after battling with bcbs over a fda approved adr and losing. and i do have a appointment with dr yue in march on the 13th,about the prodisc activ-l upcoming study. i'm now looking into my options to remortage the house and going to see dr.b in germany.i'm leaning in this direction due to the fact that believe the doctor having the option to use the best suited adr for the person would be very benfitfal.
thoughs are truely welcomed
my best chuck

Wow, that's a big step! Congrats on your milestone!

http://adrsupport.org/groupee_common...icon_smile.gif

Congrats..I know you must really be putting a lot of heavy thought into this process~
I want to look into how much I might get w/settling lifetime future med benefits w/WC as an alternative ~ at this point it's just considering it, tho my back is out right now and it just galls me that there is likely something out there that could be done to help me but insurance issues prevent access...

Go for it if you've the conviction and the means..

mariaa
have you spoke to a lawyer about your case.
i think i would want to talk to one if i were in your shoes.
well having the means and or having the money r two diff things.
i will keep my appointment with dr yue but if its going to be a yr for this study to start thats not aceptable.or if they want a geina pig but its going to cost anyways i dont see it a advange.after reading many post about poor bone density and here in the states one would end up fused.after the last few yrs trying to get my back fixed i see the usa being very limited to treatment options. then theres the damn insurance companys who in the long run control us http://adrsupport.org/groupee_common...icon_frown.gif
if our goverment states if safe and effective whom gives them the right to say different. they have no issuse taking our money for the premiums.
then durning the appeal process i learned that the ceo of BCBS keystone health plan east made 27 million last yr. its like the f!!!!
mean awhile here i sit with a single level ddd L4 L5 with nevre root compression in the same area also L5 and S1 are fused from birth and was told by 3 of there own network surgeons i was a prefect candidate for adr and BCBS told me my condition didnt fall into fda standards for disc replacement. i do'nt get it
mean while its ok for them to keep one druged up.
just does'nt make sence to me meanwhile facets contine to take a beating.i've managed to work though out all this bullcrap. they dont understand no work i'd lost every thing house etc.. and i suppose everyone has a money tree out back that automaticly pay health insurance premiums go figure. sorry for the whinning i'm just getting abit worryed im running out of time seeing as theres almost no disc there any more.if my back is'nt aching then its my left leg burning like hell.or sometimes i get to have both at the same time. http://adrsupport.org/groupee_common...icon_frown.gif
so i'm doing all the info i can gather because i see this procedure a ONE SHOT DEAL.
agian sorry for all the whinning
my best chuck

Chuck,

Whine away........You have the right tooooooo. I took out a line of credit on my house instead of refinancing after my accident to help with the fact that the money tree in the backyard was dormant. You can�t put a price on your health money will come money will go and when you strong and well again it will come and you will be dancing to the bank.

Good luck with this decision.

BLW you may want to look into Laura C case. She fought BC and won. She has a congenital issue at L5-S1 too and this may be a case for you, just a thought.

Chuck,
I think I understand exactly how you feel..
My life is being wasted away on drugs and nothingness in terms of waiting around for FDA approval of 2 level ADR to be approved by CA. Utilization Review (vs. allowing a skilled surgeon to use his or her perogative on "off label use") who should want to return a person with my knowledge and skills back to the work force but doesn't give a hoot as I'm just a number and it would cost too much for me to have surgery again...which I'm sure is peanuts to the insurance co.

I guess the insurance co. is OK with the "off label use" of Neurontin for nerve pain vs. using it as anti seizure medication .. Oh, but that is relatively cheap to maintain me on as is Methadone to keep me drugged and slush brained..

Really it's very frustrating. At this point, however, I have to find another treating doctor who will at least make the effort to see if I'm still a candidate for multilevel ADR and propose it to CA.WC UR .. then if denied go thru appeals..

Meanwhile to obtain a WC attorney again I must put a retainer fee down tho mostly, there must be a reason to engage the firm again as they will not resume any action should there be no legal reason in the WC realm.

Settling is something I must definately have an attorney for however, first I'm checking into this with some material gained from www.nolo.com

I will try the route of WC first, and see how much longer that might take to get where I could possibly be however, I'm sure I'm fighting time and physical deterioration with the surrounding entities besides the disc.. that is a strong consideration also.

Means, well, I have none other than credit and what I could gain from settling so this is where my $$ would come from and nowhere else..

One has to take a leap of faith, one way or another when considering spine surgery.. and even in some cases, it's how geographically far one might leap!

Take care, stay as mentally strong as you can throughout.. positive, hopeful, and focused..

dear mariaa
no worries you still sound Very Sharp to me http://adrsupport.org/groupee_common...icon_smile.gif
my thoughs and prayers r with you and i wish you the best outcome possible.
chuck

This will be the best money you have ever spent in your life.

Brad

Chuck you will not regret your decision to see Dr. Yue. He and Dr. Bertagnoli are the best. We had to take out a home equity loan to help finance my husband's surgery in Vienna. It was difficult to have to do that, but we think the results were well worth it.

It's too bad the insurance companies don't realize that if they covered the surgery, we'd be saving them $$$$ in the long run.

MaryLou

Good luck Chuck. It sounds like things are finally starting to fall in place.

I second Brad's comment.

Justin