Brand new here looking for advice, please?

[wendriful]

Did I just read that correctly? Dr. Regan did a surgery on you and you woke up and couldn't breathe? (45% lung capacity) Are you on oxygen? Wow, my head is swimming over your prognosis. I am sorry to even mention my 'very' small issue after reading your post.

Well, it looks like I will be staying in the U.S. for surgery. I can get a line of credit out of our house but just think it would not be wise to pay upfront. If there is a complication and insurance does not pay (I have a friend this happened to for another surgery and she was in Mayo for 14 months, do the math on that). And I just had BCBS rescind payment for a different issue all together for my son which means I am paying the other $9,000 owed to them this week. go me. ha ha.

Thanks so much for ALL of your support. SO nice to be amongst people who get the whole "I have fallen but I can't get up" crowd. lol. Hey, humor has taken me many places in life. I believe I will be getting my hybrid (1 level fusion @ S1/L5 plus ADR at L4/L5 in New York City. If ya'll don't mind, I will hang out on this forum to get me through this process; and then, maybe I can be of help to others.

Funny, I thought my DH (darling husband) was gonna pass out when Mark called from Germany yesterday on my cell phone. He said that is $10 minute! I said he used skype...not sure if that matters, but he told me it was only 4 cents a minute...Thanks for all of you who get the whole: "I feel like a very large Greenback" concept. My best to all of you and no hard feelings to anyone; I don't feel like anyone came down hard on me at all.

[jsewell]

Wendriful
No issue is small, if you have not experienced something bigger , it is all big!! Yes i actually was put on a respirator for a while and in intensive care.
the really bad part was that DrRegan ignored the whole situation, never came to see me or even called my husband after the long surgery. He called my cell at the time i was on a respirator (wrong cell) and said everything was ok. My husband got any info from a volunteer in the waiting room. Once they got me stable (after many hours) he was only allowed to see me for 10 minutes.

The low lung function sucks as i am an avid exercisor.
Good Luck to you wherever you go for your surgery.
judy

[dshobbies]

Wendriful,

Agree with Judy, no issue is too small. I'm amazed at the small issues accumulating in my mind and find solace that others experience the same thing.

On BCBS rescinding payment - I know of another. He got a lawyer. Decisions were based on payment - BCBS backed down. They're counting on you doing nothing. He won very quickly. Can't afford an attorney - can you afford the 9k?

Dale

[wendriful]

Maybe I should just start a new thread? MY head is swimming with information, just when I think I get it; and I research discs til I am blue in the face ...I am told by the world's leading surgeon something I don't understand at all. Maybe it's the language barrier. I should just write them back and ask for clarification, but don't feel that would be right since I told them before they responded that I was not going to use their facility, and I just don't want to tie up their time.

I think I am reading his message to say, we have relooked at your case, and it's way too risky to do anterior procedure unless you have a VERY, VERY skilled surgeon, so second best choice would be to get a dorsal fusion only, ie. PLIF or TLIF only. Maybe I will just write back and see if they meant 2 fusions or a fusion and an ADR.

My abdomen is full of fun titanium and mesching, etc. so it would be like a minefield; but everyone originally told me that I was a candidate for 2 ADR. Until the doc from New York said: I am 100% positive that can't happen...then they changed it to: you can get a one level ADR and a fusion. Today I went to our local neuro/ortho surgeon and he doesn't do ADR's but offered me an ALIF with cadaver disc and then will flip me over for some percutaneous pedicle screws, etc. in my back to finish minimally invasively. I now have to do 3 more weeks of studying all of those initials I guess. (I get the jest of them, just am SO unsure of who, what, when, where and how for ME.) And I know that noone can decide but me...

On the ventilator dialogue, that must have been a horrifying ordeal for you and your husband and then to not feel cared for after, must have felt like betrayal! I think I could use a breathing apparatus right about now; oh wait, I think a brown bag will do. On the law suit, it's been 16 mos. and DH's company attorney's have already decided that I would lose apparently (at least if suit was filed against provider; they were deceptive to me and didn't tell me BCBS called them and said they wouldn't pay for his stay, and then proceeded to bill us (unknowingly) for residential treatment while telling me it was inpatient! And because I signed something when I checked him in, it makes it impossible for me to win (apparently) Course, DH never signed anything!...whatever...It will AT least be a tax write off! I need air...

[Maria]

Ask for further clarification. The worse that can happen is that you don't get it and the best is that you do to get it so that you fully understand what was meant by the reply. You've got nothing to lose. If the implant to be used w/ADR has to have anterior placement then I guess it's being suggested that if you cannot go to someone that is as highly skilled as this surgeon you would have either a posterior or transforaminal approach to your surgery and this might limit what type of hardware/implant device is utilized.

[dshobbies]

W,

You're overwhelmed. Though understandable it's difficult to think clearly when you have so much to think about.

First and foremost, you must understand what you are being told and why. You are paying for these opinions and have the right to ask for clarification.

You need to pick one thing and get it done before moving onto the next. So yes, write back, tell him you aren't sure what he is telling you and keep at it until you understand completely. You head won't be swimming if you stay focused on one thing.

We've all been overwhelmed with so many things at one time or another and always discover the same thing. You can only do one thing at a time. Make a list of what you need to get done and check them off, one by one.

D