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Cataract treatment
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....I'm smiling because I have no idea what's going on ...:)
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There ARE rules about returning to NHS treatment after having Private treatment on something......I believe you can do it once, but not more?
If there were to be problems afterwards with your eyes (I had some) - I think you could return to the NHS for treatment, but not if you chose to go Private again for further treatment on the eyes. At least check it out, so you know.
As far as having just one cataract done - I couldn't have coped. It was awful having to wait for a month between one being done and then the other (I couldn't focus properly and work, certainly couldn't drive etc), but my short sightedness was quite severe at the time. The new lenses fixed that!0 -
Older people are seen as a soft target because they don't complain effectively enough.
It always amazes DH and me just how passive some people seem to be. 'Oh they know best, they know what they're doing' is something we often hear.
One of the consultants at our local hospital was one of those who pioneered the new method of cataract surgery i.e. you don't need to wait until it becomes 'ripe', the only criterion was 'is it impacting on your quality of life?' I argued with the young man who saw me first in clinic when he asked me how it was affecting me. 'Well, I'm doing maths GCSE and I can't see the chalkboard'. He wanted to tell me that my maths GCSE wasn't important at my age, but I managed to impress on him that it was, and eventually he laughed and said 'oh all right then'. Under today's criteria I probably wouldn't get it done. The marvellous bonus for DH and me was the cure not only of our cataracts but of our short sight as well.
I agree with beedeedee above. Couldn't agree more.[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Æ[/FONT]r ic wisdom funde, [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]æ[/FONT]r wear[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]ð[/FONT] ic eald.
Before I found wisdom, I became old.0 -
I have finally managed to get on the waiting list to have my second eye done. (Hooray!)
(See my posts above; my optician referred me, saying I met the criteria, GP just referred me on to the clinic, but they said I didn't meet the criteria.)
Anyway, I learned a couple of interesting things about how the system works, which may be useful to others.
One is that, the way they were managing to say I didn't meet the criteria was by measuring a theoretical level of vision I would have with glasses. I don't wear glasses though, and the optician didn't recommend me to have any, just to get the cataract done. Once they assessed my vision as it actually is, without glasses, I met the criteria easily. (With the 'bad' eye I can only read the massive top letter on the eye chart.)
The second is that (in theory) the only person who can override the criteria is your GP, because they are the one whose budget it comes out of. So if they try to say they're 'not allowed' to, or it's the specialists at the clinic who decide, they're lying.
The criteria, AFAIK, relate only to actual vision. So if the main problem is dazzle and glare, which doesn't seem to be measured, and this is affecting your ability to drive/see screens etc, then what you have to do is convince your GP of this and get them to refer you back to the clinic as an exception.
Hope this is useful to someone!0 -
slopemaster wrote: ».)
The criteria, AFAIK, relate only to actual vision. So if the main problem is dazzle and glare, which doesn't seem to be measured, and this is affecting your ability to drive/see screens etc, then what you have to do is convince your GP of this and get them to refer you back to the clinic as an exception.
Hope this is useful to someone!
Very useful. It's usually the dazzle and glare that is the first indication that cataracts are developing; hence some older people saying they don't like driving in the dark because the oncoming lights dazzle them although they would say there is nothing wrong with their vision.
Convince a GP by all means, but do remember they may recommend you should stop driving as you're unsafe......................I'm smiling because I have no idea what's going on ...:)
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Resurecting this thread to ask advice.
When I had the first eye done, it was just taken for granted I would be long-sighted, and need glasses for reading/close work.
Now a surgeon has suggested that for the second eye he would use a lens that is a little bit short-sighted. He said my distance vision would not be as good but still good enough, and the advantage would be that I could see what was on my plate, see to cook etc, without needing glasses which I otherwise would. Yesterday I agreed to his suggestion but I'm now having serious second thoughts.
I feel I may be better having both eyes the same - ie long-sighted.
It should be less confusing. And my reading glasses could be standard cheap ones if both eyes were the same - but if different, I would need prescription ones. I did an experiment by covering one eye, and felt that with the good-but-longsighted eye, I could see well enough for everything except reading/sewing/computer. I can see to cook/eat, so long as it's not filleting fish!
Has anyone experienced having a deliberately-slightly-shortsighted implant in one eye? And what did you think of it?
I am very afraid of getting this wrong.0 -
I was extremely short-sighted before I had my cataracts done. I really wanted to be able to see in the distance without glasses, but I was not bothered about wearing them for reading, so both lenses were chosen to be slightly long sighted (although it's always a bit of guesswork). A couple of years down the line and I've got one eye now slightly longsighted and the other is slightly short sighted, due to natural eye changes, but all is fine - my brain seems to make the adjustment.
Did you know there is now a varifocal lens replacement available?0 -
My mother had one eye done aged 85, 2 years later we are trying to get the second eye done but both the optician and the doctor say they don't think we will be successful.
Policy in rural Wales is one is enough, even though she frequently loses balance and falls over.
Both say if she lived in Cardiff they would do it without a problem.
No, that is untrue. My husband (lived in Cardiff and died because he fell due to one eye done and other not and broke hip - had other serious morbidities) did not get offered other eye though should have had it done within 3 months of first and was deemed urgent.
Cardiff and Vale see it as cost cutting.0 -
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PennyForThem wrote: »My husband (lived in Cardiff and died because he fell due to one eye done and other not and broke hip - had other serious morbidities) did not get offered other eye though should have had it done within 3 months of first and was deemed urgent.
Cardiff and Vale see it as cost cutting.
So sorry to hear that.
The whole cost-cutting thing about cataracts is outrageous TBH0
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