I'm a veteran going to appointments in my community utilizing community care through the Veteran's Administration. I had been going to Blue River for a couple of years and have always struggled with getting a perscription that worked for me. No matter what I got, it just didn't quite get my vision to where I could see very well. Finally, The optomitrist there said I had cataracts and that I needed a surgery but I'd be hard to get it approved due to only being 48 at the time. I didn't understand that. Was I expected to walk around hardly able to read even with glasses until I was "old enough" to get my vision adjusted? He said he had a buddy that performed the surgery in Wamego and he'd put in for the referral to have it done. I contacted the Veteran's Administration to let them know because I knew I'd have to get authorization but then found out they do the surgery there, I'd just need to get a referral. I contacted Blue River EyeCare back and told them the details and that I'd need a referral so that I could just go to Topeka and have it done in house versus dealing with Community Care, Authorizations, Billing, etc. He refused to give me a referral at that point. I was actually shocked. Then he said my cataracts weren't that bad and he wasn't giving the referral now to go to the VA as he can still correct to 20/20 with glasses. That wasn't correct. The tone and how I was being treated at this point was not good. I contacted the Veteran's Administration to tell them how it went. They said they've seen this before and it wasn't unusual. Without a referral, I'd have to wait to be seen by their optometrist and there was a year wait. I contacted Blue River again, front desk ladies who used to be nice were not as welcoming anymore and I was refused the referral again. He said my cataracts weren't that bad now. I went ahead and set up to wait the year for the VA optometrist but a very nice appointment setter there worked with me to get me in within a few months due to a cancelation from another patient. What should have been done years prior, obviously missed by Blue River was finally done. The Veteran Administration optometrist said cataracts need to be dealt with asap or they harden and become more difficult to remove the longer they're on the eye and that I had a pretty severe case even though I was as young as I was. Unfortunately I dealt with barely able to read vision, driving a vehicle, due to the service provided at Blue River and they were willing to prolong that another year because I wanted to go to the Veteran's Adminstration for the surgery versus the friend that does it in Wamego. For me friends, that's a little sketchy. I will not be returning to this eye doctor ever again. I've included the photo taken of my eye that shows the cataract, both eyes were equally bad. I now have AWESOME vision thanks to the Optometrist at the Topeka VA. The lady absolutely knows eyes inside and out, literally. It's unfortunate and frankly unprofessional if I'm honest.
