Hello everyone. Haven't posted in a bit. We've had a change of plans. My husband Dean was scheduled for a 2 level w/ Dr. B in Germany for 3/9/07, but we're now having surgery with Dr. Yue on 2/23/07 in CT. We were contacted by Dr. Yue recently, who informed us that he got the go-ahead a while ago from Synthes (Prodisc's manufacturer) to do two levels in the USA. The decision for us to change plans was very difficult. The entire cost of the Germany trip was significantly less expensive, Dr. B is top notch, and we had a lovely timeshare arranged in Germany as well. But we changed course because we have an 8 mth old baby and a 25 mth old which makes traveling abroad crazy, and the fact that Dr. Yue is practically in our back yard compared to Germany. We also like the Dr. Yue/ Dr. Bertagnoli connection.
We expect to be denied by our insurance company (HealthNet) and I'm going to go through the appeals process after the fact. Synthes now has material on it's website that you can use to appeal, as well as support staff available by phone.
Feb. 23rd can't get here fast enough. His hospital stay is three days. Right now we're in the process of making payment arrangements. He has to have a new MRI tomorrow and a new CT scan after that. Dean expects the tests may show that L5/S1 has gotten worse. Initially he hadn't lost much disc height at either level, so we're hoping things have not changed. The feeling of increased pain could be a combination of adjusting to his pain medication and the fact that he hasn't been able to do anything but lay around the house for a year. He used to be a physical person and his body is now shot! He is actually looking forward to all of the walking that is recommended for recovery. Dean is at the stage of getting scared about surgery but he's also mentally ready to get his life back together. We'll keep you posted on how things transpire.
Kim