Louanne Pontecorvo of Ponte Vedra was in her early 30s when she first began forming cataracts.
For years, Pontecorvo lived with the condition – a clouding of the lens in the eye that affects vision and can lead to blindness – but last year the eye disease began to seriously impact her life.
Her vision started blurring and colors fading. The cataract in her left eye got so bad that she could barely see out of it, affecting both her job as a graphic designer and her favorite pastimes, like golf.
Pontecorvo, now 58, turned to Dr. S. Akbar Hasan at Florida Eye Specialists for help. In May and July of this year, she received laser cataract surgery on each eye.
“It’s the best procedure I’ve ever had,” she said. “I know it will save my eyesight down the road.”
During the procedure, doctors mapped out the surgery on a computer and created precise, repeatable incisions with the image-guided LensX Femtosecond laser. And with the second procedure in July, Pontecorvo helped the doctors reach a practice milestone: Her procedure was the 3,000th laser cataract procedure performed by Florida Eye Specialists, the only ophthalmology practice with a full-time office in Ponte Vedra Beach.
Dr. Hasan said the team was excited to reach this milestone, but their focus remains on helping maintain and restore the vision of every patient they treat.
“Cataracts are a leading cause of vision loss in the world – and in Northeast Florida,” he said. “We have incorporated laser cataract technology at Florida Eye Specialists so we can provide our many cataract patients with the safest and most precise care possible.”
Pontecorvo said that after her experience, she encourages other people to look into the procedure.
