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Argh! Eye exams
Jul. 14th, 2009 04:46 pmSomething I really hate about moving is having to change doctors--find new ones, fill out all of those bazillion forms all over again... Really, I don't remember the name of the last American dentist my kids saw (checkups were covered and we didn't even get a bill), and in Germany they had checkups at school (er, I can't actually find any of the forms I got about this, but I know they brought them home...)
Now I'm looking for someplace to bring my glasses-wearing kids. One of them did the whole eye patching thing when he was three, and while he currently wears normal lenses and doesn't patch, if he DOESN'T wear his glasses, he goes crosseyed. Which leads to one eye shutting off and losing vision, so we are pickier than normal about making sure his glass are made exactly right. We've tried to go to pediatric ophthamologists when possible, but there are none here. My son doesn't need anything done with it, precisely, but I'd just feel more comfortable with someone who would recognize if a problem developed...and who would be careful and exact with the prescription. So I'm calling around today. Wow. There is a HUGE difference in cost of a basic exam!! $59 to $145. And glasses cost themselves? I got frames quotes from $10 to $900. (I'm trying to imagine what parent--or insurance company--is going to cough up $900 for a pair of children's frames.) And the reactions I get when I ask if they treat children and if they see kids with strabismus is NOT inspiring: "We see children, yeah." (As in, "We've seen children before. Those are the short ones, right?") "Uh...strabismus. I really don't know. I've been here less than a year." (You mean you have no idea what it is? You've never seen a kid in an eye patch? They aren't exactly subtle, those things.)
I'll probably end up taking them to the most affordable exam, but man, I hope they don't mess it up. (And I can't WAIT to bring four kids to the dentist later this week...)
Now I'm looking for someplace to bring my glasses-wearing kids. One of them did the whole eye patching thing when he was three, and while he currently wears normal lenses and doesn't patch, if he DOESN'T wear his glasses, he goes crosseyed. Which leads to one eye shutting off and losing vision, so we are pickier than normal about making sure his glass are made exactly right. We've tried to go to pediatric ophthamologists when possible, but there are none here. My son doesn't need anything done with it, precisely, but I'd just feel more comfortable with someone who would recognize if a problem developed...and who would be careful and exact with the prescription. So I'm calling around today. Wow. There is a HUGE difference in cost of a basic exam!! $59 to $145. And glasses cost themselves? I got frames quotes from $10 to $900. (I'm trying to imagine what parent--or insurance company--is going to cough up $900 for a pair of children's frames.) And the reactions I get when I ask if they treat children and if they see kids with strabismus is NOT inspiring: "We see children, yeah." (As in, "We've seen children before. Those are the short ones, right?") "Uh...strabismus. I really don't know. I've been here less than a year." (You mean you have no idea what it is? You've never seen a kid in an eye patch? They aren't exactly subtle, those things.)
I'll probably end up taking them to the most affordable exam, but man, I hope they don't mess it up. (And I can't WAIT to bring four kids to the dentist later this week...)
