Mother in law

[Fredfarmer]

My mother in law has wet amd in one eye she has had this for 5 years the other eye is being looked at monthly by macular clinic some times she needs an injection but hopefully this will be controlling but recently she seems to be very depressed with her situation she is always on the phone making out she cannot see things at all I have told her to where a patch to completely cover the bad eye to stop it interfering with good eye but seems reluctant as any one else experienced this help would be appreciated

[Rosalyn-helpline Partner]

Dear Fredfarmer,

I am sorry to read of your concerns. It may be worth contacting your mother-in-law's ophthalmologist's secretary and asking whether they would recommend that your mother wears an eye patch.

Just to make you aware, the impact of the diagnosis of any eye condition and indeed any stage in the process is generally compared to experiencing bereavement. Individuals frequently go through very similar feelings and responses and in no set order. We do have a free telephone counselling service. Please contact us for further details if this is of interest. We need the individual’s verbal consent in order to be able to refer them. It takes the lead counsellor a maximum of a week to make the initial call. Our counsellors are fully trained and the majority have sight loss themselves. Sessions consist of approximately 6 of around 45-50 minutes each.

The Macular Society helpline is open 9am – 5pm Monday to Friday on 0300 3030 111.

Alternately, you can contact us via:

[e-mail]

Kind regards,

[Fredfarmer in reply to Rosalyn-helpline]

Thanks for your prompt reply last week we visited the macular clinic Spock to the doctor who recommended her to wear a patch so it would block out messages going to the brain and interfering with her decent eye I think she needs to try and get use to wearing the patch to get better results thanks again

[carolineJames]

Fredfarmer

I would suggest that if your mother in law''s good eye sees perfectly then to do without the patch. I know the specialist said wear that patch but that might be just because he thinks that's best in the short term. And maybe even what you want to hear. It won't make any difference to the condition so he doesn't mind either way. But the thing is the patch does two things -it makes her aware every day that she has this condition and makes everyone she meet ask "what's wrong with her eye" and,therefore, makes her think about it all the time. It also stops the brain sorting the problem out. The brain is amazing. Whilst intitially the sight is a struggle; very soon the brain works out to dismiss the wobbles and blurs on the bad eye and uses the other eye for proper focus.

My honest suggestion would be to tell her to put the patch in the rubbish bin and stop putting one hand over the good eye as that just reinforces the blur that is happening with her bad eye. And give it a month -6 weeks without the patch before declaring that I am talking nonsense. It will take at least a month. I don't see well with my right eye. Initially I thought the blurring it causes would drive me nuts. But now my brain doesn't notice it. I don't even see it. My brain is using my good eye for clarity and reading without using a patch or putting my hand over my bad eye. It's quite amazing. Let her read this. It may help. Give her hugs - she's not alone.