I am currently waiting for an appointment forCataract removal.

[pooroldjoe]

I am currently waiting for an appointment for cataract removal. My Consultant has marked it as †œUrgent - within 3 monthsââ‚Ã⠀šÃ‚¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ÂÂ�( 3 months- Urgent?) However I am now into the third month with no indication of a possible date. I am now thinking of going Private and wonder if anybody could give me an idea of the sort of costs involved.
TIA
Joe

[Chimaera]

Why should you have to spend out your hard earned cash for something like this? That's unfair. Have you tried asking your GP to chase it up, or try the appointments department at the hospital, ask them if the appointment has been sent out yet, they may be able to give you some indication of how long it will be. The same thing happened to my Mum a few months back when she didn't hear anything from the hospital - it turned out the letter had got lost in the post and the appointment was actually for the following week.

Actually I've just found this:
http://www.privatehealth.co.uk/hospitaltreatment/whatdoesitcost/cataract-removal
It says on there that it can cost anything from £1,500 - £4,900. There's also a link on there where you can get a quote for treatment too.

[Bex]

I am currently waiting for an appointment for cataract removal. My Consultant has marked it as †œUrgent - within 3 monthsââ‚Ã⠀šÃ‚¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ÂÂ�( 3 months- Urgent?) However I am now into the third month with no indication of a possible date. I am now thinking of going Private and wonder if anybody could give me an idea of the sort of costs involved.
TIA
Joe

as chim said i would probably chase up the GP or speak to your consultant. going private is pretty expensive, but it does depend which private hospital you choose to go to. do you have private medical insurance?

[Stuart]

As Chi says, get your GP to chase the appointment. They (both GP and the department issuing appointments) need to be chased.

I don't know what it is like in your area, but in Bromley, when I had my cataract removed, the waiting list for the op under an General Anaesthetic was over 12 months. The waiting list for a local was well under twelve months. Note: Not all consultants do the op under local.

See http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/articles/article.aspx?articleId=90 for some excellent information on the condition and op.

[Nidge]

Why should you have to spend out your hard earned cash for something like this? That's unfair. Have you tried asking your GP to chase it up, or try the appointments department at the hospital, ask them if the appointment has been sent out yet, they may be able to give you some indication of how long it will be. The same thing happened to my Mum a few months back when she didn't hear anything from the hospital - it turned out the letter had got lost in the post and the appointment was actually for the following week.

Actually I've just found this:
http://www.privatehealth.co.uk/hospitaltreatment/whatdoesitcost/cataract-removal
It says on there that it can cost anything from £1,500 - £4,900. There's also a link on there where you can get a quote for treatment too.

Well said, my mother had a knee replacement 4 years ago, when the surgeon said there is a waiting list my late father said we'll pay for it, magically the surgeon said we can get you in tomorrow if you pay private, my mum was having non of it, she said to my dad we've worked all our lifes and paid into the system "we are not paying for this" she said I'll wait. After many interventions by my mothers doctor she got it done within 3 months.

[pooroldjoe]

Thank you all for your replies. Believe you me I am hounding everybody in range at frequent intervals.
Joe

[Russ]

Cataracts for you too huh? Had my pair for 18 months, they're not causing me any trouble...yet! Good old NHS, my waiting list is 12 months...

[Jules]

I must have been lucky from being told I had them to having the first one done was about 8 weeks.

Good luck Joe hang on in there it is worth it in the end

[etccarmageddon]

I thought this was only something that needs to be done when you're a pensioner? I thought it would be extremely unusual for someone in their 30s.

2 mods in their 30s having it done... hmm does mod work do your cateracts in?

[Stuart]

I was told by my GP that generally, cateracts affect either the very young or very old. However, they don't currently know how fast they grow (it's entirely possible I was born with them, and they just took all this time to grow). It's possibly the same for Russ.

[Xaccers]

Met a pensioner in the CAB who's cataract operation was being held up because she needed to phone a clinic for an appointment, but couldn't see well enough to be able to write down any information given to her over the phone.
Her GP wouldn't do it for her, the reception staff refused as well, and told her to go to the CAB to get them to do it for her!

[Russ]

I thought this was only something that needs to be done when you're a pensioner? I thought it would be extremely unusual for someone in their 30s.

2 mods in their 30s having it done... hmm does mod work do your cateracts in?

In the 18 months since mine were diagnosed, they haven't changed one bit which apparently is also very rare. My quack is working on the theory that I have an underlying condition which is causing them.

[Chimaera]

My youngest sister has both of hers operated on before she was 40 - but she's been diabetic since she was 10. Apparently it can be a complication of diabetes :shrug:

[Russ]

My mother is diabetic - the plot thickens...

[Stuart]

Yet I am not diabetic (I requested a test from the GP)...

[Chimaera]

I think it's more a complication of long-term diabetes, rather than missed diabetes or recently diagnosed. My sister had been diabetic for almost 30 years by the time she had them removed - and it has to be said, she could certainly take better care of herself. Constant take-away meals, chain smoking and not bothering to keep hospital and doctor's appointments have certainly not helped things, I'm sure.

[Stuart]

I'm just saying it confused my GP, as according to him, you are either born with them (which is the most likely in my case), they are caused by diabetes (which is why I asked to be tested) or they are caused by age (and I'm not *that* old).

Having said that, diabetes diagnosis is apparently not an exact science. My cousin had several positive tests for diabetes , then two more tests came back negative.

[Jules]

Certain medication can cause them as well, in my case no one knows why I got them or why they developed so fast it was just one of those things

[pooroldjoe]

UPDATE
Today I got a phonecall giving me an appointment in four weeks time.
Coincidence - or the power of Cable Forum!;)
Joe

[Chimaera]

Excellent news Joe! Shall I put the voodoo dolls away now? ;)

[Jules]

Great news Joe let us know how it goes :tu:

[Salu]

Cataracts caused by diabetes are only really prevalent in insulin dependant diabetics and I've known them to develop in days in poorly controlled ones. NIDDMs (non insulin dependant diabetics) don't really develop diabetic cataracts but do tend to develop senile cataracts a decade earlier or so than non diabetics.

You can get cataracts for other reasons too. You can be born with them, have a traumatic blow to the eye, German measles can cause them and certain drugs can cause them too.

To my knowledge although recognised that cataracts can develop at any tim e of life, there is little known about why this happens.

[pooroldjoe]

UPDATE TWO
Well the deed has been done. I had the operation Monday (July 3) and vision has been restored to one eye.
I really cannot believe the difference it has made - my sight is far better than it has been for several years. Text is crisp and black and colours vibrant .
The whole thing went very smoothly and was completely painless
Thanks to you all for your support.
Joe

[homealone]

UPDATE TWO
Well the deed has been done. I had the operation Monday (July 3) and vision has been restored to one eye.
I really cannot believe the difference it has made - my sight is far better than it has been for several years. Text is crisp and black and colours vibrant .
The whole thing went very smoothly and was completely painless
Thanks to you all for your support.
Joe

that is great news, Joe, thanks for letting us know :tu:

[dilli-theclaw]

Good news indeedy :)

[Stuart]

To my knowledge although recognised that cataracts can develop at any tim e of life, there is little known about why this happens.


That's basically what my GP said. Thankfully, he offered to refer me to hospital, and even offered me a choice of two local hospitals: Mayday (in Croydon) or the Princess Royal University Hospital (used to be Farnborough hospital in Bromley). I went for the Princess Royal, then found out the Mayday had a better reputation for eye surgery.

---------- Post added at 19:39 ---------- Previous post was at 19:38 ----------

Joe, excellent news. It is staggering how much clearer it makes things.

[Russ]

Nice one joe - however I am still on the waiting list to have futher tests to find out what has caused mine :(

[Jules]

You may be like me Russ and they never find out