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 dad had it done, but I did not realise he would need drops in his eyes for at least 2 weeks afterwards, 4 times a day.

nobody told me this beforehand and this was a massive issue as I don’t live near him and and could not be there 4 times a day or even once a day to do this!!

Surgery, not a bother, but be mindful of the aftercare as I was not aware of this at all.

Yoyr dad is just nervous. It’s normal. Good luck x

Elderly? He’s not elderly!
But that aside, everyone I know who has had cataract surgery says it was simple, straightforward and the results were excellent.

I had mine done at 64 (so not quite elderly ) and honestly its life changing. I didn't even know id got them, just crappy eyesight getting worse. I've worn glasses full time for about 15 years. I don't any longer. Yes its a pain needing glasses for close work, but its so liberating not wearing them full time. Its a weird sensation but very quick. The first few days when everything is in technicolor is amazing.

I had mine done in my 50s.

i was very short sighted before and chose to have single vision (NHS) replacement lenses that gave me distance vision. Such a game changer to be able to see my face in the mirror without glasses. Swim and run without glasses.

I had mine done 3 months apart and had reading glasses off the shelf from boots and popped out the lens from the eye that wasn’t done yet and nice versa with my normal glasses.

once both had been done I got varifocals and now have full vision through close to far and with much thinner and cheaper lenses than when I was short sighted.

My dear Mother had both hers done a couple of months apart, she was extremely elderly though at 96!
Hers were done under a local as a day patient and although she sadly died fairly soon after having the second one done ( not related at all to the cataract surgery) they made a massive difference to her quality of life. She was a great reader and loved the Daily Telegraph crossword and was so pleased to be able to see to do it again.
One of my sisters stayed with her for the first night both times just for reassurance, she had two lots of eyedrops so we set up an alarm on her mobile phone to remind her and she went to the hairdresser to have her hair washed for the first couple of weeks but apart from that carried on as normal.
There are always extra risks involved having a general anaesthetic and his recovery time will be longer too. I’m sure Mum didn’t lie flat for her procedures and it isn’t a lengthy surgery.
I do agree with others though, if he is really anti the idea he isn’t going to make a good patient and is sadly going to find fault with whatever they do.

Exactly my experience. It’s easier than having a tooth filled.

I even got to choose what music i wanted to listen to during my ops.

My 89 year old Dad had both his eyes done and is very happy

Had mine done in my fifties. I was very short sighted before. Had worn glasses since I was 7. It was like a miracle afterwards. I could see for the first time in 50 years! I had each eye done separately about 2/3 weeks apart. I had sedation and can’t remember anything about it. Much better than a GA.
My left eye was done for reading and right eye for distance. I was already wearing contact lenses doing this anyway so didn’t need to get used to it.
I basically went from cataracts with eyesight of -13 to being able to see distance and reading. Bloody best thing I’ve ever done!

My mum had this on both eyes, about five years apart. She chose the one where she needs glasses for close up also. It's improved that type of vision a lot. The recovery was straightforward. I think on the first one the surgeon was a bit rough as she had a bruise. But I'd say it's definitely worth it. She was late 70s.

My DH had his done and has had no issues. I dropped him off, came home and had just made myself a cuppa when I got the call to go back and pick him up. It was quick, painless but slightly uncomfortable and has been very effective.

(Oops, just made a general post that was meant to be a reply to a specific user... bare with me, I'm new to Mumsnet 😭)

I thought that too.

Sometimes you need some laser treatment after a cataract op but generally speaking it is very straight-forward. I have to say I would not like the idea of it but my mum has had both eyes done and said it was utterly painless. The bigger issue is making sure you are very strict with the aftercare.

How old was he, couldn't he put the drops in himself?

My Mother had two lots of eye drops - antibiotics and steroids. Can't remember which one it was but one was quite difficult to actually get the drops out, the bottle/dispenser was stiff to squeeze, especially with arthritic hands

My dad had it done in his early 80s, I am still not used to seeing him in the thick glasses he has worn since he was 6. Just uses glasses for driving now, he was happy with the whole procedure and managed his aftercare himself.

Glad to hear your surgery was so successful!

Since you also have distance lenses, can I ask some specific questions about your experience? My dad seems very hung up about the fact that close-up vision will be blurred, and I think he's concerned that putting close-up glasses on will then make the distance vision blurry - he doesn't want an either-or situation. I think what he's looking to hear is: with distance lenses, after putting a pair of reading glasses on, can you see "everything" i.e. close AND far?

And also, how severely blurred is your close-up vision? I think my dad is concerned about waking up and having massively blurred vision close up to the extent he won't be able to find his way out of the hospital, which seems extremely unlikely. I've been telling him that it'll be similar to how his vision was naturally before, e.g. basically nearsighted, would put his readers on to read the crossword, shopping list, computer etc but without any glasses he could find his way around just fine. But I think he's been without sight for so long that he's struggling to picture what his vision with the distance lens will be like. (Plus, and I should have mentioned this in the original post, he's getting both eyes done on the same day, so that adds to his anxiety about the immediate aftermath.)
So anyway, I wonder if you could you give a basic summary of what you could see immediately after the surgery, and also your vision in general with and without glasses ever since? Thank you so much!

Oh wow, I'm glad to hear you had a positive experience. It's interesting you also had a GA and both done at the same time. Originally my dad was planning to have them separately but I think surgeons don't like to risk doing a GA twice so they strongly advised both doing at once.

We did consider private options, which would have been partly funded by my much richer siblings, but we were sort of in the process of waiting for NHS appointments at the same time, plus my Dad kept wavering for so long that we've reached a point where the NHS operation is in 2 weeks time and there's not much sense delaying it to consider private.

I've read that multifocal lenses, while brilliant in theory, tend to give some glare/halos and possibly they're a fraction less sharp? So trading off glasses reliance for some slight imperfections in vision. My dad doesn't mind wearing glasses because he has done previously for close-up things and I think he'd rather have glasses reliance and better overall sharpness/stability of vision.

However I think he's overly concerned about the extent to which close-up vision is blurred. He has the idea that without any glasses, everything from roughly naught to six feet will be a total blur, but the distance further than six feet will be clear. To be honest, I'm struggling to understand exactly what his problem is and how exactly to reassure him that it won't be like he's imagining.

Would you say that your experience of monofocal distance lenses basically matches what a naturally mildly near-sighted person would see i.e. without glasses you can see from 0-infinite distance with enough clarity to get around, get out of bed, go to the bathroom, read signs, cross the road, everything - and that when you put on a pair of readers, you're basically just using them to sharpen the small details? And do you find yourself taking off the readers to look at something in the distance, or is it the case that wearing glasses means you can see both distant AND close-up objects in focus?

Thank you very much!!

I have varifocal specs post op, which makes all my vision crystal clear.
The prescription is very much less than pre op, when I needed to pay extra for very thin lenses. I've worn glasses since I was 3 (measles did for my eyesight) and actually felt odd without them. But I can now go without glasses for a lot of things- first thing in the morning, when it's raining, if they don't go with a posh frock...!

Please tell your dad having his cataracts done will improve his life like you won't believe. And the operation itself was less effort than going to the dentist!

I had mine done separately and not under GA, just had eye drops put in when I arrived and waited an hour or two for op. When I left the hospital I had a plastic eye protector over the eye that had been operated on, was supposed to be kept on overnight and just removed for putting in eye drops. I could sleep ok as just slept with other eye on pillow, may have found it more difficult if had both eyes done together. I can honestly say my close up vision was exactly the same after the op in that I needed glasses for reading but general vision was not blurred. I think the advice was wait for 3 months and then have eyes retested as may need new prescription but I left it until after I'd had the second op as didn't notice any significant change in close up vision.

I would strongly recommend your dad to go for it, the results were almost instant and I feel much more confident driving, especially at night.

I had mine in one eye about 3 years ago.

Was like being on an LSD trip, colours all over the place.

It did the trick. Eyesight perfect now.

Watching with interest as my dad has been told he has them this year. Luckily he stopped driving a few years back as he suspected he wasn't quite right but the opticians seemed to not notice it back then.

I don't think he has been to the doctor in about 10 years - did the optician sort out the NHS side of things or did your father go to the Dr about it? Just wondering if I should be trying to push him to get an op as he lives alone and wants to stay that way as long as possible.

DM had her done earlier this year, at 82, and the difference is astonishing. She was considering giving up driving due to poor sight, but no longer (she’s had an eye test too, all good). She’s very pleased with the results. She had her eyes done about 6 weeks apart.

67 = elderly. Heaven help us.
My Mum had it done at about that age. It was very successful.
My FIL had it done at a much later age. Both eyes, consecutively. Also very successful.

SassyLemonFinch; I chose distance lenses, but I can see well for everyday living. I do need the glasses for reading. Watching TV is clearer without them, but I can see it with them on.
FuzzyPuffling; I wore glasses from the age of 6 for exactly the same* reason as you! I love *not wearing glasses on rainy days (thought it took me a while to stop shielding my non-existent glasses from the rain.