Theresa Patton's blog

The other day I went to my ophthalmologists for my yearly eye exam. You know, to see why my current glasses weren’t working so well anymore and why I have to read books with my arms stretched out about a foot and a half. Before the exam to check for general vision and just after the routine puffs in my eyes to check for glaucoma, I was asked if I wanted to have my eyes dilated or to take this fancy x-ray test. The x-ray test called an optomap retina exam, takes a picture of the back of your eye.

I’ve seen lots of drug commercials on TV. There are medications for everything from erectile dysfunction to chronic dry eye to restless leg syndrome. Although, I haven’t seen the restless leg syndrome commercial in a while. I often wonder why there aren’t more commercials about preventing diseases. Not scare tactics like ‘don’t smoke or you will get lung cancer’, but real preventive care commercials.

My husband called to let me know that soon it would be Open Enrollment time at his company. Open Enrollment is the period of time employers set up to allow employees to choose from the various health plans available to them. Usually open enrollment covers insurance plans such as health, dental, vision, life, accidental death, short-term disability and long term care. Is it important to make the right choices during open enrollment since it will determine the type of health care you will receive for the next year and how much you will pay for the services you choose.