Elderly father has concerns re cataract surgery - can anyone share their experience?

[SassyLemonFinch]

My 67 year old father is due for double cataract surgery on the NHS in about a month's time, but he's got a lot of misgivings about the outcome and whether or not the new lens will be 'worth' it. Since it's on the NHS the lens will be monofocal, and at the moment he's agreed to have it corrected for distance vision, with glasses required for close up.

To give some context, he's had one cataract for 5 years and the other for about 1-2 years, and since around the beginning of this year, his eyesight has deteriorated a lot, leaving him near-blind and reliant on my (his long-suffering daughter) help.

I won't go into the full details but in short, he's the type of guy who is stubborn to the point of it being detrimental to his health and he has a lot of distrust for doctors, believing they're all shills for big pharma/big tech and are generally incompetent, etc. He was supposed to have a cataract operation 3 years ago but had a bad experience with the surgeon and he basically walked out and the operation didn't take place. And he spent the next few years putting up with having good sight in only one eye, until this year when that eye got worse too. Sight loss has massively impacted his mental health, and he's also dealing with a lot of other age related health issues. He's also got a fear of lying flat for surgery and an inability to stay still, so the surgery will be under general anaesthetic, which makes it much more of a hassle. Plus, the discussion we had with the surgeon was pretty rushed and he wasn't very good at explaining how the new lens works to my dad. Basically, getting him to agree to have an operation at all has been like pulling teeth, and now that we're almost there, he just needs a little more reassurance/convincing that it will indeed be worth it.

So, if anyone here has had cataract surgery, I'd be really grateful if you could share some thoughts/info about your experience and how well you were satisfied with your vision afterwards. My dad's biggest concern is what he thinks of as the 'gap' in vision - i.e., with a lens fixed for distance, close-up stuff will be blurred unless you wear glasses. He doesn't mind wearing glasses but he has extremely high expectations and is pessimistic about the quality of the lens, and I think he's imagining that close-up vision will be much poorer than it actually is. So what I'd like to hear about is people's experience with the monofocal lens and how much of an inconvenience, if any, you find it. My dad had pretty good distance vision before his sight loss and mostly wore glasses for reading the crossword/laptop/working on model trains, so it seems to me that it won't be much of a different situation after his lenses are replaced. But like I said, he has a lot of misgivings and needs a lot of convincing, so any assurances I can pass onto him would be appreciated. Thank you for reading such a long post!

My friend had cataract surgery and the fact that helped her relax about it was learning that it is the most commonly performed surgery so very commonplace.

It was minimum fuss for maximum impact. A funny story really - after years of declining sight she had the operations and immediatly was shocked by the clothes in her wardrobe. Her sight had become so poor she had been buying increasingly bright clothes and, when she could see properly was horrified by them.

My husband is another success story. He was early-70s when he his done (noth, it several weeks apart). He wears glasses only for reading and I, wandering about in varifocals, am quite jealous.

My mum got hers done when she was 92, she was very apprehensive but it worked out fine. Her eyesight improved a lot, she had to have eye drops several times away for the rest of her life (6 years) but she was she got it done, as she said herself, the alternative was slowly going blind.

My dad had his fine at 92!! My 67 year old husband and I still go to the gym 4 times a week. He's not elderly!!

I’m assuming that 67 is a typo, as you describe your DF as ‘elderly’?

The difference in sight was immediate for me, I describe it as like switching from normal TV to HD.

I was worried about the monofocal lens as I was used to varifocal contact lenses but I’ve found it to be fine, only needing glasses for close small type, I’m fine at work with my screens.

I'm in my 50's and had both eyes done this year. It's been transformative. My eyesight was awful, I was on the verge of not being able to drive, terrible halos and double vision and now - near perfect eyesight. I need reading glasses for screens and small print.
Very straightforward surgery, low risk of complications and your vision is corrected almost immediately.

I’m 67 and have had surgery on both eyes. The operation was very quick but as it’s under general anaesthetic that’s not very relevant. The recovery period was short.

mine was on the NHS and they can do a thing where you can have one eye slightly long sighted and the other eye slightly short sighted, so you don’t need any glasses at all

He’s hardly elderly at 67. How ageist.

My mil has had both of hers done recently. She’s 90. She’s absolutely thrilled to be able to appreciate colours again. The procedure was quick, painless and stress free.

Ask your father what his plan is if he doesn’t have the surgery.

How will he cope if he has a fall and injures himself because he can’t see clearly?

What happens if you are not willing or able to care for him in the future?

Is he prepared to move into residential care due to deteriorating eyesight?

This is all hugely reassuring. I am as elderly as your father and having monofocals done in a few weeks, it’s good to hear so many success stories.

Thank you everyone for all your replies! Very helpful. I'll get round to individual comments in a bit but I'd like to first formally apologise for my use of the word 'elderly'.... xD
You are all absolutely right, 67 isn't elderly. In fact, a year ago I didn't consider my dad elderly at all, he's always been very fit for his age. But his recent deterioration of sight, as well as some mobility issues, have left him essentially housebound/not independent, and the mental impact of being basically blind has definitely taken away some of his usual sharpness, plus he's got a lot of other things going on like nerve damage and tinnitus/hearing issues. So I suppose it's more the case that he seems 'elderly' before his time, albeit (hopefully) temporarily. I think as soon as he can see again he'll be almost as spritely as ever. He certainly doesn't consider himself elderly, so he'll be appreciative of everyone's justified indignation, ha ha!

This thread is so helpful , thank you @SassyLemonFinch .

I have a few questions if anyone might be able to help.

My mum is due this procedure.
She has had cataracts for years (she says)

This time she was referred to Moorfields .

During the referral , they were concerned about Glaucoma.

This has now been confirmed.

So she is being seen in the Glaucoma clinic.

They have said she can have the cataract operation but would like the eye pressure to come down. (She is on 2 types of drops.)

Does anyone know if someone who has had a cataract surgery while having Glaucoma ?

And re the cataract...is it best to have it done 1 eye at a time ?

Thanks ...and sorry for so many questions !

I don't know about glaucoma, sorry.

I had 6 weeks between cataract surgeries- that's what this surgeon does. Another private provider offered both at once. It allows eye 1 to heal, and ensures there are no issues. The bit between surgeries was probably the most difficult as my glasses didn't work. I had one lens removed from the frames which helped. After eye 2 and before getting new specs ( with a hugely reduced prescription- no more " thin and light" lenses for me, I bought some cheap reading glasses. I probably would have got away with them permanently.

When one eye was done I spent many happy times winking at things and noting the amazing colour difference. I didn't realise quite how yellow my world had become!

@FuzzyPuffling YY to the constant winking and marvelling at how great it is to see things!

@SassyLemonFinch I think you're right that this is causing knock on effects in the rest of his life. I was just about managing at work using screens with my nose inches away prior to the ops, but had to be escorted to the car (NOT driving) after work because I was so bad in the dark, especially with the glare from lights. I was falling over a lot and had no confidence on stairs. It is debilitating and will only get worse for him as it develops further, especially with his other issues.

I had mine done 3 years ago, at the same age as your father. Being severely myopic, I had them done together under GA. The difference was incredible. I chose to have distance vision, as I was used to wearing glasses; so using them for reading was no problem. The NHS only supplies mono-focus lenses, for either distance or reading. Could he or you afford to go private, so that he could have multi-focus lenses?
Uricon2; The clock on the wall was the first thing I noticed too! It's great waking up in the morning and not having to fumble for my glasses.

Both my parents have had them done and it has dramatically improved their eyesight. DF could barely see out if his left eye, couldn’t read or drive, kept walking into things. After having it done he is back to normal.

Both said it was painless and easy to have done. They would definitely recommend it.

I had the operation about a month ago, so am still doing the eye drops at present. I didn't realise how not being able to see clearly is in fact slightly disabling, despite being a very active person in general. The opthamologist at the opticians told me that without surgery by the winter I would be borderline for driving, so I was keen to have it done.

I had mine done at a specialist clinic that has an NHS contract and they were incredibly thorough prior to the operation. It was deferred because I had an eye infection due to blepharitis which had to be completely cleared up first. Also prone to uveitis which is an inflammation of the inner eye which could have complicated the outcome. To counteract that my eye drop regime was adapted accordingly.

I am a pretty nervy person so asked for a mild sedative - they gave me diazepam - which absolutely took the edge off. They do these operations day-in, day-out and it was so straightforward. You just see loads of very bright lights and some flushing out of the eye. They put an eye shield over the eye, which you then remove the next morning when you start the eye drops.

What a difference! I now no longer need varifocal glasses. Just reading glasses. Just had my post operative checkup at the opticians, and all is well.

My confidence when walking out and about is so improved, it's amazing!!!! And how different the colours are - as a keen gardener who grows lots of my own plants I really appreciate the difference.

I was apprehensive beforehand, but honestly it has been the best thing ever. I do hope your dad will decide to have the operation, it will help his mobility. I certainly didn't realise how disabling not seeing clearly is, as it kind of just develops with time and so you sort of get used to it. But you don't have to!!!!

Cataract surgery is actually very common for people who have glaucoma and actually removing the lens can open up the drainage channel in the eye and make the eye pressure come down. They can also do another procedure which can make you less reliant on eye drops for glaucoma too, but you need to have a cataract done first.

@SassyLemonFinch It is a very straightforward procedure and if your father has poor vision now, his vision will be significantly better afterwards than it is now. He will just need the glasses for reading, exactly as he did before.

The other thing to tell him, is that the cataracts will just keep getting worst and the ultimate worst case scenario if he doesn't get them removed is that they become hyper mature and start leaking, which can then cause glaucoma and uveitis (which is an inflammation at the front of the eye). It several years for this to happen and most people who have had them removed several years before then, but it is something to consider.

Mum and Dad both had theirs done in their 90s. They're in Ireland so not NHS but I think they got similar lenses for distance vision. Mum's was a great success, her vision is great now but she does need reading glasses. One of Dad's new lenses slipped a little bit so still needs varifocals to make up for that.in 1 eye. But he actually prefers having glasses on all the time rather than having to reach for the reading glasses. I think the lens slipped because the pocket it sits in was a bit stretched due to age. They are both delighted they got it done.

Cataract surgery is so exciting - had mine done at 46 (that made me feel elderly having one!) Restores sight and colour is amazing. If he hasnt got someone to do eyedrops get an eye drop dispenser - its hard to do solo

My mum just breezed through hers and she’s 82.

I had mine done about 18 months ago. I was scared too but my lack of vision was getting problematic.

The worst thing as the anaesthetic eye drops, but then I have sensitive eyes. The actual op shows random bright colours, and at one point I had what can best be described as multi colour snowflakes in my vision.

It's definitely worth having.

I had mine done at 63. Best thing ever. One eye for distance, one for reading. Life changing.
No issues at all.
PS. 67 isn’t elderly!!

It’s the most performed surgery in the world. The level of risk is EXTREMELY low (but not non-existent).

I speak to Px every single day at work that say ‘I don’t know what I was so worried about!’ And then remark about how quick and easy it was.

@SwedishEdith The op explained this comment about age. Appearing elderly! Fair enough really. I’m older and it doesn’t offend me. Lots of people seem elderly at 67.

I have had one cataract done following an epiretinal membrane operation. Easy on comparison to the first op! My cataract was fairly new though and therefore not noticeable when compared to the membrane pucker.