runner's surgery blog, L4/5, 2008

[runner]

Hi,
Glad to hear you are in recovery mode. Take it easy. There will be time to fight em. May it get a little better and stronger each day. Keep us posted about your health and progress with insurance. JL
__________________
(Bill) 14 yrs L5-S1 pain & tear
Discography 2003 DDD
10 yrs. chiropractic
6-14-05 L4/5 & L5/S1 Prodisc Yale New Haven CT Dr. James Yue

[runner]

Phylly and JL,

Thanks for the kind thoughts. Phylly, I have a lawyer and now I think I need a different one.
I am just going to keep doing everything to get this covered. In my eyes, my insurance company is one of the worse insurance companies anyone can ever have.

As for recovery, saw my doctor, on Thursday and he said I was progressing well. That I looked a lot better than when he saw me last week in the hospital. LOL.
I am getting the picture that recovery is a slow process. I got some Lidocaine patches for an abdominal pain to the left of my incision and it really does help to put a strip there.
I asked the doctor about distraction pains, because so many seem to encounter them after ADR surgery and he said my hip/back pain could be that. I am now just over two weeks post op.
No physical therapy for now and just continue what I have been doing. I just kind of putter around the house.
I see my vascular surgeon on Monday and see what he says. I got my bandage off and now I just have a small scar and it is underneath my belly button because my L4/5 was higher than normal. It is amazing they can do all that work through a tiny space.
I am really happy I did the ADR surgery and know in my heart it was the best thing to do for me. My surgeons agree.
A great thing happened today, I was a little (lot) depressed and right when I felt the worse, I got a phone call from a friend.
Made all the difference.

In about three and half weeks, go to doc again and get X-rays done. I am curious to see what the Disc looks like. I had x-rays in the hospital but did not get to see them.

Here's to everyone progressing in their recoveries.

[runner]

Hi everyone,

I am just a little over three weeks post-op and seem to be using less pain meds as pain gets better. My abdominal pain is a lot better and feeling pretty good, but I am still on the maintenance pain meds, Oxycontin, and Percocets every four hours and flexeril also. Gabapentin also.

I had a question though. I have left hip pain and just a little on the right and it was really bugging me yesterday and a little better today when I was able to rest more.

So is this par for the course? Or something I should notify my doctor about? I did e-mail his nurse manager who I speak to fairly often and she probably hasn't opened the e-mail yet.

I start wondering if i am being a "worry wart" and this is just the normal healing process?

Everything else is okay, including the constipation I had at first. This hip thing is preventing me from really going out walking around my house outside. I am thinking that maybe I overdid my last trip out (yesterday) but all I did was walk a few hundred meters around the cul de sac near my home but I stood talking to a neighbor for a while but that really shouldn't bother things.

[runner]

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Hi
It's good to hear that you are starting to cruise around the neighborhood and get some of your strength back. Those grabbers are so handy, you will have to treat them better! About your pain, you may want to call your Dr. just to let them know about these pains, especially if they are getting worse or are different than before. It may be routine but everyone feels differently during the recuperation time. The office and Dr. will understand.

I laughed and could really relate when you talked about your nurse manager. Mine called only once (I POURED MY HEART OUT)and then never called again. A new nurse called 3 months later and wanted to start over again since my nurse was too busy with her promotion. I said no as I didn't know who was helping who and I was now managing myself.

Take care and please keep in touch and let us know what's up.
phyly
__________________
Cervical fusion C4-C6 2002
Fall on tailbone April 2005
Discogram positive at L4-S1 2007
Prodisc ADR surgery L4-L5-S1 November 2007 Dr. Delamarter
Decompression surgery L4-S1 for left sided sciatica July 2008
Continued back pain, looking at possible fusion
Removal of Prodiscs and L4-S1 fusion February 2009

[runner]

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Hello Phylly,

Thanks for the advice. I called the doctor and left a message and I will see what he says. I don't know if they can do anything about it, but it really is preventing me from going out back into the neighborhood and walking.

So I am resting.

I start feeling like I am lazy but all of you on here say take it easy and don't rush into things.
Phylly, I called her the doctor's nurse manager, but she is my doctor's office manager and she has helped me so much, getting appeals done and so forth.


Sorry, but my life's mission just might be to get my insurance to pay for ADR surgery in all the cases where the candidates meet the FDA approval guidelines.

They won't cover one level and I know of Workers Comps covering hybrid and two levels and so forth.

On the road to recovery and redemption too.

[runner]

Best wishes for a smooth recovery. You helped me figure the surgery out a bit. I figure I can't be totally crazy if you took the disc replacement path.

your insurance, no wishes for them.
For your comparison, a context,
<LI>CIGNA will pay for 2-level fusion
<LI>CIGNA will not pay for 2-level ADR or hybrid ADR+Fusion

The ~plan to pay for the ADR / TDR myself & avoid 2-level fusion because ... and at some point Cigna might reimburse.


Take care,


Slackwater
Nov'04 MVA: two-level lumbar surgical candidate, reading about options, ADR / TDR , ~Fusion
__________________

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2004 MVA, 2-level lumbar surgical candidate


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[runner]

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Phylly,

Thanks for the advice. Called the doc and he called back and said I might have bursitis. Plan is to take it easy and take Naprosyn or Aleve and see how it is Monday. Might have to go get an x-ray on Monday. Now, at least I am sleeping better as Aleve helps. Never a dull moment with this recovery.

Slackwater,

Thank you.
You are not crazy.
From what my doctor told me, the ALIF (fusion) approach is the same for ADR, so the cost difference is the devices--the disc vs. hardware for fusion.
The two-level is a more extensive surgery of course, just like a two-level fusion would be.
So basically, it is the same surgery as fusion, approach-wise, except for what is put between the vertebrae.

My doctor told me that when he had people get denied by their health insurance, and exhausted appeals, they would usually opt for fusion instead.
But not me.
I think he admired my pluck.

When it came down to ADR, there was no better surgery for me. I just followed my neurosurgeon's first choice. Why would anyone want the second choice? It didn't matter to me, either, that my doc is said to do excellent fusions. I was thinking about the future and wanted my best chance to avoid future surgeries.
And I wanted to preserve my mobility.

I refused too to listen to the negative rhetoric from other doctors, instead I did my own research and trusted my doctor.

When doctors want this surgery themselves when they end up with the same problem, that tells you that you are onto the correct path.

I may be a little crazy, but I always have a plan. I believe as more people stand up for their rights, the more this surgery will be done in the US and the more it will become a standard.
I looked carefully also at the contraindications and I had none. That was important to me as I did not want to do anything foolish. I couldn't believe the misinformation out there about ADR.

Happy hunting.

[Maria]

BCBS is weird in that when hub had BCBS of Ma they wouldn't pay for the Forteo for my osteoporosis but BCBS of TX had no prob with it and paid all of it but $40 I think.

BCBS of Mass was really snotty re answers to questions and acted too bored, steered me to BFE re answers that should have been easy enough to come up with I thought and BCBS of Texas is like speaking to people from another planet as they are so nice and helpful! I couldn't believe the diff!

Now I have to work on getting Tricor and Zetia approved for my cholesterol..