Ophthalmology

Seeing clearly about eye surgery

By Vincent Ball
Brantford Expositor Staff

Gary Hendin can see clearly for the first time in more than 40 years.
How Clearly?
"Let's put it this way," Hendin said. "I can drive down the Queen Elizabeth Way without my glasses for the first time ever. I can read my own wrist watch.
"I can drive my boat comfortably and know that I'm driving it safely."
Hendin, a 51 year-old businessman has worn glasses since he was four or five years of age and in the summer of 1999 his eyesight had deteriorated to the point that he could no longer put off surgery.
He couldn't drive his boat because he was missing landmarks and getting himself into all kinds of difficulty. It got so bad that if he didn't have surgery he would have had to make some significant changes in his life. "I would have had to hire a driver," Hendin said. "None of my staff would drive with me after sundown because I couldn't read street signs."

He was referred to Dr. Orest Skrypuch, an eye physician and surgeon to correct the problem. Hendin had cataracts in both eyes and despite an overwhelming fear of an operation, decided to have them removed.

"I was terrified and they knew it," Hendrin said. "I didn't want to know anything about the operation and I still don't. All I know is that my sight is better and I can see so much more now than I ever could before," Hendin said. "It has given me so much more confidence. Before there was always that apprehension that I was missing something important and I had to rely on others to help me. There's so much more that I can now do for myself." He can't say enough about the results of the surgery and the way he was treated by Skrypuch and the operating team.

Hendin had his surgery earlier this year, when the operation was performed at St. Joseph's Hospital. Since then, the operating suite has been moved to the Brantford General site of the Brant Community Healthcare System. Although the ophthalmologists in Brant have their offices at St. Joe's, surgery is being done at the Brantford General.

Hendin's experience is typical of the approximately 1,600 eye surgeries that will get done at the Brantford General each year and reflects the incredible advances in eye surgery over the past 15 to 20 years.

Back then eye surgery was considered quite risky and people who decided to undergo such an operation had to put their lives on hold for about 10 days. At that time the surgery was more invasive in the sense that it required a larger incision or cut into the eye. Following surgery, people had to wear sandbags to keep their head still for at least a day.

Cataracts are usually a part of the aging process and can be quite severe with some people feeling like they are looking through a frosted glass or a fog. Back in the early 1980s, people with cataracts often decided to put up with the problem rather than have them removed.

Now, because of advances in technology and procedures, it is much safer and easier for the patient. Typically, patients will spend about 30 minutes in the operating room - the actual procedure takes between 10 and 115 minutes - and will spend about four hours in hospital.

Although there are some restrictions -don't put your head underwater in a public pool for a week - patients can resume their lives uninterrupted with much better vision following the procedure.

While Hendin isn't too keen to talk about the actual operation, Skrypuch is only too pleased to talk about the procedure he performs. Yes, he acknowledged, the operation does require a steady hand and no, he said with a smile, he doesn't drink a lot of coffee.

Drops To Freeze Eye

Prior to the operation patients receive a pill to make them comfortable and eye drops are used to freeze the eye, he explained. Holding up an instrument that looks a lot like a thick, specialized pen, Skrypuch explains that it is, in fact, an expensive and highly sophisticated medical instrument. "I call this my jack hammer, vacuum cleaner and garden hose," Skrypuch said with a smile.

The $60,000 instrument is used after a tiny incision is made into the eye. It's called phaceomulsification and the jack hammer is used to break up the cataract, the vacuum cleaner sucks away what's left and the garden hose maintains fluid in the eye and washes it during the procedure.

In performing the procedure, Skrypuch looks into the eye through a ceiling mounted microscope. His view of the patient's eye is shown on a video monitor that is hooked up to the microscope to allow other members of the surgical team to follow the procedure.

Once the cataract has been removed, a soft foldable acrylic intraocular lens is inserted into the eye. The lens will merge with the eye and following the procedure patients will have to use eye drops four times a day for four weeks. Once completed, the surgery can have a dramatic impact on people's lives. It often enables them to continue driving, continue to read, and in many cases help people maintain employment.

The transfer of the ophthalmology operating suite to the Brantford General is part of the restructuring of health care services in Brant which will see medical procedures moved out of St. Joseph's which is scheduled to close.

The suite opened at the BGH earlier this month and hospital officials said the transfer has been smooth. "It took a lot of planning and a lot of teamwork," said Ann Wehrstein, director of surgical services at BGH. "It shows what can be done through teamwork and we were fortunate to have a lot of input from Dr. Skrypuch throughout the process. "He was a big help in making sure everything runs smoothly."

For his part, Skrypuch said he is pleased with the operating suite.