Cranbrook senior can't afford eye surgery

An 81-year-old Cranbrook, B.C. woman with glaucoma is fighting for eye treatment, which she says she can't afford on a seniors' pension.

Marion Schindel has a condition known as "map dotting."

There is a relatively quick and easy laser surgery available to Schindel at private clinics in both Calgary and Vancouver, but it costs at least $2,600 and she is waiting to see if the government will pay for it.

Schindel and her husband Gotfried have fired off letters to medical professionals, the Ministry of Health, their local MLA, Bill Bennett and the ombudsperson, asking why such a routine necessary procedure wouldn't be covered.

Bennett's office informed the couple that the eye surgery may, at some point, be covered if deemed medically necessary.

And the province's assistant deputy minister said the laser treatment could be covered, but only if other treatments fail.

Surgery costs too steep

The pair said they can't afford to pay for laser surgery.

"Let's put it this way; it gets difficult," Marion Schindel said. "We are on fixed pensions."

"We are able to manage, but you throw another $3,000 dollars at us, it gets a little ugly."

Schindel's eye condition gets bad when she reads, like a "fuzz over my eyes like cotton balls.

"I have to keep blinking constantly to try and clear this away."

The Schindels say they feel discriminated against, noting they've paid provincial health insurance premiums for years.

"To us, it feels like senior discrimination," Schindel said. "Yeah, just cause you're old with poor eyesight, it's too bad.

A spokesperson for the B.C. Health Ministry said it could not discuss the case for privacy reasons.

With files from Bob Keating