JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A woman can see without glasses after new technology improved her vision following cataract surgery.
Kathy Pumphrey is one of more than 1,000 people in the Jacksonville area to get adjustable lenses implanted.
Because of the procedure, she’s been able to see without glasses for the first time. It’s a move she considers life-changing.
Pumphrey enjoys her life with her family and a career as a registered nurse. But she said her vision always seemed to be a problem.
“Without my glasses, the world was nothing but a blur,” Pumphrey said. “I could not read anything, I could not drive, I could not watch television or beyond the computer. I could do nothing without my glasses.”
A few months ago, Pumphrey got the first of its kind, adjustable lenses, after cataract surgery. It’s an option that’s been in demand recently.
Pumphrey now has 20/20 vision.
“I feel like my vision has been restored,” Pumphrey said.
Dr. Christian Guier is an optometrist with Florida Eye Specialists on Jacksonville’s Southside. He said there are plenty of success stories with cataract surgery.
Guier also said that success is not always the case. That’s why the adjustable lens creates a new alternative for people to make changes to their vision if the surgery does not meet their needs, which is something that was not possible before.
“Cataract surgery is the one elective surgery where every time you sit up from bed for the rest of your life, you appreciate good vision,” Guier said. “If we can make that vision as good as it can be, they will recognize that benefit always and forever.”
The procedure includes using UV light to shape the lens within the eye. Guier said the entire process can take more than a month.
It includes adjustment appointments before locking the final measurements in place.
“This is by far a real step ahead and with what the technology offers people functionally,” Guier said.
They said it’s a transformative way to make vision sharper and clearer.
“I have never seen this well in my life,” Pumphrey said.
Guier said this method is becoming so popular for him, that he spends at least four days a week exclusively treating patients getting these new lenses.
As more people are opting for this procedure, it is being expanded to be offered in Fernandina Beach and Ormond Beach as well.