Hi Tracy,

A very warm welcome to our forum.

I am sorry to hear about your friend's eyesight. Has he also had hormone treatment? Get him to contact his breast care nurse  to mention this. I didn't have radiotherapy, but had 2 bouts of breast cancer within a year of each other and was on hormone therapy. I lost the sight in one eye and was fast losing it in the other one. I had a cataract operation on both eyes, but my sight continued to deteriorate and I had to give up driving. I was diagnosed with PCO (posterior compartment opacity) and elevated pressure in the eye. I ended up having 5 further sessions of laser eye surgery to correct this and was fortunate enough to regain 20/20 vision a year after this and able to return to driving.

Do please keep in touch and let us know how he gets on.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

Thank you Jolamine,

He hasn't had hormone therapy, just incredibly strong radiotherapy. He mentioned it to his care team and they didn't seem overly concerned as this is a side effect. However it is extremely terrifying for him and with everything else he is going through it is just another thing that is bringing him down. 

I am so glad that you were able to regain your sight and that gives me hope that it is temporary.

Thanks again Tracy x x

Hi Tracy22 and thank you for your post. 

I’m sorry your friend is having side effects from treatment. I appreciate you want to help.

Blurry eyesight can sometimes happen during cancer treatment, but it should never be ignored.

 If the hospital team has already given advice, it’s best for your friend to follow that.

If he is still worried, he could also speak to his GP or an optician for a second opinion.

Radiotherapy can sometimes make people tired, dehydrated, or anaemic. Drinking plenty of water and resting can help.

An optician can check his eyes and may suggest drops or ointment if they are dry.

If the vision gets worse quickly or he has eye pain, he should go to A&E. or call the 111 service.

Most of the time these changes are not serious, and often improve when treatment has finished. 

Please get back to us if you need any more information or support. It might help to talk things through with one of our nurses on the helpline. You can call for free on 0808 800 4040, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.

Kind regards

Tina