When Norma Hollingsworth’s sight deteriorated so that she could not read her beloved music, she knew it was time to enlist expert help.
Norma, who is in her 60s and from Nantwich, had suffered from cataracts for a number of years but they had not affected her everyday life.
Norma, a solicitor and former chief crown prosecutor for Cheshire, is a cellist in the Keele, Alsager and South Cheshire Orchestras, and was participating in gruelling three-hour rehearsals that were starting to take their toll on Norma’s already compromised sight.
Norma knew she needed help when she was finding it hard to drive and with a daughter living in Cambridge, it was of paramount importance to enlist the help of a professional.
She was under her local optician but her vision deteriorated rapidly and both her optician and GP urged her to get seen to immediately.
Norma’s GP knew just the person for the job and referred her to Mr Say Aun Quah, a leading Consultant Ophthalmologist who practises at The Spire Regency Hospital at Macclesfield. Norma’s cataract surgery was covered under her private health insurance which also paid for an upgrade from the usual intraocular lens to a multifocal intraocular lens as Norma needed the best possible outcome from the operation.
Norma says: “I’d had a reoccurring nightmare since birth that someone was attacking my eyes with razorblades so on meeting Mr Quah, I informed him of this. He told me not to fear and that he would put me to sleep throughout the operation.”
Although most cataract operations are carried out under local anaesthesia with patients awake, Mr Quah believes that for an elective procedure such as cataract surgery in patients who may be very nervous or anxious, it is sometimes safer for the patients to have a short general anaesthesia.
Norma continued, “His manner throughout the experience was so kind, friendly and encouraging. I would recommend him to anyone. Since the operation I have not had any recurrence of my nightmare.” A fact which Norma attributes to the very positive experience she had in Mr Quah’s capable hands.
“I am absolutely thrilled with the results as I no longer need to wear glasses for the first time in 20 years.”
Prior to the surgery, Norma needed two prescriptions in each eye to correct her myopia (short sightedness) and presbyopia (diminished ability to focus on near objects). Following the surgery, Norma achieved driving vision without glasses and was able to read newspaper print without her reading glasses.
Mr Quah is one of the UKs leading Consultant Ophthalmologists specialising in routine and complicated cataract surgery. In additional to standard monofocal intraocular lens which is implanted in patient’s eyes following cataract surgery, Mr Quah also offers premium, laser free sight correction which results in his patients less dependent on both distance and reading glasses.
Mr Quah is fellowship trained in corneal and refractive surgery at Liverpool University Hospital and Moorfields Eye Hospital in London. Mr Quah is an NHS Consultant Ophthalmologist at Leighton Hospital, Crewe and Clinical Lead at Macclesfield District General Hospital. His other clinical interests include laser refractive eye surgery, oculoplastics and general Ophthalmology.
