Happy Holidays

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. It was great! Kids have been enjoying the extended time off due to the weather.

The snow is finally gone and things are getting back to normal! It was very treacherous driving last week.

On Tuesday it took me 3 hours to get home and tree nearly fell on me. I had to move the tree in order to get home as it blocked the road!

I feel like I am back in the Mid West!!! They are saying this was the worst snow fall ever. I believe it.

My brothers are here for visit which is very nice. Its been awhile since they have been here and the kids are enjoying spending time with them.

My pain unfortunately is getting more intense. Thank God I only have a week. This time next week I will be feeling much better, I hope. It is interesting but my left hip is really starting to bother me and not just the ache from over use. It is more like a stinging which concerns me. However, it does not hurt when I bend and rotate it so no labral tear. My back has been very sore as well. I think its because of all the snow shoveling and taking on and off of my tire chains.

I know limping with the cane has not been helpful either.

It has been very interesting to walk around with a cane in the ice and snow. I am surprised I have not fallen on my butt yet.

I got my authorization the mail from my insurance company. Just a validation to what was discussed on the phone, buts its nice to have it in your hands.

So now my stress is not only obsessing about the outcome of my surgery but how much time to take off? I don't want to waste a lot of my PTO at work but I also am very nervous to drive myself to work too soon. They really don't like me working from home and I don't want to take advantage of the freedom they have given me due my issues this year. My plan is to take Jan 2nd off (Friday) and Jan 5th (Monday). That should give me enough time to get comfortable and move around on crutches. I am going to spend the first part of next week getting everything done and work ahead. That way if for some reason I have to be out through Friday Jan 9th I am prepared.

(Probably totally over thinking this, but what else is new)

Everyone has been joking that 2008 has been THE YEAR OF GREG.... Cross your fingers that 2009 will not be a continuation.. I believe that will be the case! I could not imagine what else could go wrong with me physically. So, hears to a healthy 2009 and all my posts will be about the fun activities I doing with the boys and Theresa. We have a bunch of camping to catch up on and we are thinking about a road trip to San Francisco for spring break.

I say 2009 is THE YEAR OF FUN & UNEVENTFUL LIVING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Hear is hoping.........

A WHITE CHRISTMAS???

Can you believe this? I thought I lived on the west coast not the midwest!!! We have had quite the snow storm over the last few days.

Hopefully the worst is over. I missed work today and the highways were closed. What a storm!!!

Good To Go

Heard from my Doctor and my insurance company approved the surgery!!


Thank God. Finally things are going my way......... The date of the surgery is 1-2-09 however, so I will have to pay my deductible but it beats paying for the whole thing. Also I can watch the Ducks bowl game without interruption on the 30th.

Now I am getting nervous but it should be a no brainer and I will be pain free very very soon.

I am also very glad it is Friday. Its been a long stressful week. Spent this evening Christmas shopping which was fun. Starting to get that Christmas spirit.

Getting ready for another "Arctic Blast"!! Weather Man says tomorrow afternoon and evening will be a very messy day. We will see. They have been dead wrong all week... We have had snow but not as bad as they say.

It was dry pavement all the way into work. So dry, I broke a tire chain.. Oh well, its probably the last time I will use them in years.

Talk to you later.. Count to SURGERY DAY!!!!!!

Happy Holidays

Halfway Home!!!

Just a quick follow up, I heard back from the Doctors office and it is looking like everything is a go. My surgery was moved to the Hospital instead of the surgery center.

The date is still 12-31. I will get the final word by end of the week. I am feeling very good about the odds. In order to get things moving I had to call my Insurance Company and push them. I got the customer service person to expedite the request. Surprisingly they were very helpful.

I cant wait to finally get some pain relief. In the last two days the pain has been getting worse in my LEFT hip??? Its from the over compensating and limping with that stupid cane.. I was up late last night unable to get comfortable. In fact I was in tears. It hurt like Hell. I took my vicodin before bed but its effectiveness is diminishing quickly. I took some Ibuprophen which helped a little. Today I am using a heating pad. It seems to be working a little.

Just a few more weeks and its all over.....

All is good today but.................YOU NEVER KNOW!!!!!!!!!!ITS BEEN ONE OF THOSE YEARS...

Take it easy and strap yourself in for the bad snow storm coming tomorrow!!!!

Talk to you later!!!

ITS SNOWING!!!!

The weather is looking more like winter now!!

Kids are up on Mt Hood this morning and we are both a little stressed...But they had a fun snow weekend!

Looks like no school tomorrow. Nice to see snow around the Holidays!!

Take care

Rough Week!

Thank god it it Friday. My customer is closing out not only the month but the year. They close down the 19th so we have a very short month get all the product they need in house to all of the there plants across the US, Canada and Mexico.

We are behind! They are getting very nervous!! Lots of phone calls, stress, stress and more stress. Usually, I handle these types of issues with no problem. Its been worse. However, I have no patients and my thick skin was peeled away months ago..

It is very hard to stay professional, keep everyone cool and work the problems. The good news is everyone at work is very understanding and helping. I am very lucky... I also have a great assistant!!!

Called my doctor today and his assistant, Trevor called me back. Never had a male PA before!! Anyway he is a very nice guy and very responsive. Unlike the Doc who FORGOT TO CALL ME TODAY...AFTER SURGERY TODAY HE LEFT EARLY!!!

I have to wait until Monday to talk to him. I have been doing some more research and it looks like a 50-50 proposition weather to have the PAO surgery and the Femural Arthoplasty/Labral tear at the same time vs just the tear repair and arthoplasty... If the repair works and buys me even 5 years it will be worth it. But if it does not even buy me 2 years, I still have pain and run the risk of another tear, I will take the PAO and hope for the best.. I want all these issues to GO AWAY... I want to get back to life as usual. So do the boys and Tre.... I have been very grumpy lately. Partly because my leg even with the Vicodin still hurts and the vicodin also makes me a bit anxious and short tempered.

I have no update on the insurance side. The pre-authorization was sent in. They said to follow up Monday. I WAS TOLD IT COULD TAKE UP TO 30 DAYS! That just wont work for me, I said. I need this to happen this year so that I don't have to shell out more money to another hospital!!!

All of this has made the Christmas Holiday very hard to take. I have no excitement about it. It took everything I had to put up the few lights I have. I am dreading getting a tree because of the effort it will take.. I am working on making myself be happy as I don't want to ruin it for everyone.

This is my favorite time of year so all this really sucks!!!

I cant wait to speak to the doctor as I need some direction on this. I also need to decide if I want pay upfront or hope my insurance will cover. I also found out I may have lost my surgery date. They put me in "limbo" until this payment issue is done..

Based on all that, it does not look good does it? I guess what happens, happens... Not much I can do about it.

The boys go on a camp out tomorrow at a boyscout snow lodge. Should be awesome. I wish I could go. We had a blast the last time. To risky however, I am scared to death I would injury myself.....

There will be other chances.

I am running out of things to say.. Vicodin taking hold again.. Good night..........................

Not a good Day

Well there is no way to say any other way except: MY CLAIM WAS DENIED!!! They said it was and "experimental" procedure. WHAT A JOKE....

I am trying to work with my Doc to see what else can we do in order to get this done? I will do what ever it takes, even doing the procedure, Open or doing the Dysplasia correction (PAO) in order to get it all covered!

This shows how bad and messed up our Health care system is.

I will also be contacting Great West tomorrow and try to get a clear explanation as to why they call this procedure, that has been practiced for 10 years, experimental....

Enough for today, I don't know what else to say. Right now I am totally SCREWED!!!!

Update on consultation

The trip to Seattle was great!! Dr. Downer is a fantastic person and I am very glad I found him! Thank you SHC!!

Here is the low down:

The Labral Tear is the result of a Femoral impingement. The impingement is due to a malformed Femur neck, right side. It caused rubbing which resulted in the labral tear and accounts for the pain.

Dr. Downer is going to first fix the shape of my Femur. It will take care of the rubbing and eliminate a lot of my pain. He will re sect the Labrum and if necessary anchor it. However, it may not be necessary to re-stabilize it. It depends on how much is left after he removes the damaged tissue.

The surgery is scheduled (preliminarily for 12-31). The big problem is Insurance. The procedure is considered a "experimental" procedure and not covered by my insurance company. According the scheduler at Dr. Downers office, Great West Health care has never paid on a Labral Tear repair with a Arthroscopic approach. So they require 100% down prior to the surgery. NO WAY!! I told them to submit the pre-authorization and we will see how it goes.

SO NOW MY INSURANCE IS DECIDING MY HEALTH CARE !!! I am very upset but I am holding hope it gets approved. I should know by Tuesday of next week.

Also I got a bit of a curve ball. It turns out I have much bigger issue to deal with at some point. I have Hip Dysplasia. I was born with very shallow hip sockets! As a result, if untreated I will begin to prematurely wear down my hips. This will cause arthritis to take hold in both hips, resulting in hip replacements. I will post links to further explain this disorder. I have not read up on it as I did not expect this to come up.

My first Ortho doc said my hips looked great and did not see any issues what so every except my tear. He and no clue how it tore either. Not the brightest knife in the drawer. Thank God I got a better Doctor!!!!

There is no way of knowing if and when I will need to have this corrective surgery. It is an option to do both surgeries right away if I want to. However, Dr. is 80% sure the Impingement correction and labral repair will eliminate my pain. Then we just wait and see how I feel later next year.

Not sure how I should feel. Its great I have a really good doctor who can fix me. But I am frustrated that I seem to be uncovering other problems that wont go away RIGHT NOW!!

I am also very scared of the thought of my pain not going away because I cant afford the surgery!! My insurance has not let me down this year and I am praying I get lucky once again! Not sure how I can live without this surgery. I am sick and tired of taking Vicodin and living a fog all the time. The pain is getting more and more intense and harder to deal with every day. It sucks!!!

So That's the whole story. I am still in Limbo but I do see a glimmer of light at the end of this very dark and very long tunnel!!!

Stay Tuned!!!

Consultation Day Tomorrow

The day has finally come!! Tomorrow Theresa and I get to drive 3 hours to Seattle to meet with my new Hip Surgeon.


Keep your fingers crossed I get my surgery before year end. I doubt it but it would be nice since I have already met my deductable for the year!!!!