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!!!