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Planning cataract surgery for an elderly parent: what should the family know?

Many Goan families arrange a parent's cataract surgery from a distance: a son in Mumbai, a daughter in Bengaluru or Pune, children working in the Gulf or Europe, while the parents live in Vasco, Margao or a village nearby. Other families come from across the border, from Karwar, Belagavi or Sindhudurg. This checklist helps you plan, step by step. For what the surgery involves, see cataract surgery in Vasco, Goa.

Step 1: the first check-up

Elderly parents often play down their symptoms. Before the visit, ask them, or watch for yourself:

• Do they still read the newspaper, use the phone and watch TV comfortably?
• Have they stumbled on steps, or stopped going out in the evening?
• Do they complain of glare, or say colours look dull?

At the check-up, our eye surgeon examines both eyes, checks the eye pressure and looks at the retina after dilating drops. If someone in the family can come, it helps to have a second pair of ears. Bring their spectacles, old eye reports, a list of all their medicines, and recent sugar and BP reports. Dilating drops blur vision for a few hours, so your parent should not drive home.

Step 2: the decisions

If surgery is advised, the surgeon explains the method (phaco or SICS), the lens types that suit the eye, the date and the fee. Decide together, and let your parent's own wishes lead: how they spend their day, whether they read a lot, whether glasses bother them. Read choosing a lens for cataract surgery before the visit, so you know what to ask. Ask also how many visits the plan needs, so they can be fitted around your travel.

Step 3: health before surgery

• Sugar and blood pressure should be steady in the weeks before.
• Medicines should be continued unless the doctor says otherwise. If your parent takes blood thinners, tell the surgeon, and never stop them without their physician's advice.
• Lying flat: tell the team if your parent has back pain, breathlessness or a cough that makes lying flat for half an hour difficult.
• Hearing: if your parent uses a hearing aid, ask whether they can keep it in, so they can hear instructions.
• A fitness note from their physician may be asked for if they have heart, lung or other health problems.

Step 4: the surgery day

• One adult should come and stay for the whole visit, which takes a few hours.
• Your parent should eat a light meal and take their usual medicines unless told otherwise.
• Dress them in loose clothes that open at the front; no jewellery, kajal or face cream.
• ReNew Vision is on the 2nd floor of the Pai Hospital building in Vaddem. If your parent uses a wheelchair or walker, or finds stairs hard, tell us when you book so that the visit can be planned.

Step 5: the first weeks at home

• Eye drops: usually several drops a day for some weeks, often reducing week by week. Decide who will put them in: a family member, a neighbour or a home nurse. A written chart with tick boxes helps. If you are away, a video call at drop time lets you check.
• The shield: at night for about the first week, so the eye is not rubbed in sleep.
• Preventing falls: clear the floor of clutter, keep a night light on the way to the bathroom, use slippers with a good grip and a non-slip bathroom mat.
• Avoid: bending low, lifting heavy things, smoke from cooking or firecrackers, dust, and water or soap in the eye.
• Grandchildren: gentle hugs only; small hands can poke an eye.

TV, the radio and the phone are fine. Prayers at home are fine; for church or temple, avoid crowds and dust in the first days.

Step 6: follow-ups, the second eye and new spectacles

The first check is usually the next day or soon after, with more over the following weeks. If both eyes have cataract, the second is usually operated once the first has settled; read the gap between surgery on both eyes. New spectacles are usually made a few weeks after surgery, once the eyes have settled, and our Vision Correction Centre in the same hospital can make them.

Coming from another town

From Margao, Panjim, Ponda or Mapusa, most families come by road for each visit. From further away, such as Karwar, Belagavi, Sawantwadi or Dodamarg, it helps to stay near Vasco for the night after surgery, so that the next check is easy. Vasco is close to Dabolim airport and has its own railway station, which helps family flying or travelling in. In the monsoon, allow extra time for travel; see cataract surgery in the rainy season. Directions and timings are on visit us.

The eye OPD is open Monday to Saturday, 4 pm to 7 pm; Sunday OPD is closed. Air travel is usually allowed after cataract surgery, but ask the surgeon before booking your parent's flight.

Warning signs to watch for

Call at once, day or night, if your parent has increasing pain, worsening vision, increasing redness, sticky discharge, flashes of light or a shadow over their vision. Emergency eye care at ReNew Vision is available 24 hours on 072489 88039; see eye emergency.

A short checklist to save

• Spectacles, eye reports, medicine list, sugar and BP reports
• An adult escort for the check-up and the surgery day
• Someone to put in the drops, and a drop chart
• Night shield, dark glasses, clean towels
• Dates of all follow-up visits, written down
• Our number saved: 072489 88039

Questions patients ask

How many visits does cataract surgery need?

Usually several: the check-up and lens power test, the surgery day, a check soon after (often the next day) and a few follow-ups over the next weeks. Ask when you call, so the visits can be planned around your travel.

Does someone need to stay with my parent after cataract surgery?

An adult should come on the surgery day and take your parent home. For the first few days it helps if someone is at home to help with drops, meals and moving around safely.

Can my parent fly after cataract surgery?

Air travel is usually allowed after cataract surgery, but ask the surgeon before booking, ideally after the first check. Carry the eye drops in hand luggage.

Who should put the eye drops for my parent?

Anyone careful and patient: a family member, a neighbour or a home nurse. Show them how, keep a written chart, and make sure hands are washed and the bottle tip does not touch the eye.

Can my parent have cataract surgery with diabetes or heart disease?

Often, yes, with careful planning. Their sugar and blood pressure should be steady, and the surgeon may ask for a fitness note from their physician.

This page is general eye-health information, not personal medical advice. Your eye doctor advises you after examining your eyes.