Very very very irritated right now… Having auto-immune disorders is expensive when it comes to both money and time (and energy, but that’s another issue). My particular brand of rheumatoid arthritis involves the eyes, and sometimes steroid drops don’t bring the inflammation down, so the doctor has to pull out the big scary needle and jab me straight in the upper left quadrant of the eyeball to make it sit up and listen to the prednisone.

All of this inflammation, scarring, drops, and shots over the past 20 years caused me to develop cataracts super early. Cataract surgery is a piece of cake, and I highly recommend it over the alternative of feeling like you are looking through dirty dish water all of the time. But then a few years after cataract surgery, the membrane holding the fake lens decides to flake out, and the doctor has to thump your eyeball with a laser and bust up the party so you can see again. It’s painless, so no biggie.

What has me steamed today is that I have to see THREE DIFFERENT EYE DOCTORS for all of these shenanigans. I see an optometrist for my glasses (cataract surgery gives you a choice between a far distance lens or a near distance lens, and there is no switching it up without glasses for the option that wasn’t picked). But if my eye gets angry, the optometrist ships me over to the retinal ophthalmologist who has the big scary needle. And if I need the laser, the retinal ophthalmologist and the optometrist tell me I have to make an appointment with this other specialized ophthalmologist.

So I called up the specialized ophthalmologist’s office and told them I was being sent there to get my right eye lasered (already had the left done years ago). They said no problem and set me up with an appointment today. I knew it is only one eye and they wouldn’t dilate both eyes, and I would be good to go as far as driving. Ha.

Get there and the assistant promptly runs me through a full exam and dilates both eyes. At that point, I’ve figured out this has all gone south. The doctor and his nurse could tell even with my mask on when they walked in that I was glaring daggers. I told them again that my retinal ophthalmologist and optometrist had sent me back to them for lasering of the membrane–that’s it. Doctor scrambled out of the door (after confirming that yep, that membrane is too murky to see anything through) and went to confer with others in the business office–came back and said that insurance won’t allow it to be done the same day as an exam. Naturally. It won’t even be 2 visits; no, it will be 3 because there has to be a follow-up. I got my next 2 appointments set up and left.

What has me so steamed is that 1, there truly was no need for an exam when they could have called the other 2 eye doctors I see who would have confirmed that yes, it needed it to be done and all of the updating of medical history could have been done via mail prior to my coming in for the laser, 2, I got to drive home with dilated eyes, and 3, this will be billed for 3 appointments and co-pays and all of that other expensive fun stuff. And since it is a specialist, it won’t be the cheap co-pays and office visit charges, and since the lasering now has to be done in the surgery center downstairs instead of in the regular office, it will also be a charge for surgery-related expenses.

It’s annoying enough to have to see so many specialized doctors all of the time for auto-immune disorders–at least I can usually keep those down to 1-2 times a year, even though it does add up when you realize as the years go by and more issues crop up that you are seeing a different person for almost every body system you own. Rheumatologist, pulmonologist, cardiologist, optometrist, ophthalmologist, physical therapist, podiatrist, dermatologist or plastic surgeon (depending on the severity), endocrinologist, ENT. It’s ridiculous, but 100% necessary, and that is annoying.

The only saving grace today was that it was stormy and there was no sun to complicate my driving home. At least the universe tossed me one favor out of all of this.