Dr. Bitan in NYC...anyone have information?

[Terry Allen Blackburn]

Katie:

I am thrilled that you are going to be seen so soon. Your situation sounds like it is rapidly deteriorating to the detriment of your overall well being. I am hopeful that he will write the letter for you and get you fixed as soon as possible. It would not surprise me if he does not ask you to stay and have the surgery right away. I don't think that he will want you to risk traveling all that way home when you stand at such great risk of permanent harm. Personally, I would come prepared to stay. Just my opinion.

Good Luck.

Terry Newton

[Katie]

OMG Terry, don't do that to me! I'm having a hard enough time trying to find a farm sitter on such short notice as it is, for just three days. We might have to take our dog with us, if we can only get the neighbour to feed the horses and cats instead of getting someone to live in. Thank heavens his shots are up to date and he loves the car (The dog, not the neighbour )

Kathy, thanks for this "You are light years ahead of where most of us were in this stage of our back issues. I am just amazed at how you are getting things done! You are doing EVERYTHING right. It's amazing what you can do, when you set your mind to it." I certainly don't feel like I'm even up to speed, let alone light years ahead. I have watched so many people trot off to Stenum in the past year, and come back with wonderful results, as I sat here waiting for a doctor to phone me back...and waited...and waited...

I have spent all my energy for over a year, trying to put together an appeal for the Provincial Insurance to pay for that trip, and now, with it just three weeks away, I may have to put in a new application for Dr. Bitan. If he is able to provide me with evidence that I need this surgery that will over turn the Provincial Insurance, then I will go with him, especially after the reviews I have gotten here. (Thank you everyone!) It has been a full time job, but I think it has been worth it. The Appeal Board said I was a well know name at their office...that it was a 'very active case'. For every snorky letter the Insurance office sent out, I sent ten back It's not over, but I've learned lots; even if it doesn't work out for me...at least I may be able to help others.

A special thanks to Rosy, who showed me the light...she has been giving me the names of all these doctors over the past month or so, and urging me to contact them. I had been on a one track mission for so long, I hadn't looked at other options, not thinking I had any.

This website is a godsend. Without it, I would still be struggling along on my own, trying to research things on the net with the few hours a day I could stand sitting. You have turned into such good friends, all of you. I think we should plan a get-together some day soon to celebrate our successes.

[Maria]

The reason you are being fitted in so quickly is the urgency of your case. Glad to hear it sounds like you have your bases covered or are able to get them covered re funding for surgery however it has to be done.

Good luck. It sounds like you need to prepare yourself for surgery in the very very near future. Travel safely.

[sahuaro]

I am just catching up on posts and have read your other thread and the progression of thinking about how to proceed. It is amazing--and I must say, you are amazing in your thoroughness! How fortunate that you did contact Dr. Bitan! Wishing you well in your trip to NY--I hope he can provide what sounds like very needed treatment.

[Katie]

I can't sleep...wonder why.

This is starting to make me angry, yet again. If every other surgeon on the planet who has looked at my case is sure that I have an urgent issue, then why has 'my' system let me down so badly?

I've had two CT scans, two MRIs, all cervical as well as lumbar views, as well as a full set of xrays, all angles, over the past three years. Not one doctor here has thought twice about it, nor followed through on any treatment. I've had five appointments with three doctors, each lasting about ten minutes, with each one dismissing ADR as quackery and saying there is no other treatment available for me.

No discectomies to investigate facet pain, nothing except a few steroid injections for pain from my pain management doctor, plus almost sufficient pain medication after a year's wait before finding her. The rest I could gladly toss off a cliff. Has anyone successfully sued for damages when a case has been bungled this badly?

Not only that, but the so called experts in the Insurance office who work for the Provincial government have made it their job to minimize my case. When I found that other case in the Appeal Board archives, the one that was so similar to mine, which had been overturned and awarded to the patient, the Insurance agent, an old fart of a doctor who had spent most of his life behind the Appeal Board desk instead of practicing medicine, deemed that I was over exaggerating my case and asked that it be dismissed. Such an expert on spinal issues.

He found another so-called expert, Dr. Hamilton Hall, who was the foremost Canadian expert because he wrote a book on back problems..."The Spine Doctor". His main theory was that most patients were Workman's Comp clients who were trying to rip off the system and/or dope addicts. This idiot basically said I was a hypochondriac, and recommended treatment that included "being taken off all ineffective narcotics, and going to a well structured program of behavioural modification and cognitive restructuring". It continues to say that "recognizing that the appellant's conviction that multiple disc replacement is her only hope of recovery, such a pain management approach may be impossible to initiate and carries a high risk of failure. Obviously she is not a surgical candidate and a further delay will not lead to any irreversible tissue damage."
Translation: Since she is obsessed about getting ADR she is a hopeless case.

Their main line of defense is that multi-level disc replacement is not done in Ontario at all, and therefore is not an appropriate treatment for a person in my condition.

Meanwhile, I contacted the Government Office of Access to Information, the Privacy Commission and received confirmation that over 130 ADR have been done in Ontario over the past five years, and over a dozen of them have been multi-level, including cervical.

I also found a 2006 report put out by the Ministry of Health, that recommended that ADR surgery be increased by 5% for spinal patients per year, up to a minimum of 300 each year, instead of less than the present 10 or so.. One hand of the Health Department does not know what the other is doing! It went on to say that 79% of ADR cases had a greater success rate than fusion, etc.

If this is not enough to win my case, along with dozens of documents from PubMed over the past four years, defending ADR, I don't know what will be.

I recognize what the Insurance Board is trying to do...wear me out and get me to quit. But they don't know who they have taken on. As far as I know, I will be the only patient in Ontario who will have had their ADR surgery covered, if I win. Maybe in Canada, although Rosy thought that maybe one other had won their case eventually. I just want to open the flood gates for others who are worse off than me and don't have the energy to fight for their rights, who are too sick, or not able to access a computer, whatever the reason.

I am lucky enough to have a wonderful husband who has supported me throughout this whole ordeal, even though it has consumed four out of our five years of marriage. On the night he proposed, at a formal Naval Officers Valentine's Ball, he almost had to carry me out when I had a sciatic attack, and never got one dance, his biggest regret. I truly married a prince, and he deserves so much more than a disabled wife who can barely smile, let alone dance.

I can't wait to give him back the wife and friend that he deserves so much. We are determined to make this work before the summer is over. With just a little luck and prayers from all concerned, it may just come true.

Sorry this post was so long...I just had a lot to get out, especially since I am not able to get my beauty sleep If you have gotten through all this, you deserve a medal

[Katie]

Do you really think he will want to do surgery that quickly? But getting the answer to my application for surgery may take months, if they approve it at all.

At least he can break the deadlock between ADR and DIAM....I hope. How many other appliances out there can they throw in the mix? Or do I want to know the answer to that????

[mary.mary]

Where in Ontario do you live?