My granny is 75 and needs cataract surgery, but she’s scared to get it done. She says she doesn’t want to go into hospital.
Your granny is thinking of the way cataract surgery was done when she was a girl! Nowadays, there is no hospitalization required for cataract surgery. It’s done on an outpatient basis in most cases. If your ophthalmologist is concerned about other health issues you may have, you may be asked to stay overnight. You arrive at the surgical centre, and leave within a few hours. As well, you are just given an injection to numb the eye and you are awake during the whole procedure. In fact, some ophthalmologists who use a technique called phacoemulsification use only topical drops, not injections. Some light sedation may be given if the surgeon feels it necessary. The actual procedure usually takes 20-30 minutes only.
What can we do to convince her to get it done?
Granny is not going to do it unless she feels comfortable doing it, so you have to try to figure out what is making her afraid and deal with it. Explain the procedure to her and have the ophthalmologist spend some time to explain to her what will be done. Explain that cataract surgery has the highest success rate of all elective (non-urgent) procedures.
What you have to discuss with granny is this – obviously the cataract has advanced enough that it is affecting her vision and her ability to see clearly is now much worse than before. If she does not get the surgery, it may progress to the point where she may not see anything out of that eye. When this happens, she is more likely to trip over something, and fall, and at her age, that will lead to more complications.
She is also worried because she lives alone and will have nobody to help her for the couple of weeks it takes for the eye to heal.
Patients are often under the misconception that you cannot do a lot of things after surgery, like cooking in front of a hot stove, etc. The most important thing is that the eye should not be rubbed, or pressure placed on the eyelid. Some surgeons give patients an eye shield to place over the eye at night for the first week. She will have to put drops in her eye, sometimes up to 4 times a day. If she is capable of doing this herself, great. If not, you will have to make arrangements for someone to do this for her, like a family member, or a neighbour. She can do almost anything else for herself, except she should not bend down and lift anything heavy. There is no problem with her doing her own cooking. Reading, watching TV, sewing – none of these will ‘strain’ the eye or prevent it from healing. The surgeon will advise (and sometimes supply) sun shades with side shields. And she will be pleasantly surprised how clearly she will be seeing.
