[AT] OT-JD, now sheep, now health care

[Larry D. Goss]

Rena and I are going the opposite way on that issue, George.  We're
preferring to do what it takes to keep our eyesight in good condition
because both of us experienced what life is like the "other" way.  Our
parents both had major problems with cataracts and glaucoma and we
recognize that we don't want that portion of our heritage to be relived.
Rena's mother was completely blinded by cataracts when she went into a
nursing home.  The very first thing the home did for her was to have the
cataracts operated on so she could see again.  It made a different
person out of her -- she almost became human again.

I just finished "laser therapy" on my eyes to reduce the possibility of
glaucoma -- 120 holes drilled in each eyeball -- kind of an electronic
roto-rooter process.  The process takes about three minutes per eye, but
there is no feeling involved with it and the aftermath is nothing more
than a dull headache for a few hours and then several days of slightly
blurred vision until the eyeball pressure comes back down to "normal".
Total bill is around $2000.  Medicare said that's more than twice as
much as it should be and told the doctor they would only pay $900.  By
the time the Medigap insurance gets done with it, I may have to pay as
much as $25.  The doctor knew up front what my out-of-pocket cost was
likely to be and dangled a carrot in front of my nose that I probably
wouldn't have to pay anything for the laser treatment and that its
actual cost is about the same as one month's supply of eye drops (which
Medicare would not pay for) so the laser therapy was a no-brainer.  The
procedure resulted in a drop of IOP (intraocular pressure) from 18 to 12
mm of Hg.  Since the normal range of pressure is from 10 to 20 mm, I was
already in a safe area but you just don't want to let macular
degeneration get started.

Hey, tell Marilyn that I have the Computerized Genealogy articles
extracted but I haven't burned a CD of them yet.  I want to go through
the whole series (13 years at this point) and add Bookmarks to the PDF
files so each article has a topical index visible when it's opened.

I don't know about you all, but I'm ready for the tractor show season to
start.

Larry 

-----Original Message-----
From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
[mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of George Willer
Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2006 1:02 PM
To: 'Antique tractor email discussion group'
Subject: RE: [AT] OT-JD, now sheep

Phil,

Maybe your Mother feels as we do.

Marilyn and I both admit to having cataracts, but treatment is pretty
low on
the list of things we need to have done.  For now, we just don't drive
at
night (to avoid those !#$%^&* blue headlights that morons put on their
cars).  It's a matter of priorities.

George Willer

> -----Original Message-----
> From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com [mailto:at-
> bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of pga2 at hot1.net
> Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2006 1:34 PM
> To: Antique tractor email discussion group
> Subject: Re: [AT] OT-JD, now sheep
> 
> Yep. My dad was one of the first to get laser surgery on one of his
eyes
> for
> cataracts. University of Alabama Medical Center in Birmingham. Mom
just
> won't
> admit to ANY of her failings. Too bad, she could live so much better
if
> she
> would.
> 
> Phil

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