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How does one convince an older person to have eye exam?


My spouse has sufficient visual acuity to pass the driver license eye exam. He wears store bought readers to read. Refuses, always has, for many years, to go get an eye exam. I feel it is important for eye health, screen for glaucoma, check for macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, etc. He is early diabetic (I reject the prediabetes term, as we would both be full-blown Tyoe II Diabetics if we didn’t eat low carb). Last evening, after I had my recheck for eye inflammation, I did say to him, that it’s important to have eye exams, as one can have beginnings of eye disease and not feel discomfort or notice changes early in disease. He blurted out that he wasn’t letting anybody take away his car keys. Really? People would allow eye disease to progress, not treat treatable eye diseases, for fear of losing driving privileges? He says he can’t go for any more medical stuff right now, after all he’s been through, with the lung cancer workup and surgery. I say, take care of your eyes. Removal of an entire lobe of the lung, early stage cancer, not yet in lymph nodes, is a gift of life, and you don’t want your body outliving your eyes, if you can help it. He does complain about having trouble seeing sometimes, and has had one TIA that we know of, plus another suspected one where he said he was having a ‘whiteout’, couldn’t see.

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Make an appointment for him. Tell him you're taking him to lunch.

Therapeutic fibs can be useful.
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Those eye exams can actually save his drivers license. If a problem is found early it can be treated early. Corrective lens can save lives. If it is found after a wreck it is then too late to save anything.
Try telling him some of this.
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Tell him Glocoma will end up in blindness. My friend suffered from headaches. Tell him one of these days he won't be able to pass the DMV eye test. They will take his licence right there. Like you said, the diabetes could cause eye problems. Cataracts will effect his vision.
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Hmm how to convince an unwilling spouse to do something? I guess in my situation I would use $$. Maybe if you fibbed a little that if he’s having trouble seeing and leaves it untreated, if he causes a car accident his insurance may not cover it? Would that get him motivated? Eye problems are so easily treated compared to what he’s been through. If issues are caught early it could help keep his “keys” for years.
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