Eye Saga 3

Monday, 8 March 2010

I’m hoping Spring has sprung. It’s projected to get to 71 degrees on Wednesday. We’ve had at least 10-inches of snow between four snow storms in Raleigh. In comparison, my folks in Nebraska received more than 48-inches this year. So, it seems as if most of the country has enjoyed a Winter Wonderland for at least a few hours. (And people still believe the global warming garbage? Hmmm….)

I’ve had the pleasure of watching the cardinals and other birds play in the wood line behind my house while I’m having breakfast. (There’s a creek right behind the house, so about 20-feet from the deck the woods begin.) Saturday, the mourning doves were also singing. It’s neat to see how God cares for the sparrows and other critters. Just think… He loves us even more. Ain’t it great?

Yesterday, I sang for nearly seven hours. I sing bass in the choir at Providence Baptist Church in Raleigh. We sang five songs in each of the three morning services after warming up for 30-minutes. The choir practiced for an hour before the evening service. During the evening service we had an old-fashioned hymn sing. We started the service by leading the congregation for 10 songs. Then people in the congregation picked another 20 songs for everyone to sing. The service lasted nearly 1.5 hours. Meanwhile, I sang to a choir CD while I drove around town to and from church. (I live about 10-miles from church and 8-miles from work, so it’s about a 20-minute drive each way when there is light traffic.)

I have not had PRK eye surgery #2 yet. This will be a long story and you’ll see my frustration creeping into the monologue. (I’m not frustrated with the docs; they’ve been great.)

The eye surgeon (Dr Hunt) here in Raleigh referred me to Fort Bragg for more PRK treatment but he also gave me a new prescription for glasses in the interim. The eye surgeon at Fort Bragg, NC (Dr Nestor) sent me a packet to fill out. I finished filling out the mountain of paperwork about 8-days ago, but was waiting for the “permission letter” from my military boss (battalion commander at Fort Jackson, SC). I received my battalion commander’s letter Thursday. Fort Bragg only accepts the packet in person during specified hours Tuesday thru Thursday. Fort Bragg is a 2-hour drive, so I’ll deliver the packet tomorrow morning. Dr Nestor will need to do more testing on my right eye: measure the cornea thickness, map out the geography of my cornea surface, and so on before he can schedule me for PRK #2. I spoke to him on the phone last Monday, and he explained that I need to be available for at least 90-days after PRK #2 to receive all the post-op treatments and follow-up appointments. (The PRK packet said I had to be available for 1-year after the procedure, which would mean there was no way that I could meet the criteria.)

Meanwhile, Thursday (the same day I received “permission” for PRK) I spoke to my branch manager in Alexandria, VA. My timetable for deployment to Egypt is moving left. Instead of deploying in 180-days in September as originally planned, it’ll be about 90-days in June. (The reason is that my skill set is in high demand.) However, I don’t have orders yet, so I don’t know my actual report date. If my report date is early June, I am too short to get PRK #2. If my report date is late June, I can still squeak by and get PRK #2. (Do you feel the plot thickening?)

The tragedy of the situation is that with government health care, the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing. I’ve been struggling ever since I returned to the USA from Iraq in late March 2009 to get my eyes fixed. I’ve moved from base to base and with each move, TRICARE insists that I start the procedure over again. I know what needs to get done to fix my eyes, but TRICARE assumes the patient is ignorant and must have a Primary Care Physician to monitor the situation. So with each move I must start at Square #0. (I was at Fort Hood, TX for 4-months, then I moved but I did get a corneal scrape in May. I was at Fort Gordon for 4-months, then I moved but I did get a corneal scrape in September. Now, I’ve been at Raleigh for 4-months and I’m still not fixed but I do have a new pair of glasses and they help especially when I try to drive at night in the rain, which was very difficult without glasses. Meanwhile, my deployment is looming closer. I must be “fixed” or at least “see clearly” to deploy.) Here is the revolving sequence: Square #0 is registering with TRICARE for my new region and to receive my new Primary Care Physician assignment. Square #1 is securing an appointment with the Primary Care Physician. Square #2 is getting my Primary Care Physician to refer me to an eye surgeon. Square #3 is securing an appointment with the eye surgeon and getting him to refer me for PRK. Square #4 is securing an appointment with the PRK doctor getting him to schedule me for the procedure. Square #5 is getting the procedure. Square #6 is 90-days of recovery and follow-up appointments. The kicker is that I didn’t get to Square #1 here in Raleigh until January because of how broke the TRICARE system is. I negotiated and maneuvered as hard as I could using the TRICARE system, but the system failed me. (And our President wants everyone on this broke system. I don’t understand. Why? I don’t want to be, but I could be the poster boy for how messed up government health care is.)

So, my prayer request is… that God’s will be done. If He wants me to get PRK #2, He’ll need to work out the details because the details are mighty murky from my fox hole (because I’m literally seeing triple). I know He’s in charge and I’m glad He is. I’d be in a bigger mess if I were in charge, because He has perfect knowledge and knows the big picture. ;) Thank you for all the prayer. I definitely covet them.

I’m actually excited about the prospects of going to Egypt. It’s a change of scenery and not as dangerous. I’ve been in Iraq for nearly three of the last six years, so it’ll be different. (At least we are winning in Iraq, since the Bush Surge of 2007.) I’ll be working in the Sinai along the southern boundary of Israel and Egypt with the Multinational Force of Observers, so when I go to South Camp near Sharm El Sheik, I can go SCUBA diving in the Red Sea. The Red Sea is one of the best SCUBA diving locations in the world. I’m also hoping to go on a trip or two to see Mount Sinai and some of the other sites with the chaplain. The chaplain usually schedules some religious outreach trips for the troops.