Song in my head: There's a man with a gun over there....telling me I got to beware.....Stephen Stills

In season: snowdrops , falling consumer confidence

ALTER-ABLED NEWS

Did you know that after your federal disability claim is accepted you do not have Medicare (docotr visits) coverage for two years. Two years for a seriouly ill person to cover their own medical expenses without any coverage for doctor visits or prescriptions. I thought my coverage started this February, but I was wrong. I have to wait until July, 2004. That's pretty crappy news for me, I was supposed to get the pressures checked in my eyes soon and that won't happen until July. It is a little scary because their is a woman with nail-patella syndrome that had an agressive form of glaucoma. She has had surgery and used glaucoma eye drops faithfully. Yet, it is not working and she is now legally blind in one eye and her other eye has poor vision. To realize that can be my fate is disconcerting. Especially because I only have one good eye, as my left eye is lazy or amblyopic. As a child of the 60's I was prescribed a patch to be worn on my good eye. My lazy eye had to work extra hard, but my eyesight improved until the patch was taken off. I spent my fifth year relearning depth perception and how to walk. Since I really only have one functioning eye I am very protective of it. I don't wear contacts, I can't risk an eye infection. I wear glasses to see and to protect my good eye. My good eye has glaucoma and I really would feel so much better having it checked regularly.