Has anyone had the experience with an Alzheimer's patient that had general anesthesia to remove cataracts?

cwillie - I agree with you under normal circumstances however, she is blind already as they are very dense cataracts in both eyes so you cannot see anything at all right now with the cataracts. . I do have concerns also about general anethesia and am going to discuss this with her alzheimers doctor beforehand. She is in good health physically but still she is 83 years old. I am wondering how they can keep her hands away from her eyes while healing - they cannot have anyone stand by her for her healing time on a 24 hr basis. Another doctor question! Thanks for you answer!

Mary, I don't have any experience with cataracts but I have some real concerns with the treatment proposed by the ophthalmologist. Aside from the concerns with general anaesthesia your mother will be unable to see with either eye for several days after the surgery and will have an apparatus strapped to her head that could very well cause her terrible anxiety and frustration. From the eye doctor's doctor's standpoint getting both eyes done at once reduces the trauma to a single event, but if it were me I would want to get an opinion on that from a gerontologist or a doctor that works with dementia before you agree to proceed.