Ha, that's funny. As if there are days when I don't think about my hip.
Actually, there are other things going on. Like the last weeks of school for my kids, which includes dress-up days for Spirit Week and school carnival, but thankfully also a little bit less homework than usual. Also work, of course, which included a great conference last month, but also news of jobs being eliminated/moved (not mine) which was not so great.
Listen, I have to be honest, much of my brain is focused on this whole hip thing. Whether it's thinking about pain levels, details for the trip, new medical studies, other hipsters - it takes up a lot of my time. So anything in my life is sort of viewed through the filter of "how it's affected by my hip."
The kids are pretty happy that they get to see and stay with Grandmas and Cousins and Aunties while we're gone. So I've put worrying about how they'll be feeling on hold for the most part. Also, we'll have someone staying at the house the entire time, which I had also been worrying about - but between a conference my step-mom needs to attend in our town to some friends being between abodes, it's just worked out rather easily in fact. Awesome!
A couple of people that I've met online doing research on hip resurfacing are in India presently - one has had surgery and one is in the next couple of days. They'll both be gone by the time we get there, but it's very cool to be in contact with folks just ahead of me.
My husband has been awesome about everything. I am not consciously worrying (yet) about surgery - but I know it's just under the surface. I'm glad he's coming along, cause it's quite an adventure.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Evidence that worrying TOTALLY WORKS
I saw a quote recently on my friend Sally's Facebook status: "Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, but only saps today of its strength." In my experience, this holds true.
Yet I can't completely rid my brain of that little superstitious thought that if I worry about the worst possible thing, I will magically prevent it from coming to be.
We sent our Indian visa applications to the India consulate in San Francisco last week. The website says that the application typically takes 7 to 9 business days to process. So when
I received an email yesterday that said that the applications had been "processed correctly" and were being FedEx-ed back to us I was fairly certain that "processed correctly" didn't mean "approved" but rather meant "you screwed up so we denied your visas" or even "we're not approving visas right now due to some security concern or other" - I mean "processed correctly" doesn't really SAY anything.
So I worked that thought over in my head for the last 24 hours.
Thank goodness for FedEx - I only had to ward off bad news with my magical worrying powers for one day. Everything has arrived and our visas are approved and paperwork is in order!
"I have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened" - Mark Twain
... It's because of my magical brain!
Yet I can't completely rid my brain of that little superstitious thought that if I worry about the worst possible thing, I will magically prevent it from coming to be.
We sent our Indian visa applications to the India consulate in San Francisco last week. The website says that the application typically takes 7 to 9 business days to process. So when
I received an email yesterday that said that the applications had been "processed correctly" and were being FedEx-ed back to us I was fairly certain that "processed correctly" didn't mean "approved" but rather meant "you screwed up so we denied your visas" or even "we're not approving visas right now due to some security concern or other" - I mean "processed correctly" doesn't really SAY anything.So I worked that thought over in my head for the last 24 hours.
Thank goodness for FedEx - I only had to ward off bad news with my magical worrying powers for one day. Everything has arrived and our visas are approved and paperwork is in order!
"I have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened" - Mark Twain
... It's because of my magical brain!
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
More information about resurfacing
The Hip Resurfacing Yahoo Group has been invaluable to me - and many others - in learning about the availability of this procedure. Plenty of people are NEVER informed that this is even an option, even though it's been approved by the FDA for 5 years, and this particular device has been used in Europe for 15 years.
This is a more challenging surgery than a total hip replacement procedure, and many surgeons aren't trained to do it, so why bring it up, I guess?
One of the people in the Yahoo group posted a link to a Minnesota anchorman's hip resurfacing story. Don't worry, his name isn't Ron Burgundy. This is great overview of hip resurfacing.
It's about 5 minutes long. If you are at all squeamish (Rachel), just skip minutes 2-3. It's operating room footage. Probably not more than you'd see on your favorite medical drama, but still.
There's post-op stuff too which I was really interested in seeing - he's up and walking (slowly) Day One with a walker.
Anyway, hope you find this interesting. If you have troubles with the video, try copying and pasting the address into your browser. They can be finicky.
This is a more challenging surgery than a total hip replacement procedure, and many surgeons aren't trained to do it, so why bring it up, I guess?
One of the people in the Yahoo group posted a link to a Minnesota anchorman's hip resurfacing story. Don't worry, his name isn't Ron Burgundy. This is great overview of hip resurfacing.
It's about 5 minutes long. If you are at all squeamish (Rachel), just skip minutes 2-3. It's operating room footage. Probably not more than you'd see on your favorite medical drama, but still.
There's post-op stuff too which I was really interested in seeing - he's up and walking (slowly) Day One with a walker.
Anyway, hope you find this interesting. If you have troubles with the video, try copying and pasting the address into your browser. They can be finicky.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
India - it's Official!
Sheeze, I can't believe it's been so long since I updated this, but I wanted to wait until things were really and truly official, and then I wanted to make sure I'd told my family and such before they learned about my plans from a blog.
But I am really going to Chennai, India to get my hip fixed.
Ted is going with me - in July - and we have family and friends who are willing to help with kid and home care. So I've gotten to practice asking for help - really, who is good at that? Not me. But I'm doing it. There is a lot of logistics stuff at the beginning of this process - scheduling, flights, hotels, visa applications - but we're almost through that.
I can't wait to have a hip that works.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Patience is a virtue. Just not one of mine.
I feel like nothing has really happened since my last post, but actually, I do have more information since then - especially about the insurance stuff.
I have generally pretty good insurance coverage - if I were having this surgery with a local in-network provider, I'd probably have to pay around $1,000 out-of-pocket, depending on how many days I spent in the hospital. When I consider that the total bill is probably minimum $50,000 in my geographic region, I consider it good coverage.
One thing my insurance provider has been stellar at is customer service. I can always reach a customer service agent, and they have a consistently helpful attitude, which for some reason surprises me. When the customer service agent was in over her head with some of my questions, she had a nurse case manager contact me. The nurse case manager (who was a hoot on the phone) gave me her full name and direct line so that I could contact her with other questions as they come up.
What I've learned is that none of the US surgeons I would be willing to travel to are part of the out-of-Oregon network. This means I would be responsible for 20% of the allowable amount. This also means that if the actual charges are more than the allowable amount, I would be responsible for the entire difference. Since the allowable amount is a regional average, I expect that the actual charges in NYC would indeed be higher than the Oregon allowable amount.
I've also learned that since I do not have 'normal' bone density, my surgery would not be pre-authorized. So I expect that means, if I want them to cover it, I have go through some sort of appeal process where I try and wrangle the insurance company. That does not sound fun.
Lemme 'splain. No. There is too much. Lemme sum up: I could spend time and effort convincing an insurance company to cover a portion of the surgery, and still spend more out-of-pocket dollars for a (still excellent but) less experienced surgeon. Or I could try to get on the list with Dr. Vijay Bose in Chennai.
I've officially requested him to resurface my hip, and it's all I can do to keep from checking my email every 20 minutes. Though at some point it becomes moot, as Chennai is 12 1/2 (odd, I know) hours ahead of Oregon. There's no point in checking for another eight hours, at least!
I have generally pretty good insurance coverage - if I were having this surgery with a local in-network provider, I'd probably have to pay around $1,000 out-of-pocket, depending on how many days I spent in the hospital. When I consider that the total bill is probably minimum $50,000 in my geographic region, I consider it good coverage.
One thing my insurance provider has been stellar at is customer service. I can always reach a customer service agent, and they have a consistently helpful attitude, which for some reason surprises me. When the customer service agent was in over her head with some of my questions, she had a nurse case manager contact me. The nurse case manager (who was a hoot on the phone) gave me her full name and direct line so that I could contact her with other questions as they come up.
What I've learned is that none of the US surgeons I would be willing to travel to are part of the out-of-Oregon network. This means I would be responsible for 20% of the allowable amount. This also means that if the actual charges are more than the allowable amount, I would be responsible for the entire difference. Since the allowable amount is a regional average, I expect that the actual charges in NYC would indeed be higher than the Oregon allowable amount.
I've also learned that since I do not have 'normal' bone density, my surgery would not be pre-authorized. So I expect that means, if I want them to cover it, I have go through some sort of appeal process where I try and wrangle the insurance company. That does not sound fun.
Lemme 'splain. No. There is too much. Lemme sum up: I could spend time and effort convincing an insurance company to cover a portion of the surgery, and still spend more out-of-pocket dollars for a (still excellent but) less experienced surgeon. Or I could try to get on the list with Dr. Vijay Bose in Chennai.
I've officially requested him to resurface my hip, and it's all I can do to keep from checking my email every 20 minutes. Though at some point it becomes moot, as Chennai is 12 1/2 (odd, I know) hours ahead of Oregon. There's no point in checking for another eight hours, at least!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Five Star Day
I looked through the section of the paper with the horoscopes in it this morning as I was heating up my oatmeal. It gives Libras five stars for March 31st. I'm not feeling it.
What I am feeling is anxious. That feeling of just having so much I should/could be doing that none of it is getting done because as soon as I look at one piece, I start thinking about another piece, and then I look at that piece. Rinse. Repeat.
I'm not nervous about the surgery (well, I'm not nervous about that right now). I'm nervous about all the logistical decisions I have to make, and all the information-gathering I have to do: What if I don't ask the exact right question of my insurance, and end up with a huge bill? What if I don't ask the exact right question of my insurance, and miss out on coverage I could have had? What if New York is less expensive than India? What if flying to and from India is awful? What if I miss my kids while I'm gone? What if I make a mistake??????
Also, my work is going through a huge systems change starting tomorrow. So I'm trying to clean up loose ends as best as I can in anticipation. So I can't even distract myself with work - I just have a bunch more 'what ifs' there.
Some days it's just really hard to be a grown up. I would not give those days five stars.
What I am feeling is anxious. That feeling of just having so much I should/could be doing that none of it is getting done because as soon as I look at one piece, I start thinking about another piece, and then I look at that piece. Rinse. Repeat.
I'm not nervous about the surgery (well, I'm not nervous about that right now). I'm nervous about all the logistical decisions I have to make, and all the information-gathering I have to do: What if I don't ask the exact right question of my insurance, and end up with a huge bill? What if I don't ask the exact right question of my insurance, and miss out on coverage I could have had? What if New York is less expensive than India? What if flying to and from India is awful? What if I miss my kids while I'm gone? What if I make a mistake??????
Also, my work is going through a huge systems change starting tomorrow. So I'm trying to clean up loose ends as best as I can in anticipation. So I can't even distract myself with work - I just have a bunch more 'what ifs' there.
Some days it's just really hard to be a grown up. I would not give those days five stars.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
You're thinking of going WHERE?!?
The top docs in the hip resurfacing community say my age and activity level are worth the effort of getting a resurfacing right on me. My shallow socket (hip dysplasia) is more of a concern than my bone density score - and the experienced doctors would be the most-skilled at getting the placement right, which is the reason for concern with dysplasia.
Besides, I believe this is really the best long-term option for my bone density - I'll be able to focus on keeping my bones strong through exercise with a hip joint that more closely resembles normal anatomy.
So I've started crunching preliminary numbers (they could use... something... paprika? salt? no...) and it's looking like I could see a top US surgeon and pay the out-of-network provider fees (assuming my insurance would cover out-of-network at all, since there are providers in-network that could do the surgery, even if they won't do the surgery) - OR I could fly to Chennai, India, be hospitalized at Apollo Specialty Hospital for 5 days, and then stay at a nearby hotel or resort for the next 8-9 days, and fly home for approximately 25-30% less than the out-of-pocket cost of any US surgeon.
That's a lot!
Listen, I would never have thought I'd be the girl who looks for "medical value travel." I am one of the last people I would expect to seriously consider this. But the more I learn about the doctors, the more I hear about others who have done this, the more I want one of these top docs.
And my gut says Chennai. So Ted and I are gathering information. I may change course, once again - acquiring information does that sometimes.
Besides, I believe this is really the best long-term option for my bone density - I'll be able to focus on keeping my bones strong through exercise with a hip joint that more closely resembles normal anatomy.
So I've started crunching preliminary numbers (they could use... something... paprika? salt? no...) and it's looking like I could see a top US surgeon and pay the out-of-network provider fees (assuming my insurance would cover out-of-network at all, since there are providers in-network that could do the surgery, even if they won't do the surgery) - OR I could fly to Chennai, India, be hospitalized at Apollo Specialty Hospital for 5 days, and then stay at a nearby hotel or resort for the next 8-9 days, and fly home for approximately 25-30% less than the out-of-pocket cost of any US surgeon.
That's a lot!
Listen, I would never have thought I'd be the girl who looks for "medical value travel." I am one of the last people I would expect to seriously consider this. But the more I learn about the doctors, the more I hear about others who have done this, the more I want one of these top docs.
And my gut says Chennai. So Ted and I are gathering information. I may change course, once again - acquiring information does that sometimes.
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