Old? B-b-but...

I found out I have cataracts. I thought only old people get cataracts. I can't have them! Boo-hoo-hoo!

I've been having decreasing vision and seeing glare around lights at night for a while, so I figured I may as well get my eyes checked out and get new prescription. I got kind of a surprise when the eye doctor(optometrist) sent me to another eye doctor(opthamologist) and he sent me to yet another eye doctor(surgeon).

So the verdict is I have cataracts and need to have my eye lenses replaced surgically with implants. They can only do one eye at a time (in case you go blind???), so I have two surgery dates scheduled, Nov. 3 and Nov. 17. And of course, two co-pays to go along with two surgeries. By the way, my co-pays and deductibles went way up this year, did yours?

For over 5 years I have been wearing "mono-vision contacts", which means one eye corrects for near-sightedness and the other eye corrects for far-sightedness, instead of wearing bi-focals. (yeah, I know, I should have realized I was old then.) Little did I anticipate, but cataract surgery also corrects all of your vision problems, no more contacts, YAY, so I am having the lens implants done the same way, as mono-vision. My other choice would be to correct both eyes for far-sightedness, and wear glasses for reading, computer work, seeing the dashboard when I drive, and other stuff like that. Or correct both eyes for far-sightedness, but then wear a contact in one eye to turn myself back into mono-vision. Or get bi-focal lens implants, but that costs $3000 more, so you see why I couldn't go that way.

I'm very nervous about going with the "mono". I really don't know why, I've been correcting my vision like this way for 5 years and it's worked fine, but now it just seems so permanent. I mean, once I do the surgery, there is no going back and changing it if I'm not happy. The surgeon said her mom did it as mono and is very glad. I guess that is meant to reassure me that I'm making the right decision.

Do any of you wear mono contact lenses? What would you do for the surgery? I'm sooo confused, I keep changing my mind. As if I weren't already nervous enough about the prospect of somebody operating on my eye, while I'm awake! They said they'll give me something to relax, but that never really works that well on me. And of course I get local anesthesia on my eye.

At least the first eye is the one being corrected for the far-sightedness, so I'll still have time to change my mind about the second eye before Nov. 17, depending on the results. What to do, what to do????

Want to be my penpal?

All I ever get in the mail is bills, bills, and more bills. Also lots of junk mail.

I had a penpal when I was a kid, and I was always so excited to go to the mailbox and find a letter from my penpal. I'd like to be able to have a reason to look forward to checking the mail, instead of dreading it every day.

So, if anyone would like to exchange real letters with me, not e-mails, real handwritten letters mailed through the post office, please either leave a comment or email me at catnpr (@) aol.com. (leave out the parentheses, of course. I just put them in there so that I won't get lots of spam.)

I hope I hear from someone!

Cat

I don't intend to turn this into a political blog, honestly. But I just have to make some comments on the Health Care Reform Law. It needs some serious amendments.

At first I was happy we were finally getting any kind of HCR law, but the more I read about it, the less it seems like it will actually do anything to help me. Except for the pre-existing condition clause (which doesn't go into effect until 2014). But even with that, there are no price controls, so it appears to me that I will be paying out the butt to any insurance company willing to write a plan that covers all my conditions. Speaking of the butt, it also appears that I will be able to get a free colonoscopy now. Yay.

We should have had a Public Option, at least it would have helped keep insurance costs competitive. Even better, we should have gone with Single Payer, like most other developed countries. Yeah, I know, that makes me some kind of left-wing socialist. But at least I would be a left-wing socialist with free health care.

Here is a chart that shows which provisions go into into effect each year. I don't really see anything that great. I don't know what this bill looked like before, but what we ended up with after trying to compromise with the Republicans just doesn't seem to have enough of anything in it for the average American.

And those are my thoughts for the day.

Cat