Optometry/Ophthalmology
Before I left Building B (after my acupuncture session last Thursday), I stopped to make an eye exam appointment. The receptionist found my record and said I was also due for a diabetic retinal screening. I told her I thought I had had one year before last, and she told me they are now due every year. I wonder if that is a new Kaiser thing or if it is because of my advanced age!
Monday, December 10, 1:30 p.m.
The commute to Union City today took half an hour. My Garmin wasn’t working today and I realized how much I have come to rely on having a “watch” on my arm lately! But I checked in at 1:14 p.m. (according to the receptionist) and sat down to wait.
After taking a photo of the waiting area, I thought this would be a good time to check the voicemail on my cell phone. Most of the time, it’s a telemarketer or at least someone who hangs up without leaving a message. This time I heard the message clearly as being from the Optometry/Ophthalmology Department in Union City saying that my 1:50 p.m. appointment had been cancelled!
I went back to the receptionist and asked her about this. After a few minutes of poking around on her work station, she discovered that the doctor who was supposed to see me today had called in sick!
“Oh, we just had an appointment cancellation,” she told me, “so I think I can put you into that slot.” After a few more minutes, she gave me a printout and told me I would be seeing Dr. Wong. I sat back down in the waiting area.
Dr. Wong was young (as they all are now) and professional and pleasant. He ushered me to a machine where he asked me to put my chin and forehead on the metal rests so he could look into my eyes with lights and do that little thing that they do with a puff of air.
Then he ushered me down another hallway and into his office where I sat in a chair and was asked to read rows of letters on a screen across the room, both with my glasses and without them. Then he did a close-up reading test. There were some other things he checked by asking me to look straight ahead then left then right with moving just my eyes and not my head. (Francis did something similar at my last physical therapy appointment.)
He told me that my eyes looked healthy, that there was no sign of any retinal damage. He didn’t mention cataracts (as the doctor at Target did two years ago). He examined my glasses then told me that there would be only a slight change in the prescription, should I chose to get new glasses, that the only change would be in the close-up reading. He did mention, as he should have, that my computer monitor should be slightly below my eye level. He printed out the prescription, folded it into thirds, and put it in a printed folder and gave it to me.
It wasn’t until I got home that I looked at the prescription that Dr. Wong had printed out. I logged on to kp2020.org and registered. I had to input my Kaiser ID number and my last name; that’s all the system needed. When I clicked on the “My Benefits” tab, I saw immediately that I have an optical benefit of $280 every 24 months and it’s available tomorrow! I looked through the brochure for costs and saw that it was possible to get a complete package (lenses and frames) that would be covered. Why didn’t I know about this Kaiser Senior Advantage benefit for the past 6+ years that I’ve had it?!?
There will most certainly be a sequel to this episode.
