My dad is in the advanced stage of Alzheimer's but still has a good quality of life at home/day care and is very physically fit. He's worn glasses all his life but now we're told he can't have new ones because he has cateracts.
He's referred to the hospital. They first lose any record of the referral and then put him on a year long waiting list. Finally he's given an appointment. They won't do anything till he's had an eye test. Dad doesn't know what they are on about when they ask him to read the letters out - they show him bigger and bigger ones. He can see them, but he doesn't understand the question, let alone what the concept of 'letter' is or what its name might be. Mum attempts to explain this to the assembled experts and nurse. The opthalmologist chap gets annoyed, cos he's not got any bigger letters. Mum gets annoyed, Dad gets agitated. So finally a consultant is called, who looks in dad's eyes and declares that there are indeed cateracts and they are ripe for operating. Everyone is in an agitated state by now and the consultant says he could operate but 'only if Mum really wants to put him through it', giving no indication of what that realistically means. Mum replies that she doesn't want him blind either, and no one will even prescribe glasses because of the cateracts. Vicious circle.
Does anyone have any personal experiences of going through a cateract operation on someone with Advanced Alzheimers?
He's referred to the hospital. They first lose any record of the referral and then put him on a year long waiting list. Finally he's given an appointment. They won't do anything till he's had an eye test. Dad doesn't know what they are on about when they ask him to read the letters out - they show him bigger and bigger ones. He can see them, but he doesn't understand the question, let alone what the concept of 'letter' is or what its name might be. Mum attempts to explain this to the assembled experts and nurse. The opthalmologist chap gets annoyed, cos he's not got any bigger letters. Mum gets annoyed, Dad gets agitated. So finally a consultant is called, who looks in dad's eyes and declares that there are indeed cateracts and they are ripe for operating. Everyone is in an agitated state by now and the consultant says he could operate but 'only if Mum really wants to put him through it', giving no indication of what that realistically means. Mum replies that she doesn't want him blind either, and no one will even prescribe glasses because of the cateracts. Vicious circle.
Does anyone have any personal experiences of going through a cateract operation on someone with Advanced Alzheimers?