Health care rant

Eye exam: $105/ 15 minutes
Eye glasses (value package): $109
Podiatry informational class: $75/ 1 hour
Shoe inserts: $21
"Special" shoes: $265+tax ("the soles have 7 layers for stability")

First of all, I think I will return the $300 shoes. Perhaps they are the most comfortable shoes I have ever worn but, they are $300 (that's with the tax, etc) and, they are not dressy enough to wear to work SO they would not get enough wear to warrant the cost.

Let me start at the beginning of my medical adventure yesterday. I thought it was a good idea to get my eyes checked since it had been at least a few years and my night driving is...not so great. I also thought that while I was getting my eyes checked, I might as well go downstairs to podiatry and check into the "Bunion class." Yes, there is actually a class for people with bunions.

Now, it's not easy to walk into a room of people to discuss bunions. Bunions are embarrassing, anything about feet and weird ugliness of feet is embarrassing and there we are in a CLASS to discuss, out loud, this horrible little secret item about our bodies. OK so I am aware that I am now blogging about my bunions, which is even more humiliating but really, how could I not talk about a class dedicated to bunions?

So, apparently, they have been holding this WEEKLY bunion class for decades. Can you believe that that many people come to bunion classes on Monday mornings? Now that is funny. Almost funnier than my feet. Almost. Anyway, so we gather in a badly lit Kaiser classroom and a very boring man, a podiatrist, begins to speak about feet, bunions, surgery, good shoes. He shows X-rays of badly bunioned feet, he shows X-rays of the screws that are put into your feet after the grotesque procedures, that of course he describes in nauseating detail.

There was this one woman in the class who seemed crazy even when she was just checking in. For example, they asked for her name and she said, "Which one?" She explained she has 4 names, for each of her husbands. After the X-ray show, she asked if we could all do a show and tell to see who had the worst bunions. I was mortified. I was disgusted. It is bad enough to look at my own feet but look at hers? No thank you.

FYI. The surgery can only be done on one foot at a time. It would take 4-6 weeks to return to work. No stairs for at least 3-4 weeks. Crutches for 3-4 months. I don't think this surgery is meant for those with jobs or with small children or houses built straight up like ours. Perhaps those $300 shoes are affordable after all.