(L-R) Alona Shelach, Head Nurse, Haloah Zlouf, age 109, and Dr.Yeheskel Levy, Senior Physician, Department of Ophthalmology

It's never too late to improve your vision. A 109-year-old woman, one of the oldest living women in Israel, decided she wanted to improve her vision. A cataract obstructed her vision. Dr. Yeheskel Levy, a senior physician in the Ophthalmology Department of Rabin Medical Center, performed a cataract operation on the woman's left eye, after having carried out the same procedure on her right eyes two years ago.

Prof. Dov Weinberger, Director of the Ophthalmology Department at Rabin Medical Center, commented that, "we are aware that deterioration of the sense of sight in the elderly is one of their most prevalent problems and the hospital is especially attentive to their needs in this area." Many of the hospital's ophthalmology patients are over age 90 and so the hospital has an extremely experienced surgical staff that is attentive to both the mental and physical needs of their patients.

The patient, Mrs. Haloah Zlouf from Ramat Gan immigrated to Israel from Iraq in the 1950s. She speaks four languages, and is still cooking her famous Iraqi dishes for her large family, which includes 14 grandchildren and four great-grand children. When asked to give tips on her secret to longevity, she refused to answer, fearing bad luck. Yet her daughter-in-law said that her secret seems to be a life well lived, in happiness and joy.