How pioneering surgery saved Josie Lippitt's sight
by Katie Lamborn
Could you imagine having monthly injections into your
eyeball?
That's what Josie Lippitt from Whitstable had to endure before
she under went pioneering surgery to restore her sight.
The Mariners View Estate resident had a condition
which meant she could only see a grey splodge in her eye,
which was caused by abnormal vessels growing, leaking and then
scarring the eye.
It started for Josie four years ago when she suddenly lost her
sight in one of her eyes.
Her husband took her to A&E where she found out she had
wet age-related
macular degeneration (AMD), a condition if left untreated can
lead to blindness.
The 59-year-old was told she would have to have a drug injected
into her eye every month.
Josie said: "After a while, I was beginning to feel like a pin
cushion."
So, she jumped at the chance to become one of the first
people in the country to undergo a new procedure being tested at
King's College Hospital in London.
She said: "During the procedure I could feel the probe in my
eye, but it wasn't hurting. It's not like seeing a knife
or a pointed needle coming at your eye.
"It looked like a little Hoover was going around
the inside of my eye picking up all the rubbish that was
in there.
"Thankfully, that didn't last for long. Half an hour after the
operation I was on my way home with my husband."
Josie says her life has now changed for the better.
"It makes one heck of a difference. I can now book a
holiday which is something we haven't been able to do for a few
years! And I now feel back in control."
Friday, February 05 2010