Gianni and Patrizia are an exceptional couple. Lean and vigorous thanks to a careful diet (they follow Dr Mozzi’s blood-type diet) and physical exercise, they look young for their years (even though they are not old!) and exude energy and dynamism.
Gianni is 66 and comes from Locarno, the beautiful Swiss city on the shores of Lake Maggiore, while Patrizia comes from Lugano. Lakes have always been a part of their lives.
They live in Melide, between Mendrisio and Lugano, another place where the lake is sovereign. They love travelling, and they often travel with their camper van, and together they decided to undergo an eligibility test at SERI Lugano with Dr Pinelli with a view to eliminating eyewear, for them an undeniable obstacle to their love of life.
Patrizia says: “We found out how close Dr Pinelli was, who is right here in Switzerland, just down the road from us, on Telecolor, and we immediately arranged a visit together. We started dreaming about the next journey without glasses right from the first telephone call!”
Patrizia and Gianni had two distinct visual defects that were both complex and multiple. Gianni had four dioptres of hypermetropia and he also had presbyopia, whereas Patrizia had nine dioptres of myopia and also used reading glasses as a result of presbyopia. She was certainly the shier of the two, and it was clear from the outset that Gianni was the more certain in his determination to be rid of glasses.
The eligibility test showed that they were both perfect candidates for multi-focal refractive lensectomy which, with a swift and painless bilateral intra-ocular operation replaces the natural crystalline lens with a multi-focal bio-compatible artificial lens which is designed to accommodate all the visual defects of the patient so that the patient may regain clear vision at all distances without glasses or contact lenses.
Here they are shown with Dr Pinelli the day after the operation. They are beaming and anxious to rush home to complete their preparations for their trip the following day. They are heading for Tenerife, and they are finally free from eyewear.
Gianni says: “the lake has been with us since we were children. But the feelings I experienced as I admired it from the windows of the Switzerland Eye Research Institute for the first time with my new eyes is simply indescribable.”