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I had a visit with my retina specialist this morning to discuss my eye surgery of a couple months ago not working. He removed some scar tissue that he thought was the cause of my problems but now appears to be an effect. Instead of more injections he is trying to get my insurance company to agree to my getting an implant in my eye that will provide a daily dose of steroids for 2 -3 years. The implant is placed via needle during an office visit. I am reading up on this procedure as it is new information to me but seems to have used since 2011 or so. I don't fully understand the insurance provider having more say about my treatment than my doctor.

Ernie wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 07, 2025 6:21 pm

... I don't fully understand the insurance provider having more say about my treatment than my doctor.

That seems to be a common complaint with some insurance plans. Then later in life a very common complaint/problem with Medicare Advantage plans.

Ernie wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 07, 2025 6:21 pm

I had a visit with my retina specialist this morning to discuss my eye surgery of a couple months ago not working. He removed some scar tissue that he thought was the cause of my problems but now appears to be an effect. Instead of more injections he is trying to get my insurance company to agree to my getting an implant in my eye that will provide a daily dose of steroids for 2 -3 years. The implant is placed via needle during an office visit. I am reading up on this procedure as it is new information to me but seems to have used since 2011 or so. I don't fully understand the insurance provider having more say about my treatment than my doctor.

I can understand. It is your body. May things work out smoothly.

Good luck Ernie. None of those procedures sound very fun. I hope something works out for you and things get better. Not being able to see would be something hard to handle

Ernie wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 07, 2025 6:21 pm

I don't fully understand the insurance provider having more say about my treatment than my doctor.

I hope you get the best possible treatment, Ernie.

And, sadly, your doctor's negotiation with the insurance company is likely a common occurrence. Ours seems to be a particularly messed up heath care system that mostly revolves around profits and politics, which makes perfect sense from a purely capitalist perspective, but little sense from the life and death perspective of people who are sick and dying or know someone who is.

There's a bottomless source of money in the medical industry and greed is good. Patients in the 21st century are commodities; and regardless of how caring some Doctors seem to be, the profession is top-down subject to insurance companies' approvals and price caps and politicians' personal beliefs.

That’s why I like the VA for health care. If a VA doctor thinks I need it I get it.

PJM wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 07, 2025 8:01 pm

What exactly is your condition. I have dry macular degeneration and left eye is bad. My discussions with retina specialists left me thinking that the shot series is over hyped. There is no cure for what I have. The steroid implant is new to me, which is why i am curious as to your condition.

I have a macular pucker on the retina of my right eye. This was discovered during my examination for my cataract surgery a couple of years ago. It distorts my vision and the size varies seemingly in relation to the application and strength of steroids. I have been doing drops and injections since it was found. I have not used any steroid drops since a month after the surgery and the last injection has worn off after 3 months. My vision has noticeably worsened/ distorted and my doctor is unsure of why that is. He removed the scar tissue over the pucker thinking that was the source of the irritation causing the pucker and he could be correct as the bump is smoothing out. But it seems there is something more happening. The area is collecting fluid. I currently have 3 doctors that have examined me in the last 30 days and I don't have a new diagnosis yet. The implant sounds interesting but I want to get more information. Seems we are treating the symptoms rather than addressing the problem.

If I learn anything about the implant and macular degeneration I will let you know.
Good luck to you.

Got the implant today at the doctor's office. I had watched a video of the procedure so I had some nerves. Everything went well and I drove home. Putting the key in the door I see a bar on my shirt and tried to grab it. Turns out to be the implant floating around in my eye. Called the Doctor and I am told that is not unusual and it should go away in a day or two. That is a BIG floater. I think they should have let me know of the possibility before I left the office. Hope it parks somewhere that I can't see it.

Best wishes for a positive outcome Ernie. I have early signs of macular degeneration.

I recently had an injection in my left knee which seems to be failing me...bummer.

In reference to above comments, I had to wait for insurance approval before the doctor could administer the shot. Still waiting for relief while trying to stay optimistic as the pain persists. Strangely to me, this came on rather suddenly.

In reference to above comments, I had to wait for insurance approval before the doctor could administer the shot. Still waiting for relief while trying to stay optimistic as the pain persists. Strangely to me, this came on rather suddenly.
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I still don't like the insurance dictating treatment. I asked about the cost thinking I would just get it but turns out it was very cost prohibitive. Hope you can get some helpful treatment in a timely manner.

My retina specialist says I have "Branch retinal vein occlusion of left eye with macular edema", he was talking about injections but I was able to get my blood pressure under better control and it hasn't worsened over the last couple of visits so no injections for now.

My other eye doctor performed a laser procedure on my eyes which hopefully will let me discontinue using eye drops for my glaucoma. I hate doing eye drops and also because of my above condition had to change to different medication which requires drops twice a day instead of once a day.

Because of both conditions and also being a diabetic I see one or the other eye doctor about every 3 months.

I also have cataracts but while they are bad enough to somewhat affect my night driving vision the doctor says they are nowhere near bad enough for Medicare to approve the surgery.

Hope your doctors can find a solution that is sustainable. Technology is improving daily.
So this implant is supposed to provide a constant amount of medication to control the swelling of up to 3 years. We will see.
I now have a new friend that will be hanging around unless it finds a place to stay out of my vision. I have been considering names since we will probably be together for the duration. It currently drops out of my vision when I am upright thankfully. It was dead center when I was upright for the first day. It does reappear when I recline. Seems to be about 6 inches away from my face and looks about 2 inches long and 1/4 inch thick. A very distinct black bar that glides around in the upper part of my vision. Have considered the Enterprise as it seems to glide around the air in front of me. Also considered the Nautilus since it is really flowing around inside the fluid of my eye. Any suggestions will be considered and appreciated.