Steve Petrick had an eye exam today. He has severe cataracts and will have to have surgery for them before his vision can improve. At this point he is not qualified to drive in Texas and it is unclear if fixing the cataracts would get him his license back.

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Thursday, February 24, 2022 - 04:58 pm: Edit

I can identify with SPP:

My left eye is affected by cataract that i am now legally blind in that eye. (It is like trying to see thru wax paper. )

I am scheduled for eye surgery at the end of March.

On the plus side, cataract surgery is handled as out patient service, so no hospital stay. Both my parents had the surgery, and reported excellent results.

Unless Steves eyes are damaged as a result of his diabetes, one would think he could benefit from cataract surgery.

By Lawrence Bergen (Lar) on Thursday, February 24, 2022 - 07:38 pm: Edit

My dad has had cataract surgery I believe 2 years back (he is about to hit 8 decades)...it allowed him to continue driving and hunting. Not sure how diabetes would affect the decisions being made but he swears it was a game changer for him. His sight had deteriorated quite a bit over the years from normal wear and tear to the added benefit he was a factory welder for over 25 years.

All my hopes for your continued progress SPP and good on you SVC for being such a lifelong friend and brother from another mother.

By John M. Williams (Jay) on Thursday, February 24, 2022 - 07:49 pm: Edit

Sorry to hear this. It seems to be just one thing after another. Hopefully some good news is on the way.

By Garth L. Getgen (Sgt_G) on Thursday, February 24, 2022 - 09:36 pm: Edit

I know someone who has diabetes and had cataract surgery. Everything turned out fine for him, so I have high hopes Petrick will have similar success.


Garth L. Getgen

By Mike Curtis (Nashvillen) on Thursday, February 24, 2022 - 10:55 pm: Edit

I had one cataract in my left eye done in early March of 2019, such great results and insurance said they would pay for both, I got the other one done right before the covid shut down. Easy surgery and just drops on a certain schedule for a couple of weeks afterwards.

I ended up 20/20 in my left and 20/15 in my right. Cause I am an old fart I still need readers for close work, but distance is terrific (I was 20/450 and 20/500 uncorrected before this).

By Robert Martin (Morholt) on Friday, February 25, 2022 - 10:56 am: Edit

I had cataract surgery last summer,best thing ever. I never realized how bad my eyesight had become. It gave me a new lease on wargaming.
I did have a detached retina last winter. It too was fixed and I see great.
I have high confidence this will really help Mr. Petrick's eyesight.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Friday, February 25, 2022 - 02:32 pm: Edit

Lesson to be learned: When you turn 65 you have to actually sign up for Medicare; it's not automatic. (Leanna got Petrick to sign up.)

You really need to buy a supplement policy. There is a six-month window to buy one when you get automatic approval, but after that, they can refuse to sell a supplemental policy to someone who already had several strokes, high blood pressure, diabetes, and loss of vision. Steve can never buy one now (he just refused to do so earlier) and that will cost him thousands of dollars every year.

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Friday, February 25, 2022 - 03:28 pm: Edit

This is why I am forever thankful for the VA.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Wednesday, March 02, 2022 - 09:39 pm: Edit

Steve now has a scheduled release date of noon-ish on 9 March. He will see an internal medicine doctor and will then move into a new apartment at a senior center complex less than a mile from the office. I suspect he will be at the office for an hour on the 10th or 11th.

By Ken Kazinski (Kjkazinski) on Thursday, March 03, 2022 - 12:24 am: Edit

That is good news to hear.

By Norman Dizon (Ichaborn) on Thursday, March 03, 2022 - 12:29 am: Edit

In thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.

But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:

And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:

For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.

By Burt Quaid (Burt) on Thursday, March 03, 2022 - 10:04 am: Edit

Good to hear he is doing better. Best wishes for you all.

Burt

By Ted Fay (Catwhoeatsphoto) on Thursday, March 03, 2022 - 10:28 am: Edit

This is good news. Be well. Will continue to pray for Petrick.

By John M. Williams (Jay) on Thursday, March 03, 2022 - 11:49 am: Edit

Good to hear! Thanks for the update.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Thursday, March 10, 2022 - 02:25 am: Edit

Steve moved today to Moore Assisted Living literally one mile from the office. We stopped briefly at the office and Jean/Al came out to speak with him in the car. We got his bed moved and enough furniture to get by for now, but bad weather may stop us from moving his television until Saturday.

His long-awaited visit with the head of his new team of doctors was rescheduled for the 29th or maybe 28th (I forget) due to some emergency with the doctor.

Despite eleven different warnings given to the place of his allergies they managed to feed him onions for dinner.

By Mike Erickson (Mike_Erickson) on Thursday, March 10, 2022 - 09:21 am: Edit

>> Despite eleven different warnings given to the place of his allergies they managed to feed him onions for dinner

My family has had similar experienced with AL food, and even hospital food. One relative takes the blood thinner cumadin, and when one is taking that medication one has to be cautious to monitor "Vitamin K", which can dramatically amplify the cumadin and over thin the blood, possibly resulting in nosebleeds and/or fatal "bleeding out". So basically, if on cumadin, sharply reduce or eliminate K foods like spinach and brocolli. And, despite many warnings and special requests, it was common to see high K foods served with meals. It was not uncommon for kale to be hidden in soups as a nutrition booster -- and kale is one of the very highest K foods. Totally bizarre. It was like the food preparation part of the facility was totally detached from the medical part.

So, our relative simply needed to learn to identify and not eat the K foods that were served, and skip most of the soups.

--Mike

By Lawrence Bergen (Lar) on Thursday, March 10, 2022 - 10:31 am: Edit

Glad to hear about SPP's move. Wish I was closer to help with the move. Many hands make light work.

Organizational communication (sometimes referred to as Silos) is a top 5 reason businesses make errors. The most egregious mistakes cost lives and ruin people financially.

Years ago (because of familial conditions) I learned food IS medicine, and just like medicine for some it should be doled out with care and a warning label.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, March 22, 2022 - 01:53 am: Edit

Steve is scheduled for Cataract surgery on 10 and 17 May. We are hoping they will get a cancellation and move him forward, as seven weeks is a long wait considering how long he has waited so far.

I have to say the real demon in this mess is the idiot Medicare rule that someone in a skilled nursing unit is not allowed to see outside doctors or have outside treatment. That delayed his access to eye surgery by four months (and cut a month off of that by "illegally" sneaking him to EYEMART EXPRESS "for new glasses" and letting an actual eye doctor find out why he cannot see), and to proper detailed medical care by three months. I vaguely understand that this is to reduce costs for Medicare but it doesn't reduce costs at all, it just spreads them out.

By Chuck Strong (Raider) on Tuesday, March 22, 2022 - 03:58 am: Edit

Any chance that any of his conditions are service related? If so, maybe he could get some assistance or advice from the Disabled Veterans Association to expedite treatment.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, March 22, 2022 - 10:36 am: Edit

No chance of service relation. Cataracts are a common old age issue. DAV cannot overrule Medicare.

By Mike Erickson (Mike_Erickson) on Tuesday, March 22, 2022 - 10:42 am: Edit

>> I vaguely understand that this is to reduce costs for Medicare but it doesn't reduce costs at all, it just spreads them out.

You have my sympathy Steve. It can be very frustrating when the rules for Medicare (or Medicaid) seem to get in the way of the most effective and/or expeditious treatment, particularly for someone you care about. Hats off to you for trying to push things forward as much as possible. SPP has a good friend.

The way it seems to work out mathematically is that since there is a much smaller population of providers who accept Medicare (with the lower reimbursement rates), then correspondingly there are fewer providers to see patients and it takes longer to schedule. So, reduced reimbursement --> fewer providers --> rationing of care --> wait times to receive treatment.

It's doubly frustrating when someone in the system suggests the Medicare recipient is "getting something for free" so they "should wait". When, of course, the Medicare recipient has already paid for their care through the decades of Medicare taxes that they already paid.

--Mike

By David Zimdars (Zimdarsdavid) on Tuesday, March 22, 2022 - 05:46 pm: Edit

Give my best to Steve.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Saturday, March 26, 2022 - 11:09 pm: Edit

We hope to have SPP back at his desk by 1 June and a Captain's Log out before the end of summer.

By Randy Green (Hollywood750) on Sunday, March 27, 2022 - 08:29 am: Edit

That sounds like great news.