sudden eyesight loss for my 79 yr old dad

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pleaseohplease5555

New member
Hi all -
I learned last evening, that my 79 yr old dad, had sudden eyesight loss this past week, it was total blackness for about 3 days, then he began to gradually see outlines of things, claims to be able to see the T.V. - he sits about 6-7 ft away from his television.
He refuses to go to the doctor? My mother is adament about protecting his wishes and tells me to keep my lips zipped with alerting other family, who live close by. I live in about 5 hrs away. I understand their desires to be independent as long as possible, but since he is at home M-F from 7 am - 6 pm everyday I am very concerned for his well being. He can be so stubborn.
He has no 'history of illness, other than a hernia operation, bad teeth and wears dentures now and a childhood illness that left his right side atrophied. He is consequently left handed. His mind is sharp and alert, but this has thrown this sweet daddy for a loop. His family medical history , is primarily heart disease and adult onset diabetes - which his three sisters have. He has never been tested - hard to believe right?
Other than the obvious - get him to a doctor - any ideas as to why he had sudden loss of eyesight. I'd love more ammunition than - "don't you think going suddenly blind is an issue?" I mean really, I am really frustrated right now.
Help!
Rose
 
He may have suffered a "mini-stroke", which is a known precursor for major strokes. It's obviously not a thing to take lightly. The most serious risk of stroke is, of course, death. But even worse (IMO) is not dying from it, having to endure the permanent damage - partial paralysis, loss of speech, disordered thinking, mood changes, etc. - for years afterward.

I hope you can change his mind about getting medical help. But oddly, I also can sort of understand his point of view.
 
With the family history of diabetes I would certainly get him checked for that pronto. Blindness can be caused by diabetes...:eek:

I owuld tell your Mom to get him into the doctor. Use the guilt trip. I would rather have him mad at me and alive than happy and dead because you wouldn't take him into the doctor. This isn't something that you ignore or let sit. This is serious.

Or just ask your dad to make sure his life insurance is up to date because.......you get my drift.;)

goode luck!
 
Thank you midwest1 and ibake&pray for your responses. Both of your answers I have presented to my mom before I wrote this. I absolutely agree with all caveats of what you both were saying. I suppose I just needed some confirmation to settle my own mind. I know this is serious - my father wants to go, when and if it is his time peacefully at home, as his mother did. She passed at 87, home peacefully on her couch. She knew it was her time and was ready. She never was in a hospital or a nursing home and lived by herself until the last two years of her life. Her husband passed 30 years or more before she did. He died in the hospital from a massive coronary and she never wanted any part of that environment.
We all have things that are important to us - and often it doesn't make sense to anyone but us. Mom wants to take my dad to the doctor in about 4 weeks when she goes for a checkup herself on her eyes. She's had largeB-cell lymphoma in '08, chemo and is in remission. She also has had cataracts on both eyes removed, and no vision checkup since before the cancer diagnosis and treatment. I told her that if his condition becomes clearly worse, that she couldn't ignore it. She agrees, but only with a small degree of agreement.
Thanks once again - you both brought comfort in commenting.
Rose
 
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