Happy 1st birthday to my new vision!

24 March 2017

Mario Giudici is an entrepreneur from the Valsolda, a wonderful valley where the charming village of Porlezza, in the province of Como, borders on the equally beautiful Gandria, the first municipality you will reach after crossing the border between Italy and Switzerland, as you enjoy the scenic drive along lake Lugano (also known as Ceresio), from Lugano Paradiso to Castagnola.

An energetic, sport-loving man, Mario had mild hyperopia and slight astigmatism. These two visual defects, which he had had for two years, had not prevented him from having a full life and an overall satisfactory vision.

At 47, though, he started to have some problems, as in addition to his distance vision defects, he also developed presbyopia. This is a physiological condition that inevitably sets in around the age of 45 and forces us to wear glasses to read small print in the paper, use a mobile phone or write at a computer. The situation gets even more complicated when we realise that our vision problems can affect our driving, as we can no longer make out number plates and street signs as promptly as needed and we feel unsafe when driving.

“I had already heard about Dr Pinelli from some friends, who had been very satisfied with their eye operations – they told me it had really changed their lives”. Then one evening I happened to see a TV interview with Dr Pinelli, where he presented the procedures he performed at the Lugano Institute. That’s not far from where I live, plus I was curious to learn if my problem could be solved, so I called straight away and made an appointment.”

The first suitability assessment for Mr Giudici was made by Dr Pinelli and his team at the Switzerland Eye Research Institute of Lugano Paradiso in March 2016. After an accurate examination of Mario’s visual acuity and general ocular conditions to determine the feasibility of a 100% laser non-surgical procedure, Dr Pinelli gave his go ahead to perform a Pinelli Presby Profile® bilateral procedure. This methodology allows simultaneous correction for both distance vision problems, in Mario’s case hyperopia and astigmatism, and near vision (presbyopia) a single non-invasive, non-surgical operation.

Mario lives in Claino con Osteno (in the province of Como.)

He had his pre-op examination at SERI in March 2016 and was offered a bilateral Femtolasik procedure.

Before the procedure, his vision was not the same in both eyes. Mario had less than one dioptre of hyperopia and astigmatism in his right eye, while in his left eye he had higher long-sightedness and, above all, higher astigmatism. And his eyesight got worse after he started to develop presbyopia.

“I was really fed up with looking for glasses everywhere and I realised that as time went on the problem was getting worse. I was also annoyed by the deterioration of my distance vision, which had never been such a big problem till then.”

“Dr Pinelli explained that the Pinelli Presby Profile® methodology was a Femto Lasik X-tra technique especially designed to solve both distance visual defects and the near vision defect of presbyopia. It was based on an algorithm he calculated that adapted to the specific needs of each patient, he said.  I thought about how it would be to ski, or even just travel – I often travel for work – without the inconvenience of wearing eyeglasses, not to mention those horrible reading spectacles on my nose when I browse through a guidebook or search google maps!”

The operation was carried out on 31st of March, 2016 and after one year, Mario Giudici is very satisfied with the result. His vision today is 12/10 and he doesn’t need any type of eyeglasses any longer.

“In just a few days, it’ll be one year from my first day with my new vision. And I must say it’s been a wonderful year!  I remember the day of the operation as a very nice moment: a few minutes of painless procedure and music in the operating room. I know that three different types of photons were used, but to tell you the truth I did not even notice that there were different phases in the process. After a few minutes, I was back in my car heading home. This time the lake was on my right, and I must say it had never looked so beautiful!”