I'm slicing with the Two Writing Teachers community today. It's always a pleasure to read what everyone writes about their lives.
I had cataract surgery last Thursday. I've put it off for over a year but knew it was worsening and I had to do it. I was scared but I did it and now I'm so pleased. Each day, and now today, it's totally better. I took a drive last night and can see everything without that funny ring around the lights! My insurance paid for nearly all of it and my doctor had a coupon that limited the after-care meds to sixty dollars.
I tell you this because my mind before and after has been questioning and researching. What if my doctor did not work hard to help patients with the price of the meds? I was told that this one bottle of drops would have been more than three hundred dollars! And I have three different prescriptions for drops! I have been watching the news and interviews from people who are paying so much for medical care because they don't have insurance. I am alarmed by those who believe that the Affordable Care Act, or something similar, is not what our country needs.
And then I discovered this site! There are others, too. The highlighted words are: "Of the more than 39 million people worldwide suffering from unnecessary blindness, more than half are due to cataract - which can be surgically treated. Most of these people live in the developing world, where poor nutrition and limited access to eye care can mean a life limited by needless blindness." This article tells of a doctor who's restored the sight of thousands of people across Europe and Asia. Here is a link to an organization that helps people in the U.S. who do not have the coverage for this surgery. Yes, the U.S. has people who need the surgery and cannot afford it, too.
I guess readers can call this a Public Service Announcement. I am grateful for my experience, but want everyone with a need to have it, too!
Kathy had cataract surgery several years ago. She couldn't believe how bright colors looked afterward. She was used to seeing them through a haze. The doctor also fitter her with a lens that makes it possible for her to remove her glasses when she is reading or doing needlework. She loves it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this public service announcement I, too, have been "putting up" with blurred vision and maybe this is the push I need to talk again with my Dr. Of those who have had this surgery, they all seem to be pleased afterwards. Guess it's my turn.
ReplyDeleteI know it's hard to do anything related to the eye. We use our vision for so many things. I had lasik surgery many years ago. I worried that something would go wrong. Thankfully it didn't. I'm glad you have had great results with the surgery. It's a shame some politicians think health care is a benefit, and not for everyone.
ReplyDeleteYes, My one eye's vision is going to be near, too, Bob. I love taking off the glasses. And Judy, as I said, I put it off, and now wonder why. I have some post-op appointments, drops for a while, then done! It was an easy first day, FYI, and I was driving the next one! I was worried, like you, Elsie, because of my worry about the reading and writing, but now more than anything, I want everyone who has the need, to have the opportunity! Thanks all!
ReplyDeleteOur sight...I'm so grateful for. I also have the beginning stages, especially at night. This past year I was able to get contacts for the first time in my life. A new world opened up. Thank you for putting information down for the people who don't have insurance...so thoughtful. xo
ReplyDeleteI never thought of contacts, a different need, I guess. I am sad by the number of people in our country who must keep their children from the doctor because they cannot afford it! Thanks!
DeleteNeedless blindness - a term that shouldn't exist. Yet it does, as do many other problems due to lack of insurance. Health care and medicine without insurance are expensive everywhere.
ReplyDeleteI remember being shocked by the fact that polio still exists in our world, another needless issue. Thanks, Terje.
DeleteSuch a testimony to the "gift" of insurance. I'm glad you are getting better!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Anita. It is such an important issue!
DeleteWow. I love how you turn everything into a lesson, Linda. You have so much to be grateful for, but you are so right that everyone should have that opportunity. There is so much work to be done!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jennifer. I am hopeful, but it seems as if it's not going to be easy.
DeleteI agree with you, Linda, that we need to do a better job of providing insurance for all. It's such a sad statement of our political affairs that we may be going backwards instead of forward. Keep making your PSAs and congrats on the improved vision!
ReplyDeleteI am with you. It's a crime what is happening to health care.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ramona and Jone. It, among so much more, is a tragedy happening now, for those in our country and others across the world. And yes, the vision is so much better!
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