Friday started The Week of Doctor Visits for me. I put off making doctor appointments as long as I possible can, because I hate making phone calls. The appointments themselves don't bother me that much. But the phone calls.....
So a couple of weeks ago I made a bunch of calls one right after another and set up a mammogram (I swear I had one a few years ago, but their records go back 10 years....), a physical (so I can get my drugs), an appointment with my retinologist, and one with a head surgeon to remove a cyst on my head. Right on the very top of my head. I bet it'll leave a bald spot.
The new digital mammogram is so much more comfortable than the old film one, even though it squeezes every bit as hard. So that's one down.
Tuesday I saw the head doctor about the cyst. Seems they run in families, and we're one of the lucky ones. That'll be removed on Tuesday morning. Yesterday was Retinologist Day, and, as it turned out, Long Needle Stuck in My Eye Day. That pesky ol' Wet Macular Degeneration is acting up again so I got another Lucentis injection. See, the good thing about that blind spot in the center of my left eye is that I can't see the needle coming at it.....
Joan met me at the office and drove us to lunch at Olive Garden afterward. We had a nice, leisurely lunch, until I could see again, then we went our separate ways home. How about that; a needle in the eye at 1:45, drive home at 4:45. Without an accident, at that.
Already my vision is better than it was yesterday. When I made the appointment my vision felt the same as it has since the last checkup 15 months ago (because I'm so bad at making appointments after I cancel one), but Friday I felt like something wasn't quite right, and it's a good thing the appointment was so soon afterward. I'll have another injection on June 17, then on the 18th Betty, Joan, and I will leave for Florida, where we'll spend a few days at the beach before Betty and Joan fly home and I spend a few days with Jennifer and kids in Orlando, then on to my new life in the Keys.
This afternoon my eye is achy, but the scratchiness that is usually pretty painful after an injection just lasted a couple of hours, not until I went to sleep last night, as it usually does. Maybe my eyeball is getting tougher. I didn't take as much percocet as I usually do, either, and no xanax before the procedure. Most of the time I spend the night with Mom and Dad after the injection so I don't have to drive home that evening, or Tom drives me, but they're all in Florida now so Joan and I just hung around for a while. And it was nice.
In an hour I have to be at the doctor's office to wait for my physical. There must be 50 doctors in that practice and they're all running late all the time. The waiting room is always filled with sick people spewing germs all over everyone else. I've had to wait as long as 3 hours for my doctor (ONLY because I was out of cough syrup and I have to appear in person to beg for another month's supply); the shortest time was maybe half an hour. Once. I hate that place. I'm hoping that this will be my last visit there ever. Maybe this time I can share my allergies/cold/bronchitis/whatever the hell I've had this week with my peers in that waiting room.
I think that's my first illness this year. I had some bug a while back, but since Christmas I've avoided colds. I hate colds. I get very angry when I have one. I don't know why. The flu doesn't make me angry, maybe because it's acceptable to stay home when you have it. But a damn cold can hang on forever and I just don't have that much sick leave.
Because I'm saving it to take off early for the beach. And my new life. In the Keys.
P.S. Cross your fingers, legs, and eyes; we're negotiating with a man who really, really wants to buy our WV property; he just doesn't want to pay enough for it. We might just persuade him to see things our way, then we'll be FREEEEEEEE! of a mortgage. Not much left over to work on our place in the Keys, but enough to save each month to get things done.
Showing posts with label Macular Degeneration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Macular Degeneration. Show all posts
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Dear US Preventive Services Task Force: Bite me.
So some task force has decided that women shouldn't be screened for breast cancer, or even do a monthly self-exam, because it's not cost-effective for women under the age of 50. Evidentally women don't get breast cancer and die from it until they're at least in their 50s.
Just who are these people anyway? It's not the American Cancer Society's researchers who've come up with this gem. I suspect it's a bunch of bureaucrats who looked at the bottom line and decided that the government won't want to pay for all those "unnecessary" tests once the government assumes the mantle of Health/Death Experts.
Do you want to let these people (and I'll go out on a limb here and say that I bet most of them are men) take care of our health care/insurance system? What's next, no screening for cervical cancer, or prostate cancer, colon cancer, lung cancer, any other killer? What will happen when an elderly person needs a new hip or knee? Sorry, it has to go to someone younger who'll be able to take advantage of it longer? How about those really expensive injections of Lucentis that help to preserve vision in people with wet macular degeneration? Hey, that includes me. I guess that $2000 per course of treatment would be better used to what, give a new liver to some rock star? How about all those babies born so early that they'd die without medical intervention? How would you feel if your child or grandchild had some horrible illness with a relatively low rate of survival? Would you be okay with not treating that illness because it isn't cost-effective? Would the powers that be allow my oldest granddaughter to have SupprelinLA, at a cost of close to $20,000 per year, to let her have the opportunity to grow normally and not start her period at age 6? All kinds of health risks are associated with precocious puberty. Since those risks affect a small number of the population--mostly girls--should we just let a bunch of men in suits decide that the effort doesn't justify the amount of money spent, won't help enough people (read: girls) to make it worth the money?
What if it's decided that anxiety and depression aren't really chemical imbalances that are relatively easy to treat with medication? Will we be told to just suck it up and soldier on?
I'm scared.
Just who are these people anyway? It's not the American Cancer Society's researchers who've come up with this gem. I suspect it's a bunch of bureaucrats who looked at the bottom line and decided that the government won't want to pay for all those "unnecessary" tests once the government assumes the mantle of Health/Death Experts.
Do you want to let these people (and I'll go out on a limb here and say that I bet most of them are men) take care of our health care/insurance system? What's next, no screening for cervical cancer, or prostate cancer, colon cancer, lung cancer, any other killer? What will happen when an elderly person needs a new hip or knee? Sorry, it has to go to someone younger who'll be able to take advantage of it longer? How about those really expensive injections of Lucentis that help to preserve vision in people with wet macular degeneration? Hey, that includes me. I guess that $2000 per course of treatment would be better used to what, give a new liver to some rock star? How about all those babies born so early that they'd die without medical intervention? How would you feel if your child or grandchild had some horrible illness with a relatively low rate of survival? Would you be okay with not treating that illness because it isn't cost-effective? Would the powers that be allow my oldest granddaughter to have SupprelinLA, at a cost of close to $20,000 per year, to let her have the opportunity to grow normally and not start her period at age 6? All kinds of health risks are associated with precocious puberty. Since those risks affect a small number of the population--mostly girls--should we just let a bunch of men in suits decide that the effort doesn't justify the amount of money spent, won't help enough people (read: girls) to make it worth the money?
What if it's decided that anxiety and depression aren't really chemical imbalances that are relatively easy to treat with medication? Will we be told to just suck it up and soldier on?
I'm scared.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Eyeballs
I had another one. Eyeball injection. For some reason it hurt more this time; not during the injection, but the next day. The injection didn't hurt at all. Love those numbing drops!
The latest seepage (I guess the correct word is extrudate, if there is such a word) in my eyeball has almost dried up, which means that I'm regaining my sight in that part of my eye. I'll probably never totally regain the sight I lost from the original "event" because I didn't have an injection right away; the doctor kept saying my sight was too "good". Knowing what I now know, I wish he'd given me the injections right away anyway, since I've permanently lost about 20% of my central vision in that eye.
But I really can't be upset with him, because Lucentis was only approved a few weeks before my first visit to the retinologist, and it can cause more damage if things don't go right. I'm thankful that I found that doctor (the first retinologist told me I'd just go blind in that eye) and that Lucentis is now available.
I've had six injections so far, and I'm destined to have more every few months (approximately) for the rest of my life. Insurance has covered it so far, and the price of the drug has dropped a bit, so maybe my insurance will continue to cover it. I guess I'll have to keep this insurance for the rest of my life so this won't be a preexisting condition.
Off-topic, I only have to work two more days at school until August. I'm ready for a break.
The latest seepage (I guess the correct word is extrudate, if there is such a word) in my eyeball has almost dried up, which means that I'm regaining my sight in that part of my eye. I'll probably never totally regain the sight I lost from the original "event" because I didn't have an injection right away; the doctor kept saying my sight was too "good". Knowing what I now know, I wish he'd given me the injections right away anyway, since I've permanently lost about 20% of my central vision in that eye.
But I really can't be upset with him, because Lucentis was only approved a few weeks before my first visit to the retinologist, and it can cause more damage if things don't go right. I'm thankful that I found that doctor (the first retinologist told me I'd just go blind in that eye) and that Lucentis is now available.
I've had six injections so far, and I'm destined to have more every few months (approximately) for the rest of my life. Insurance has covered it so far, and the price of the drug has dropped a bit, so maybe my insurance will continue to cover it. I guess I'll have to keep this insurance for the rest of my life so this won't be a preexisting condition.
Off-topic, I only have to work two more days at school until August. I'm ready for a break.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Opportunities lost
Sorry, I just haven't had time or the motivation to write this week. Work has been busy, although yesterday we went to a workshop in Winchester at the Handley Library. I highly recommend visiting it if you're in the area; it's an architectural delight.
And of course I didn't have my camera with me (or my jacket, but I didn't think I'd need that, either). I always have my camera with me. It's one of those Don't Leave Home Without It things for me, but the new one is too big for my purse, and I've stopped carrying the old one because it made my purse so heavy, and I just didn't think I'd need one for a workshop.
Wrong. Wrongwrongwrongwrongwrong.
This isn't a great photo of the place. The second I saw it, I was in love. Inside it's even better. The rotunda is the entrance; it's three stories high and has stained glass inside. I can't begin to do it justice by describing it. I have to go back and photograph it.
After the workshop, Mary and I ate lunch at the pedestrian mall a couple of blocks away. We ate at a small bakery/cafe and sat outside. Again, gorgeous architecture all around, trees just beginning to leaf, lots of restaurants with outside seating, people walking by with their dogs. So many photo opportunites, and me with no camera.
We got back to school just in time for me to go to Claudia's to work, so I didn't go back upstairs to get my bag. (It's a long long loooonnnnnnggggg walk from the parking lot to my office.) It wasn't till I was on my way to pick up Tom that I realized that my camera was in that stinking bag in my stinking office (well, the office doesn't stink; I have my little Ionic Breeze on my desk and I forgot to turn it off before we left for the workshop, and there are lilacs on my desk.) and didn't have the stinking camera all evening.
Which sort of didn't matter, as it turned out. Claudia didn't need me to work, but she wants me to knit some test garments for her new book of patterns. I cleaned my glasses, which had been filthy for several days, and they. snapped. at. the. nosepiece. In half.
Now, I'm extremely nearsighted, and I really can't read just using my left eye anyway (macular degeneration, 20% blind in that eye, the rest blurry, blah blah blah), so I was fortunate (?) that it was the left lens and earpiece that broke off. I tried to superglue it together, but that didn't work. It glues my fingers together, so I thought it was worth a shot.
I could wear the right half of the glasses, since the nosepiece was still intact for that much of the glasses. I drove to pick up Tom, very carefully, and we went to Costco to see if they could fix them. I was sure they couldn't as they don't keep actual stuff there; everything has to be sent off for a week to ten days.
I couldn't possibly go without them for that long, and I'm not sure where my old glasses are.
Anyway, long story shorter, they were able to take the piece off another pair of old glasses they had lying around. I can see again. And I've made an appointment with my regular eye doctor (retinologists don't "do" glasses prescriptions) for another eye exam and prescriptions for both glasses and contacts. It's not till May 9, so I hope my glasses will hold up till then. I hope they'll stay clean till then.
And this time I'll buy a back-up pair of cheap glasses.
And of course I didn't have my camera with me (or my jacket, but I didn't think I'd need that, either). I always have my camera with me. It's one of those Don't Leave Home Without It things for me, but the new one is too big for my purse, and I've stopped carrying the old one because it made my purse so heavy, and I just didn't think I'd need one for a workshop.
Wrong. Wrongwrongwrongwrongwrong.
This isn't a great photo of the place. The second I saw it, I was in love. Inside it's even better. The rotunda is the entrance; it's three stories high and has stained glass inside. I can't begin to do it justice by describing it. I have to go back and photograph it.
After the workshop, Mary and I ate lunch at the pedestrian mall a couple of blocks away. We ate at a small bakery/cafe and sat outside. Again, gorgeous architecture all around, trees just beginning to leaf, lots of restaurants with outside seating, people walking by with their dogs. So many photo opportunites, and me with no camera.
We got back to school just in time for me to go to Claudia's to work, so I didn't go back upstairs to get my bag. (It's a long long loooonnnnnnggggg walk from the parking lot to my office.) It wasn't till I was on my way to pick up Tom that I realized that my camera was in that stinking bag in my stinking office (well, the office doesn't stink; I have my little Ionic Breeze on my desk and I forgot to turn it off before we left for the workshop, and there are lilacs on my desk.) and didn't have the stinking camera all evening.
Which sort of didn't matter, as it turned out. Claudia didn't need me to work, but she wants me to knit some test garments for her new book of patterns. I cleaned my glasses, which had been filthy for several days, and they. snapped. at. the. nosepiece. In half.
Now, I'm extremely nearsighted, and I really can't read just using my left eye anyway (macular degeneration, 20% blind in that eye, the rest blurry, blah blah blah), so I was fortunate (?) that it was the left lens and earpiece that broke off. I tried to superglue it together, but that didn't work. It glues my fingers together, so I thought it was worth a shot.
I could wear the right half of the glasses, since the nosepiece was still intact for that much of the glasses. I drove to pick up Tom, very carefully, and we went to Costco to see if they could fix them. I was sure they couldn't as they don't keep actual stuff there; everything has to be sent off for a week to ten days.
I couldn't possibly go without them for that long, and I'm not sure where my old glasses are.
Anyway, long story shorter, they were able to take the piece off another pair of old glasses they had lying around. I can see again. And I've made an appointment with my regular eye doctor (retinologists don't "do" glasses prescriptions) for another eye exam and prescriptions for both glasses and contacts. It's not till May 9, so I hope my glasses will hold up till then. I hope they'll stay clean till then.
And this time I'll buy a back-up pair of cheap glasses.
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Eyeball stuff
Ah, the joys of aging.
I had another injection of Lucentis yesterday to try to clear up the new "leakage" in the macula. I think that's what it's called. Macular Degeneration, anyway. Right now I can't read with my left eye because of the extra blurriness from the newest leakage, but I'm hoping that it'll clear up soon.
Can't see my knitting, either, but my right eye is the dominant one, so I can still see well enough to do both!
On a happier note, the retinologist said that there's no reason that I can't try to wear contacts again. I don't know if that's good or bad, but I'd like to try them. I wore them for years and loved them, but perimenopause destroyed that. Now that it's behind me, I'll try again.
I had another injection of Lucentis yesterday to try to clear up the new "leakage" in the macula. I think that's what it's called. Macular Degeneration, anyway. Right now I can't read with my left eye because of the extra blurriness from the newest leakage, but I'm hoping that it'll clear up soon.
Can't see my knitting, either, but my right eye is the dominant one, so I can still see well enough to do both!
On a happier note, the retinologist said that there's no reason that I can't try to wear contacts again. I don't know if that's good or bad, but I'd like to try them. I wore them for years and loved them, but perimenopause destroyed that. Now that it's behind me, I'll try again.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
