’s not ideal to pay for your own surgery but my cataracts weren’t bad enough [for NHS treatment]. I still wanted to improve my vision though and decided to have surgery on my non-dominant right eye to see what results I could get.”
On the day of the cataract surgery, Shane remarked how reassured he was and how the team made him feel very comfortable.
He said: “Practice Plus Group Shepton Mallet is like a cottage hospital. It’s calm with much fewer people [than other hospitals]. I preferred this as it reduces the risk of picking up infections when you are there.”
He added: “Everything was explained well. The pre-op nurse was fantastic and I felt very calm. I had drops put in my eye for a local anaesthetic and I didn’t feel a thing. The fact there was zero pain shocked me!”
When asked about the results, Shane was extremely enthusiastic.
He said: “My goodness, what had I been missing! The clarity of colour was amazing, the difference in greens in the blades of grass and the vibrance. I have two dogs, one of which looked like it had beige patches- they are in fact bright white!”
Shane has booked in for his left eye to now have cataract surgery and looks forward to the same great results.
