Mom needs eye surgery

Txrmom92

Hi, I’m new here. My sister and I are caring for my mom, who lives in assisted living. Her cognitive decline seems to have sped up in the past 2 months. Now, she has a hole in her macula and needs surgery to repair it. I think she’ll be ok with the surgery itself but not with the requirement to stay face down for five days afterwards. Has anyone experienced this? Have any advice? Thanks.

SusanB-dil

Hi Txrmom - welcome to 'here', but sorry for the reason.

A couple things come to mind on this. Is it going to be general anesthesia, or local? And whether she can do what is required may depend on what stage she is in.

A similar subject has come up on here as far as cataract surgery. Although their LO may have tolerated the surgery well enough, there would have been no way they could have handled the prep beforehand, nor the care required afterward, including not rubbing or touching the eyes.

And if it is to be general anesthesia, she would normally have to be in very early stages in order to counter the after-effects of that.

You could check with her doctor to see just how strict the usual aftercare absolutely needs to be adhered to. Would there be someone to keep her in adherence whenever she would be awake? Would she be able to leave her eye alone long enough for it to heal well enough? Just something to consider...

harshedbuzz

My dad had an eye surgery after a failed retinal reattachment that required face-down for a similar period. He did eventually develop mixed dementia, but this was before symptoms. He was very motivated to do what was necessary for a good result and was compliant (and miserable).

Are you and your sister able to be with her 24/7 to keep her in a prone position? Is mom generally easy going or can she be combative?

The things I would consider in addition to mom's age and the stage of her dementia are the success rate of the procedure (dad's was something of a Hail Mary which he understood) and what "success" looks like. Dad went in thinking success was complete restoration of his vision in that eye which would allow him to enjoy golf again, but the surgeon's definition of success was the ability to see light/shadow and movement.

HB

SHW_HELP

My mom was diagnosed with macular holes in both eyes last year. The retinal surgeon said that the surgery may help, but that the condition also isn't going to get any worse. With that said, with the requirements to be face down (impossible) for 5-7 days and with the risks of worsening the dementia symptoms with the general anesthesia, I/we opted not to pursue the surgery.

With that said, this diagnosis has helped justify the dreaded "you can't drive" discussion. Both the PCP and ophthalmologist have put this on record. I call this a Godsend because otherwise I'm not sure I would have been able to take her keys. She still has the keys, but the battery is dead :-) For that I am thankful.

Good luck. I hope it all turns out well for you.

ALCB

Hello, and welcome to the forum. Research the hospital well. My grandmother had a macular hole, had to get surgery at a local hospital during COVID, brain oxygen got too low and she's never been the same since. That's when I first started noticing her signs of Alzheimer's. That said, she then had to get another eye surgery because it was unsuccessful and chose to do it at a better hospital, and had no side effects (I forget the name of the hospital—sorry!). As I mentioned before my grandmother showed no signs of dementia when she got the surgery so I can't help much, but we got her a massage chair and put a iPad underneath so she could watch shows with 1 eye. With my grandmother, they let her sit up for 5 minutes every 20, so she could get some breaks.

Wish you both the best of luck.