'I can't do anything': Winnipeg man pleads for cataract surgery
A Manitoba man is sharing the challenges he is facing with cataracts, and says he is desperate to have the surgery, noting he has only 10 per cent of his vision left.
Kent Roy was diagnosed in the spring of 2020 just as the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Manitoba.
“I can’t cook, I can’t clean, I can’t bathe,” he told CTV News Thursday. “Everything that I used to be able to do, I can’t do anything.”
Roy’s had a challenging life. He lives with chronic pain that is managed with painkillers, he has had lung surgery in the past and now he can’t see. He said the only person who comes to take care of him is the pastor from his church, but they are now gone for the winter.
Roy also said he doesn’t leave his small apartment these days. He struggles to find the volume knob on his radio and the cup of tea sitting on the coffee table. Roy has also stopped using the oven to cook because he knows it isn’t safe.
“I can’t see, [it’s] the number one thing afflicting me,” he said.
Roy is not alone; in Manitoba, the waitlist for the procedure is long and has only gotten longer due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“For cataract surgery, we are looking at a waitlist of approximately 10,000,” said Dr. Peter MacDonald Wednesday at a news conference giving the first update from the province’s Diagnostic and Surgical Recovery Task Force.
Approximately 4,000 cataract surgeries in Manitoba have been picked up by a private surgical centre, but to address the rest of the cases, more funding is needed for both the private and public centres according to Dr. Jennifer Rahman.
In Manitoba, the hub for eye surgery is the Misericordia Health Centre. Rahman told CTV News surgical centres get an allotment of funding to do a certain number of cases each year, and if they go over that number, the operating rooms are shut down.
“Of course, this is going to be expensive but it’s an investment in the society and in the health of our communities and we’re not doing great,” she said.
Rahman, who is the president of Eye Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba, told CTV News the pre-pandemic national benchmark for cataract surgery wait time was four months. A 2020 report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) showed Manitoba is second last at getting patients done in that time at 21-per cent.
Rahman said the pre-pandemic median wait time for cataract surgery in Manitoba was 10 months; By February of last year, the wait had already ballooned to 20 months.
“It’s almost two years of waiting,” she said. “From the time that you get diagnosed with symptomatic cataract that needs to be surgically managed, to the time that you actually get managed, and during that time you’re going to suffer with all kinds of things affecting your lifestyle, your livelihood, and even your safety.”
Rahman also said the longer cataract surgeries are put off, the more complicated they can get.
After about two years of waiting, Roy is desperate to get his cataract surgery done. He said he is losing the mental capacity to cope with his day-to-day life because even the simplest tasks are frustrating.
“I am at the point where it’s life or death,” he said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
World seeing near breakdown of international law amid wars in Gaza and Ukraine, Amnesty says
The world is seeing a near breakdown of international law amid flagrant rule-breaking in Gaza and Ukraine, multiplying armed conflicts, the rise of authoritarianism and huge rights violations in Sudan, Ethiopia and Myanmar, Amnesty International warned Wednesday as it published its annual report.
Photographer alleges he was forced to watch Megan Thee Stallion have sex and was unfairly fired
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
U.S. Senate passes bill forcing TikTok's parent company to sell or face ban, sends to Biden for signature
The Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would force TikTok's China-based parent company to sell the social media platform under the threat of a ban, a contentious move by U.S. lawmakers that's expected to face legal challenges.
Wildfire southwest of Peace River spurs evacuation order
People living near a wildfire burning about 15 kilometres southwest of Peace River are being told to evacuate their homes.
U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passes aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan with big bipartisan vote
The U.S. Senate has passed US$95 billion in war aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, sending the legislation to President Joe Biden after months of delays and contentious debate over how involved the United States should be in foreign wars.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.