This is my first post on this board (which I am very happy to find)...
I live in Phoenix, AZ and am seeing Dr. Joshua Appel at The Core Institute... I wanted to see Christopher Yeung but they do not take my insurance... As it is I am extremely confident and happy with Dr. Appel...
My back pain started in January 2006 while scrubbing my bathtub... After standing up and feeling intense pain in my back I ended up getting a ride in an ambulance to the hospital a few hours later, where they shot me up with muscle relaxers and painkillers to get my L5-S1 disc to go back in place... I then started seeing doctors about my back and was diagnosed with bi-lateral pars defects at L5 and mild DDD at L5-S1... For 2 years I have done epidural injections, physical therapy, RF neuro-ablation, vicodin/ibuprofen, etc... During that time I have been told by 3 surgeons that I needed a fusion to fix my problems, but because I am only 31 they did not want me to have one...
A few months ago I had a discogram done and found out that not only do I have DDD at L5-S1, but major pain at L4-L5 as well... I just started seeing Dr. Appel about 10 days ago and he suggested a hybrid surgery with an L5-S1 fusion and L4-L5 Charite disc... After hearing this and reading about how this could save me from having fusions in the future due to degradation above the fusion I scheduled my surgery date for December 17th and was very happy...
Just heard yesterday that Lifewise of Arizona (my insurance company through work, owned by Premera)) has approved the fusion, but is calling the Charite disc "investigational"... Since it is FDA approved since 2004 I don't fully understand this, other then the obvious "they don't want to pay for an expensive operation" meaning... The doctor has spoken with the people that make the Charite disc and they are handling the appeal for me... He says they will bombard Lifewise with studies and statistics to prove that I need this surgery and that it is not investigational... I have also talked with the HR director for my company and together we spoke to our broker at Lifewise, who has promised to try to push the appeal through for me...
Since the surgery is supposed to be 3 weeks away I kind of doubt the appeal gets processed by then... My girlfriend (we live together) is a student and is off from school from next week until mid-January, so the timing would've been perfect to have her home for my recovery...
Basically, this sucks. Anyone deal with LifeWise before? Any hints/tips for me?
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