Hey there.  I can't speak to the cataract side of things, but there
are lots of options for those with glaucoma.

My glaucoma specialist gave me a booklet called "Understanding and
Livng With Glaucoma" that helped Joe (the other half) get up to speed
on what glaucoma is, treatments, etc.  It's put out by the Glaucoma
Research Foundation (funded by Allergan) and is a freebie for
patients.  Maybe you could ask your doctor for one?  If he doesn't
have any, I'll be happy to send you my copy to share with your wife.  

Glad your wife is lookin' out for ya!  =)

Leigh

Hi

I am an Optometrist in Australia and I use much the same expressions to my
patients when cataract or glaucoma is first detected.  Regarding the
cataract, the first thing to understand is that it could have been present
for years and not been relevant enough to discuss with you, so you can only
assume that it has begun to affect you, rather than it has just developed.
If intervention for cataract is necessary you can be assured that its a
simple exercise.  Truthfully many cats are best left alone.  Remember this:
the only person who decides whether intervention is appropriate is you, and
no-one else.  But please, seek the opinion of people who really do know the
truth: you'd be surprised how often I have to spend time correcting
misinformation which patients accumulate from "other sources".  Ask the
Optom: they know.

There are so many different categories of glaucoma that there is no single
treatment regime.  Rest assured that treatments are relatively
straight-forward, so I agree with my American colleague in saying that "they
have many ways to treat these things and i should be fine".

Collect a few thought-out questions and return to your Optometrist for
clarification.

Best regards

Mark in Sydney

Jrmlmm wrote:

Cataracts seem to just "come with the territory" as people get older--some
people get them sooner and some later, but eventually most people seem to
develop them to one extent or another if they live long enough. Commonly done
outpatient surgery seems to be quite successful, although as with any procedure
there can be complications. Glaucoma comes in many versions, and we don't know
what yours is, however in general progression can be controlled with drops or
relatively simple surgical procedures.