Cataract treatment

coster

Hallo all,

After several months on the waiting list I finally got a letter asking me to arrange an appointment at the Opthalmology department of my local hospital.

Over the past few years when getting my eyes tested for reading glasses I have been told by the optician that I have developing cataracts. I dont know what the severity is; or what treatment I will be offered (if any) until after my initial appointment and examination.

However, I feel sure some others on this forum may have had some experience of "corrective eye treatment" (as it were) and I was wondering if they could offer any insights of the treatment process as I have no idea what to expect.

I have heard that cataracts are best treated at early onset but on the other hand I understand that treatment is now being rationed by the hospital Trusts and so I wonder whether they will only offer surgery in severe cases.

I do feel that eye treatment would be a great help and would consider going private if the NHS decline treatment, providing it is not too expensive as my savings are somewhat modest.

Would be grateful for any insights gained from personal experience.

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Savvy_Sue

Welcome!

I haven't had them done myself, but on the whole those I know who have had them done have been very happy with the treatment. One was allergic to the first eyedrops prescribed which caused some problems.

I remember when cataracts were not treated until they were quite severe, mind you!

margaretclare

DH and I had them done 5 years ago. Absolutely brilliant. The bonus is, after 60 years of short sight we no longer need glasses. Well, we still use reading-glasses and sunglasses for driving, but no need to wear glasses for anything else. Surgery takes no longer than 15 minutes, you can see immediately. A tip: get some prescription-free sunglasses because the first thing you notice is the glare from lights when you come out of surgery.

One problem some people have is not to get the second eye done soon enough because of NHS waiting-lists. This is the most difficult to cope with is when both eyes are different. We always opt for a cancellation and we didn't have to wait too long in between them.

It's all about 'quality of life' nowadays. The first surgeon I saw at ophthalmology clinic wasn't convinced that I really needed it done that urgently. It was at the time when I was doing GCSE Maths and I explained that I couldn't see the chalkboard. A small altercation followed as to why I needed to do GCSE Maths in my 70th year, but eventually it was accepted that it was my life, my decision, my 'quality of life' in fact!

Good luck - but stick to your guns, if this thing is bothering you and affecting what you normally do then make that crystal-clear.

coster

Sue: Thank you for kind welcome. Margaret: that is exactly the kind of advice I was hoping to get. Thank you so much.

Over the years I have needed stronger and stronger reading glasses. As things happen so gradually you dont really notice how many adjustments you are making to cope with deteriorating eyesight.

My quality of life is impaired and my confidence significantly affected. My task, and I am very grateful that you pointed it out so well, is to make my needs clear to the opthalmologist who might be playing devils advocate and trying to put me off treatment.

Well, fore-warned, is fore-armed, as they say, and I will be ready for any negative approaches.

The over-riding message though, is that the treatment has significantly improved you and your husbands' quality of life and that has given me an enormous lift.

Farway

I have not had it done, but a colleague has, and he know says he can see for miles

I think it something, like deafness, that is gradual so you do not notice until it is corrected, I know this was the case once I had my NHS hearing aids, I had forgotten that keys jangled & birds tweeted

[Deleted User]

That is all very re-assuring op. Strangely, we were with sil today, not having seen her for a year and she has been told that she will have to wait until her cataracts get very bad.We are horrified and it is bringing home the poor treatment that some older people are getting in some parts of the country. Makes me so much more determined to keep saving, just in case

krisskross

I am told I have cataracts in both eyes but also have wet macular degeneration in both eyes for which i have Lucentis injections. Must ask the consultant if they will be able to do cataract surgery for me.

margaretclare

kittie wrote: »

That is all very re-assuring op. Strangely, we were with sil today, not having seen her for a year and she has been told that she will have to wait until her cataracts get very bad.We are horrified and it is bringing home the poor treatment that some older people are getting in some parts of the country. Makes me so much more determined to keep saving, just in case

No, this is the old system, now superseded. It used to be thought that you had to wait until they were 'ripe'. This is no longer the case. I can't emphasise that too strongly. It is not a question of 'older people getting poor treatment'. If that had been so neither DH nor I would have had them done. There were people much older than us who were having them done. Actually neither of us has found any ageism at all - whatever needed to be done has been done. Most recently, the spinal surgery which has been successfully done - if the 'older people' argument had been applied then why would they have bothered? It wouldn't have mattered to anyone, the risk of him becoming paralysed from pressure on his spinal cord - he's 77, so what? But at no time and in no way did anyone either voice that or imply it.

What DH and I have found is that you have to be assertive. Not aggressive, just make your point clearly and comprehensibly. Be insistent. This is, I think, where many older people are their own worst enemies. They're too passive, too willing to accept what they're given and be grateful for it. How will anyone know what is important to you, what you need, unless you state it clearly?

A good example is a friend of ours. He's 10 years younger and he has had one cataract done but thinks he'll have to wait a year for the other. This, as I explained above, is the worst. You can't wear your old glasses because one eye doesn't need them. In fact, they're not exactly poor people, and I know people think that we're not, but they're a lot better off than us. If that was me I would pay for it. Cataract operations are being done, I know, in all private hospitals. This man had a high-powered job - why is he being so passive and accepting this? We wouldn't!

PennyForThem_2

Funnily enough I am listening to Radio 4 programme 'In Touch' which has said basically that NHS is not following NICE guidelines and are making up their own criteria which = delay or only doing 1 eye.

I agree with the poster above - be insistent and don't take no for an answer or if you can afford it go private.

Wolfsbayne

My mother 56 has very poor eyesight and has recently been told that she is developing cataracts and at a fairy fast rate but has been told by her optician that they won't operate until the optician can no longer prescribe glasses strong enough for her.

Problem is, she has had 'floaters' in her eyes for more than a year now which she describes as trying to look through venetian blinds AND her peripheral eyesight is going and so things in the corner of her vision maker her feel like they are coming straight at her. She says she is really struggling to get out and about now as a result.

So is that grounds enough for her to get the op done sooner rather than later. I know much of it is down to how each hospital is using their budget and I know many are deciding they can put off cataracts procedures as a way of money saving but my mum has so many other health problems that barely being able to see for several years until she is deemed 'worthy enough' to have an operation is really going to affect her quality of life.

PennyForThem_2

Complain. Do it in writing. Has she been referred to NHS hospital? if you are getting delay, complain. Go to the website where there will be an email for concerns/complaints

Fight. I didn't and I should have and as a result of a delayed (because it cost too much) my husband fell because he had one eye done and not the other and his perception was compromised, and because he broke hip and other morbidities, he died.


Catarctscan be fatal.