My poor uncle

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Steff

Steff

Little Miss Chatterbox
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
My uncle sees his DSN 2 times a week but this week he had an appointment at sunderland hospital for his eyes,he has been told that they have detireated (sp?) badly and the only option now is laser eye surgery,if that does not work he joked he will need a white stick, my dad has took the news badly as he is currently stopping with me and is worrying himself silly i dont know what to say to him to calm him i think id be the same, he is 5 years younger then my dad my uncle is and diabetes has not been kind to him even though he is good with control.My uncles best freind has just came out of hospital after having toes removed through gout and this has made him even more upset,i hate not living down the road i want to be there more but cant...😡
 
Hi Steffie, please reassure your Uncle (and your Dad!) that, whilst it's certainly not the best news, laser eye surgery can be very successful so he may have quite a few years yet to wait for that white stick 🙂 Many of our members have had lasering and have retained their sight for many years without further deterioration. From what I can gather, it is uncomfortable to have it done, but not half as bad as you might expect from the sound of it.
 
realy sorry to hear the bad news about your uncle steffie hun xxx
 
Steffie, as Northerner says laser surgery has a high success rate at delaying and preventing further damage to the eyes and it's far to early to get the white stick on order. Just try to reassure your dad and uncle that all is not lost and many diabetics have laser surgery and on to lead normal lives without any visual impairment.
 
I hope that your Uncle's laser eye surgery goes well!

It has to be good news that they're operating, because if there was no hope, they wouldn't bother would they?

Andy 🙂
 
I hope it's just a minor blip from his recent control problems and that it will help him to see the importance of keeping up his meds. I'm pleased he's been able to turn things round with your help and, in theory, he should be able to keep fit and healthy for many years.

Rob
 
Sorry to hear about your uncle Steff but he seems to be coping as well as he can, not so sure I'd be the same in his position. All you can do for your dad is provide reassurance and a bit of TLC am sure once he sees that your uncle is doing ok he'll calm down. Hope all goes well for your uncle, love, Shirl x
 
Hi Steffie

I'm sorry to hear about your uncle. It is very scary when something happens to your eyesight - I'm sure that the laser will work and if it doesn't there are often other options available as well. From my reading people often have at least some useful sight and the trick is to maximise using that. There are lots of aids available - mainly relating to magnification, light and items that can speak to you rather than being read. There are two sites that I have found particularly helpful for finding out about the equipment that is available - www.rnib.org.uk AND www.humanware.com as well as other online sites. Hopefully your uncle will retain sufficient sight and not need additional help from equipment but most of it is relatively easy to use. I hope this helps.
 
sorry to hear about your uncle Steffie, I hope you can find some way to reasure and comfort your father
 
Thank you all for your kind replies/comments I will be sure to pass on the info you gave AJ x
 
Steph,
I've had 3 sessions of laser and my eyes are now 'fine'. I get checked every 6 months to keep an eye on things (pardon the pun) and have had no ill effects. I only need glasses for driving - nothing else.
 
Alan221 said:
Steph,
I've had 3 sessions of laser and my eyes are now 'fine'. I get checked every 6 months to keep an eye on things (pardon the pun) and have had no ill effects. I only need glasses for driving - nothing else.
Click to expand...

Thanks Alan,my uncle kind of has the opinion glass always half empty, but i think he is learning that with diabetes anything can happen good or bad.
 
Sorry to hear about your uncle Steffie, and your dad's concern as well. I've had some laser treatment and whilst it's not the best fun in the whole world, it's bearable and I've been ok so far 12 months on. Pass on my best wishes.xx
 
Hi Steffie,

Just to confirm what Northerner said - I first had laser eye surgery a year or two ago, things then stabilised and the only reason I needed more was because I had another pregnancy (which can accelerate proliferative retinopathy). Although the lasering isn't fun, it's not as awful as it sounds - it takes a bit of getting used to, but doesn't take that long & has from memory over a 90% success rate - they like to 'get in early' as it were to preserve as much vision as possible. I've had a relatively large amount of lasering & still scored 100% on the visual field test earlier this year - I guess no need to stock up on the dog food just yet hopefully! 🙂 I know it can seem really scary (it terrified me when they first said I needed lasering) but it's not necessary a sign that all is done for on the vision front - and from the sounds of it, you're helping him get good control, which is really great news as that will help stop things getting worse - nice one! 🙂

Take care,

Twitchy x
 
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