Yes that is what I am doing. I have been waiting to hear from a back surgeon my new doctor wants to send me to. We have heard nothing from this person. So I started doing some digging and found out that this surgeon does not take my insurance or medicare.
It's a free country. For the time being, a service provider is free to contract with the insurance companies he or she chooses to contract with.
You mentioned that you have medicare. There is no shortage of back surgeons that accept medicare, you may have to look around for someone who takes your secondary plan.
Edit: on second thought, we get paid by medicare secondary plans whether we participate in that insurers network or not. I believe that's even the law for supplement plans. The claims cross from mc to the secondary and they pay. So you should be good to go with any back surgeon who accepts medicare assignment. That is if you have classic fee for service medicare, not one of the 'medicare advantage' plans. If you have medicare advantage, you may be tied to the network of whatever insurance companies plan you signed up for. Again, university health systems tend to be in-network providers for all the major insurers while a small-town spine-surgeone may only participate with those plans that make financial sense for him.
I have seen at least 5 back surgeons in this area and none have done anything to help me.
How many back surgeons have you seen since you got the discogram done ?
I can also tell by this post this person has not read any of the other posts,
I did, and they are rather confusing.
From what I can gather you have:
- Marfans disease
- osteoporosis without a discernible cause
- a history of several compression fractures
- a history of a fusion in the neck
- pain and numbness in your arms and legs that has been getting worse
- a recent discogram that shows several ruptured discs in the lumbar spine
- a history of using multiple prescribed pain medications
- depression
Your case is certainly more complicated than your average back pain or spine patient. It has been my experience that complicated patients are sometimes better off at a larger institution like a university hospital where specialists of different disciplines routinely work together to manage complicated patients. In the community, patients with such complicated cases frequently get a bit lost and start to bounce from provider to provider without receiving the best treatment. By getting into the hands of a team of providers from different specialties (rheumatology, pain management, physical therapy/rehab, cardiology, spine surgery), a better result can be achieved. There is no magic 'Dr XYZ' who will be able to fix all of your problems with a single surgery and you wont have to travel 1/2 way across the country to get treatment.
From your location in IL, your best bet is going to be one of the major university medical centers in Chicago. I dont know the medical landscape in chi-town that well but cursory search suggests that Loyola has an adult Marfans clinic in the burbs and Rush has a connective tissue disorders clinic that specialize in your issues. Now, many of the Marfans clinics are driven by cardiology as that tends to be the biggest issue, but all of them deal with the musculoskeletal part of the disease as well. The Marfans foundation lists the following facilities in your general area:
Northwestern Memorial Hospital Contact:
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Amy Ochs MSN, APN, CNP
Medicine Phone: 312-695-5893
Marfan Syndrome and Related Disorders Clinic Email:
aochs@nmh.org
675 N. St. Clair Street, Suite 19-100
Chicago, IL 60611
Clinic serves adults only
Medical Directors:
S. Chris Malaisrie, MD
Marla Mendelson, MD
Washington University School of Medicine, Contact:
Barnes-Jewish Hospital
Dana Gima, RN, BSN
Marfan Syndrome Clinic and Center for Barb Stehman, RN, BSN
Genetically Triggered Aortic Diseases Phone: 314-362-1291 or 888-210-8375
4921 Parkview Place, Suite 8A
St. Louis, MO 63110
Clinic serves people 16 and older
Medical Director:
Alan C. Braverman, MD, FACC*
Geneticist:
Marcia Willing, MD
http://www.marfan.org/resources/patients/find-doctor
