After noticing her long-distance vision wasn't what it used to be, Kaye Powell decided to get her vision tested.
Just a few weeks later she found she had developed fast-developing cataracts, and would need urgent surgery.
Then only days before her operation was scheduled for March 25 at Calvary Hospital, she found out the procedure was cancelled due to coronavirus restrictions stopping elective surgery.
"I was extremely upset when I found out, because the cataracts were developing so quickly," Ms Powell said.
"My first thought was would I go blind and if I can't see, what am I supposed to do, or how am I supposed to drive my car?
"It's very isolating and very difficult to cope with."
The Kambah resident welcomed news on Tuesday the national cabinet would lift restrictions on category two and some category three elective surgery.
Elective surgery will be able to restart after the Anzac Day long weekend.
The lift on elective surgery restrictions also include cataract surgery.
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ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said patients on elective surgery waiting lists would be prioritized according to their level of clinical urgency, as they would normally.
There were 5589 patients on waiting lists in the ACT as of Tuesday afternoon, with all but 139 of those people seeking Category 2 or Category 3 procedures.
The figures included people on waiting lists at public and private hospitals. The territory's public and private hospitals have been working together amid the pandemic and planning is underway to determine where procedures can be done.
Ms Powell said she hoped the surgery could be rescheduled as soon as possible, after she had noticed her eyesight deteriorate in the weeks since the surgery was cancelled.
"It's extremely difficult and it's starting to affect my moods," she said. "It's hard to be positive at a time like this.
"Remember a few months ago when everything was smoky and hazy because of the bushfires? That's what my eyes are like."
South Coast resident Fatima Kassab was set to undergo elective surgery at Canberra Hospital to help ease pain on her lower spine and a herniated disc.
After living with severe back and spinal pain for 15 years following a car accident, Ms Kassab said the operation would have relieved pressure in the affected areas.
An exact date for the surgery had not been set, but Ms Kassab said hospital staff had told her it would be in late April or some time in May.
The 38-year-old said she was devastated when she was told elective surgery had been stopped.
"It's very hard to live with and painkillers don't do anything," she said.
"I've done physiotherapy and seen chiropractors and had acupuncture and cortisone injections and the next step was surgery."
The surgery she was set to have on her spine was classified as category two, which would resume under the easing of restrictions outlined by national cabinet.
However, Ms Kassab said there was still a large amount of uncertainty about whether the surgery would still go ahead.
She said the cancellation of several weeks of elective surgery at the hospital might mean a backlog for other patients who were scheduled for their procedure.
"I was expecting the surgery to happen some time next month, but now I'll have to wait until who knows when," Ms Kassab said.
- For information on COVID-19, please go to the ACT Health website or the federal Health Department's website.
- You can also call the Coronavirus Health Information Line on 1800 020 080
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