There are other ways optometrists can prescribe glasses without formal tests, reading the chart etc. Just give them all the information about your parent you can.
My dad broke all 3 pairs. I have to keep buying glasses for him to see. I made an appointment for an Optometrist to give my dad an eye exam. I order his eyeglasses online for a lower cost.
Christineirene: If perchance the lenses of the eyeglasses are still intact, an optometrist should be able to fit them into new frames. OR her prescription could be provided to the optometrist for completely new eyeglasses.
I did not think that my Husband would be able to do an eye exam. I think at the time of the exam he rarely spoke and when he did just a few words. this was about 3 or 4 years before his death so he was what I would call Non verbal. He had an appointment at the VA for his foot. When I made the appointment I asked about an eye exam. I asked for someone that was patient. I asked for either the first appointment in the morning or the last one before lunch. I figured we would be less rushed. He refused to cover 1 eye. When they got him to sit in the chair she brought up the chart on the wall. And shock of all shocks he said "E". She pointed to another and he repeated the letter. Another shock....when she started to dilate his eyes as she cam closer to the eye with the dropper he kept repeating "red. red. red". When I looked at the bottle the tip of the bottle was...red. I guess what I am saying is that you never know what will happen. It is worth trying as long as it is safe to transport mom. AND you think she will benefit from getting glasses. You could try the "readers" as suggested. See if that works before the trip
This clearly won’t work in every case. My dad had macular degeneration and was overdue for new glasses. I had finally gotten my folks into assisted living and THEY WERE LOSING EVERYTHING. Remotes, wallets, glasses, you name it.
I keep readers in my pocket, two times magnification. So just for the hell of it I put them On dad. Held up two fingers. He saw it. What’s this picture? He nailed it. So I bought about six pairs of drug store reading glasses and doled them out as he lost them. Or, drag a 90 year old guy with dementia around town for appointments for glasses he’s gonna lose in twenty minutes.
As dementia advances in their journey you will discover what is worth doing vs what makes no difference. My hub has a tbi with eye damage. He is not able to do the eye exams at all due to now advancing dementia. His glasses have a special prism for double vision and he loses them frequently by laying them down everywhere and anywhere. Because of this we actually painted the sides with pink nail polish so they all know they are his. The staff is wonderful finding them and when he pushed out the lens they even found that and we superglued it back in. I talked to our eye dr and she made him an extra pair that I keep in my car if need arises. She said no further eye exams because he is cognitive in a 2-3 yo level and doesn’t know pics colors letters or numbers. As a nurse I acknowledge where we are in the journey and are not doing things that will not change this. He is happy nourished and well cared for and at this stage that’s the best I can hope for. He is only 69 and we had plans for retirement inc travel that for him will never be. It sucks . I take it a day at a time and try to make small memories out of what’s left.
hello! I am new to this forum but saw your reply re glasses and your husband only being 69. Mine is 62 with parkinsons and lewy bodies dementia diagnosed in 2021 and quickly declined, he is not seeing very well either, we have only been married 9 years- together for 15 years, still living at home with in home care most days as i work full time and can’t afford not to, but getting harder to keep him home. Can i ask where you live? You said your husband is Happy well nourished and well cared for I just wanted to know where that is. I am just so afraid of him going to a care facility and him sitting in a wet depends all night because no one has checked on him at 3 am… thank you, Linda
My husband, a stroke victim with vascular dementia, just had an eye exam. He cannot read the letters or numbers. Eye doctors have other ways of figuring the prescription. He saw an Opthalmologist, which is a good idea to rule out other issues. And covered by Medicare.
They do NOT have to be able to respond in order to get glasses. The eye doctor can use other methods to examine the eye and determine what they need. That is what I had to do for both eye glasses and hearing with my disabled child.
If only the frames are broken, you should be able to take the surviving lenses to any eyeglass shop to be refitted into new frames. Or ask her prescribing doctor to have new ones made, using the same prescription.
I’ve had the experience with my mom. I take her to the ophthalmologist because she doesn’t understand the teks when they ask her to “look up” or open eyes etc. so I help in that regard by showing her how I open my eyes wide etc. I don’t think a neuropathologist is necessary unless you feel she has something wrong another way. Just needing new glasses should be easy for an ophthalmologist. All the best to you.
Keep in mind that many people who suffer dementia (especially Alzheimer's type) will have physiological changes to the optic nerve; namely peripheral vision or the depth perception component ability, as well as the more normal vision impairments that come along with the aging eye such as cloudy lens or decrease retinal circulation. Also, cardiac changes affect our vision as we age such as hypertension and coronary arteriosclerosis that affects overall circulation to the ocular area. Having regular eye checkups along with sharing a loved one's pertinent individual health history to every medical professional are essential in maintaining optimal optics!
Skilled nursing and you need to ask that? Have a visit by an eye doctor not what you think. Who picked the home?? Congress just Reactivated a Committee on aging after a 20 year hiatus. In the US Senate I recall. They just put today's anti dementia patch on?? Full disclosure. Lol.
Yes. I always took my husband (he had frontotemporal degeneration) to the optometrist we'd used for about 15 years. They had an optometrist come to his nursing home, but frankly he was pretty useless. Our optometrist switched him to the optometrist who specialized in children. She used the exam format she used for young children who couldn't read yet. Instead of letters to read, there were shapes and colors. The optometrist asked my husband to point to the row he could see best. There's also a lot they can tell by just using their instrumentation. And they'd let me go into the exam room with my husband. When they priced glasses for my husband, even though I had him on my vision insurance plan, I was pretty sure they'd cost less at Costco. She that they'd give me a quote, but if Costco was less, go ahead and buy them there. She told me she was a single mother with one child in college, starting college next year, and another one in high school. She said if she didn't get great discounts already from their practice (all their employees got them, not just the optometrists), that's exactly what she'd do for her glasses and those of of her children.
We took my Mom to an optometrist. It was a very confusing experience for her. She could not understand what the optometrist was asking her to do. The optometrist ended up losing his patience with her. She started crying. We didn't realize her dementia had progressed that much. Very upsetting experience all around. Makes me sad that we put her through that. We were so naive, just learning, day by day, how to help her. Trial and error. Knowing what I know now, I wish I had found this forum years ago.
They lost my aunts.. get a couple of pair if you can.. take the broken ones and they can match up the prescription..keep one at home. I bought her fancy ones.. ya they were “tossed” out.. thinking someone may have grabbed them as they were expensive frames.. oops.,
Christineirene, would it be possible for your Mom to see an Ophthalmologist? Why I ask is that such an eye doctor has what is called an AutoRefractor that actually reads one's eyes for a prescription. These computerized machines have been around for many years.
When Mom ran her glasses over with her wheelchair, I called the eye doc and had him make her a new pair based off the old prescription, after I picked out the new frames. I even told her Medicare covered the ridiculous cost because she'd have freaked out knowing SHE had to shell out so much money for a new pair of glasses she "had no idea" how got broken. Get crafty.
If you are not sure if the glasses are over-the-counter reading glasses or prescription, check the tiny numbers on the inside of the frame. That number may indicate number (for example 1.00, 2.00, 3.00, 3.25, 3.50 etc. ) of reading glasses needed.
All you need is her prescription. Then you can get her frames and lenses anywhere. You could see if she can still get the same frames and just put the lenses back in.
My nephew was 8 months old when he got his first pair of glasses. I asked the doctor how he knew the strength my nephew needed. He said by how the light refracs off the eye.
If she only broke the frames, call the place where she got the glasses and ask them to order the exact same frames. They should have that info in their records. They can then put the lenses in the new frames and you're good to go.
Contact different optometrists and ask if they have an autorefractor, a machine that can help identify the correct prescription, this will solve the challenge of answering questions properly.
Try first where she got these glasses and speak of repair or replacement.
Then I would go wherever she got her prior glasses and discuss, or where she got her last exam. Explain that she won't be able to cooperate with the exam ("Which can you see better. This one or this one?'). If it has been fewer than two years you can likely use the old script and order new glasses. She should have at least every year or two exam for eye health, and so you know status, whether there are cataracts and so on, but with both dental and eye exams at some point this does become almost impossible.
You could probably find frames that fit the same size bring the lenses to a Place called Warby Parkers - I was able to fit Old Lenses into another frame . or where ever she Purchased that frame they will have a similar size .
I would just get the prescription from the place where she had her last ones done, and use that one.
If that’s not possible, you can borrow the old lenses from her, and the optometrist can use a machine to “read” her old lenses and figure out the prescription.
I think at the time of the exam he rarely spoke and when he did just a few words.
this was about 3 or 4 years before his death so he was what I would call Non verbal.
He had an appointment at the VA for his foot. When I made the appointment I asked about an eye exam. I asked for someone that was patient. I asked for either the first appointment in the morning or the last one before lunch. I figured we would be less rushed.
He refused to cover 1 eye.
When they got him to sit in the chair she brought up the chart on the wall. And shock of all shocks he said "E". She pointed to another and he repeated the letter.
Another shock....when she started to dilate his eyes as she cam closer to the eye with the dropper he kept repeating "red. red. red". When I looked at the bottle the tip of the bottle was...red.
I guess what I am saying is that you never know what will happen.
It is worth trying as long as it is safe to transport mom. AND you think she will benefit from getting glasses.
You could try the "readers" as suggested. See if that works before the trip
I keep readers in my pocket, two times magnification. So just for the hell of it I put them On dad. Held up two fingers. He saw it. What’s this picture? He nailed it. So I bought about six pairs of drug store reading glasses and doled them out as he lost them. Or, drag a 90 year old guy with dementia around town for appointments for glasses he’s gonna lose in twenty minutes.
get a couple of pair if you can.. take the broken ones and they can match up the prescription..keep one at home.
I bought her fancy ones.. ya they were “tossed” out.. thinking someone may have grabbed them as they were expensive frames.. oops.,
That number may indicate number (for example 1.00, 2.00, 3.00, 3.25, 3.50 etc. ) of reading glasses needed.
My nephew was 8 months old when he got his first pair of glasses. I asked the doctor how he knew the strength my nephew needed. He said by how the light refracs off the eye.
Best wishes.
Also ask for more durable frames.
Then I would go wherever she got her prior glasses and discuss, or where she got her last exam. Explain that she won't be able to cooperate with the exam ("Which can you see better. This one or this one?'). If it has been fewer than two years you can likely use the old script and order new glasses. She should have at least every year or two exam for eye health, and so you know status, whether there are cataracts and so on, but with both dental and eye exams at some point this does become almost impossible.
If that’s not possible, you can borrow the old lenses from her, and the optometrist can use a machine to “read” her old lenses and figure out the prescription.