Wednesday 5 October 2022

05/10/22 Cataracts


(copy of a FaceBook post on the Myeloma Support UK group that I help to run)

My cataracts, which I had assessed for surgery nearly three years ago, have worsened substantially over the last few months. Back then the decision was not to go for surgery as they weren't quite bad enough and because I was told there was an increased risk of complications or failure because of my myeloma, which was active at the time. I asked my haematologist about that during a consultation a couple of days ago and he saw no reason at all for any myeloma complications. I had the cataracts assessed again today at Optical Express and am now anticipating surgery in six to eight weeks. No concerns about myeloma! Next week I'm seeing another specialist at my local private hospital where I have my cancer treatment, and we'll compare with what he has to say before deciding which way to go. Unfortunately the NHS, with a waiting time of over two years and only basic monofocal lenses, is not an option. I've been told to stop driving until my vision is fixed, and the idea of being off the road for that long is not one i would be happy about!

I asked this morning's cataract expert for any ideas as to why the cataracts have worsened so much recently and he immediately asked if I had been on steroids. Apparently the patterns he could see in my cataracts are strongly associated with steroids. Of course I have been on dex for a long time, but came off it in January. That's a bit of a gap until they started "visibly" getting worse about three months ago, but not impossible.


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