Two Hours on the Operating Table

[Mr. Fibuli]

Yeah it's insane I tried to sign up on the Md exchange several times and never got a response. So my representatives all sleep like babies while we starve die or suffer crippling depressions (me)..no accountability, no avenue to fix it, no problem.

 

[SheaOlmsford]

"We are number one" Bellow the conservatives in relation to the USA. Meanwhile, in terms of health care, people in other countries are saying "I am so glad I wasn't born in the USA".

 

[Gene Steinberg]

Barbara continues to recover fairly well from her knee surgery, but it will never be perfect. She still suffers pain when bending.

Last week, an ophthalmologist told her that she might need major eye surgery in her left eye. She had corneal transplants in 2009, but her vision in her left eye has become very blurry in recent weeks. We are visiting a corneal specialist soon to confirm the diagnosis, or hope there's another treatment, maybe more artificial tears, to alleviate this problem.

She will soon need yet another surgical procedure, but this is enough "excitement" for now.

 

[Randall]

Barbara continues to recover fairly well from her knee surgery, but it will never be perfect. She still suffers pain when bending.

Last week, an ophthalmologist told her that she might need major eye surgery in her left eye. She had corneal transplants in 2009, but her vision in her left eye has become very blurry in recent weeks. We are visiting a corneal specialist soon to confirm the diagnosis, or hope there's another treatment, maybe more artificial tears, to alleviate this problem.

She will soon need yet another surgical procedure, but this is enough "excitement" for now.

My life-partner Pat had a cataract removed from one eye a few weeks ago and the doctor asked if we were sure she wanted to get the other one done because he had been sent the charts of her condition with cancer, implying of course that it would probably be a waste of money because of the time she had left, and it impacted on her state of mind about it in a way that led to her giving-up the battle and cancelling the appointment for the second eye. I told her to never mind what they said because they'd been telling her that the cancer was going to kill her for the last few years and we had been beating the odds all along.

But now, as you know, she's gone, and I can't help but think that her loss of optimism and fight was what led to her rapid decline at the end. However the procedure itself really did improve her vision for the short time she had afterwards. She no longer needed glasses or contacts to read a printed newsletter. Her vision was better than mine for close-up.

Anyway, I hope Barbara keeps improving and that you both have years of meaningful time together.

In the meantime, if I were to offer any advice, it would be to watch out for the "dreaded falls". You might already know what I'm talking about, but for the benefit of those who don't, it seems like so many seniors experience some sort of a fall that leads to complications and a hastened departure from this realm. It happened to my aunt as she was leaving her seniors manor. A delivery guy, trying to help her get through a door, pushed it too quickly and she lost her balance. My Pat fell at work when of all things, she tripped on a loose lace, and I've heard a number of other similar stories over the years. Don't even take any small fall for granted, get ice on the area and be on higher alert for complications like stroke or infection.