Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Medical Procedures--get them done while you can!

I will be having amblyopia eye surgery next month to correct my 'lazy eye' that I've had since I was born. This will be the third surgery for me--the last one was in 1979.

I honestly did not think I was a candidate for eye surgery again as I had been told there was too much scar tissue from the previous surgeries. When I met with the eye doctor and she said she could help me out I was ecstatic. I have double-vision all the time--not the cross-eyed double vision but just the opposite.To say that this causes headaches would be a gross understatement.

Not wanting to stop there--I met with an orthopedic surgeon to see if they could fix my shoulder that I injured on a fishing boat back in 1991. As soon as I heal from the eye surgery I will have my shoulder fixed up. The shoulder doc is saying that right now it looks like he can do everything with the arthroscopic procedure but he will know more once I have an MRI with contrast next week.

What I'm getting to is this...if you are financially able to have any work done that you need to have done and have been putting off...do it.

I've been putting off having my shoulder looked at because I didn't want to hear the doctor say, "Yep, you need surgery." And that's exactly what he said.

I have a job with some pretty-darn-good insurance. I know I am extremely lucky compared to some family and friends of mine who do not have insurance and wouldn't be able to have work like this done. Why haven't I done this before?

Easy answer. I was scared.

What motivated me to finally get this looked at and to stop being such a baby was I thought, "if everything goes to hell in a bucket in the near future...I'm screwed." I wouldn't be able to have my eyes fixed. I wouldn't be able to get my right arm working again like I want it to. I may need my eyes and my arms more in the next couple of years than I do now. (That EBR in the gun safe isn't going to use itself now is it?)

You just don't know what the future holds. I'm a pessimist. I don't think things are going to get better. That's why I'm having the work done.

If you need new glasses...get them.

If you need a hearing aid...get one. (I hear Costco has some great deals.)

If you need dental work...get it done. (My folks have all of their dental work done in Mexico just across the border from Yuma. The work is top-notch and the prices are ridiculously low.)

A friend of mine is having foot surgery because she doesn't know if she'll have a job next year.

Don't be scared like I was. If you have something that needs to be done and you are able to do it--there is no reason not to have it done while you can. What would you do if our medical system as we know it collapses?



1 comment:

  1. Really good advice. Not something I had thought through too much. I suppose the standard checkups fall in that category as well. No reason to pass them up if the capability is there.

    For glasses, I've been told Zenni Optical is a good place for cheap glasses. Worth the money to keep a couple spares?

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