Saving sight: How specialized care at WRHN helped a local doctor see clearly again
Patient Story
Dr. Ian Digby was enjoying a night out at a restaurant when he noticed “floaters and flashes” in one of his eyes.
As an emergency room physician in Guelph, Dr. Digby understood the symptoms – floaters, small threads drifting across his visual field; and flashers, brief flickers of light – to be classic warning signs that his retina may be detaching.
And it was threatening to permanently damage his vision.
The retina is a light-sensitive layer of tissue that lines the inside back of the eye. It converts light into nerve signals, then sends those signals to your brain – meaning it’s crucial for sight.
Concerned that he could lose his vision if he didn’t act quickly, Dr. Digby saw an ophthalmologist the next day in Guelph. Tests showed some irregularities, but his retina was still stable and could be monitored.
When he returned four weeks later, however, things had changed.
“There was evidence of a retinal detachment and tear,” says Dr. Digby, who was immediately referred to vitreoretinal surgeon Dr. Carl Shen at Waterloo Regional Health Network (WRHN) for further assessment.
I was very concerned because the risk of this worsening could have been devastating: permanent altered vision, or even blindness.
A race against vision loss
Using specialized tools at the ophthalmology clinic at WRHN @ Queen’s Blvd., Dr. Shen confirmed the diagnosis and offered a solution: immediate laser surgery, done within 45 minutes, right then and there. A second laser procedure a week later stabilized Dr. Digby’s tear and detachment for good.
The whirlwind experience emotionally impacted him more than he expected it to.
The week between his two initial surgeries with Dr. Shen filled him with worry. If the laser procedure didn’t hold, he was told he may need open eye surgery, which would have drastically impacted his work, driving, and other activities he had planned.
“The prospect of losing your vision is terrifying,” Dr. Digby says. “But I was very confident in Dr. Shen’s skills and the tools he was using, and I trusted that all would be well.”
It didn’t take long for Dr. Digby’s situation to stabilize – and the results have held. More than a year after his laser surgeries at WRHN, his vision is excellent. He’s been able to work, ski, bike, and drive with confidence. And this year, he got to see his daughter walk across the stage to receive her university diploma.
Had his retina issue happened a couple years earlier, Dr. Digby’s journey to recovery may not have gone so smoothly.
Bringing life-changing eye care close to home
The retinal surgery program at WRHN @ Queen’s Blvd., was only recently established in 2023 thanks to a transformational $1.5 million gift from The Savvas Chamberlain Family Foundation. The donation helped bring highly specialized retina care to Waterloo Region for the first time.
Before the program launched, patients had to travel to London, Hamilton, or Toronto when they experienced a retinal or eye care emergency.
“Retinal detachment can be quite vision-threatening, and the damage can happen very quickly,” says Dr. Toby Chan, co-lead for WRHN’s Regional Eye Program. “In the past, when patients had to travel – not just for surgery itself, but for post-op care – it put a lot of burden on families."
So having these surgeries done close to home is a huge help for patients locally and in surrounding smaller regions.
WRHN’s retinal surgery program expected to see 100 patients in its first year. Dr. Shen treated 203 cases within six months, and more than 500 cases each year since.
With each year, demand for the program has continued to grow, and donor support has been crucial to ensuring more patients can access the specialty eye care they need.
Community generosity funds equipment and other costs not covered by the Ministry of Health, and the investment in expanding eye care at WRHN has also helped make Waterloo Region an attractive destination for clinical specialists. WRHN hired a second vitreoretinal surgeon, who specializes in inherited retinal disease, in the fall of 2026.
For Dr. Digby, having access close to home to a retinal expert like Dr. Shen – and the technology and equipment he needed – made all the difference in his care.
“It would have been much more challenging and nerve-wracking to travel to another city for assessments and repeat visits,” he says.
I am very lucky that this program was available just 45 minutes from my house.
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