Dear Dynamic Duo (David and Donna):
Sounds good. I'll wait until after (if I even have surgery) to talk about fees. I'm an "anal planner" and since my activities are limited right now my mind is racing.....:)
Have a good night.
Sounds good. I'll wait until after (if I even have surgery) to talk about fees. I'm an "anal planner" and since my activities are limited right now my mind is racing.....:)
Have a good night.
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I just want to thank you all for being so active on this site. I'm feeling quite anxious, my daughter and I fly to LA tomorrow. Since she can not sit, I am very worried. Your posts have given me knowledge and hope that my once very active, smart, happy daughter may actually have some hope. Hope is so very important, and when you seek to save your child,spouse, friend, and after watching her scream, writhe in pain, hope seems far off.
I am hopeful and totally appreciate everything you all have written. This is an important topic because it is unique and unknown in a way. Our appt is on Monday, please say a little prayer for us. We are almost at 16 months of this. Thanks to Donna and David for all of your updates. You are what would appear to be the team captains. :-)
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Menzie:
I will keep you in my thoughts and you can bet they will be positive. Good luck to you and your daughter. There is hope.
Leesa
I will keep you in my thoughts and you can bet they will be positive. Good luck to you and your daughter. There is hope.
Leesa
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Menzie, very best of luck!
I would still encourage you (f you haven't done so already) to contact Dr. John Heinrich in Milwaukie. He is still considered by many to be the best in the world at this, assuming it is Piriformis syndrome and not some other hip problem. Multiple opinions are crucial.
Jane
I would still encourage you (f you haven't done so already) to contact Dr. John Heinrich in Milwaukie. He is still considered by many to be the best in the world at this, assuming it is Piriformis syndrome and not some other hip problem. Multiple opinions are crucial.
Jane
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Thanks Donna. My wife really has to pull on the reigns so I don't screw anything up. My hamstrings want to be stretched so bad though. Sheila said NO WAY. I wonder why? I'll ask Dr. Filler when I have my 6 week consult in a couple of weeks. I feel so tight sometimes.
Menzie, you and your daughter are in our prayers and thoughts. Please let us know how it goes.
Leesa, I've been accused of being a bit anal as well. The heck with them if they can't take a joke. It's a virtue in my eyes. LOL!
Have a great day everyone. Chins UP.
Menzie, you and your daughter are in our prayers and thoughts. Please let us know how it goes.
Leesa, I've been accused of being a bit anal as well. The heck with them if they can't take a joke. It's a virtue in my eyes. LOL!
Have a great day everyone. Chins UP.
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Menzie,
You and your daughter are in my prayers here. We really do care how it goes.
I know what you mean about the trip. We left home at 8am and arrived in LA about midnight and I survived. It wasn't easy and I was in a lot of pain when we got to the motel, but it was worth it. Keep up the hope.
We'll all be looking forward to hearing from you.
Donna
You and your daughter are in my prayers here. We really do care how it goes.
I know what you mean about the trip. We left home at 8am and arrived in LA about midnight and I survived. It wasn't easy and I was in a lot of pain when we got to the motel, but it was worth it. Keep up the hope.
We'll all be looking forward to hearing from you.
Donna
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Menzie, I wish you and your daughter all the best. I know how you felt having to watch your daughter suffer.There is nothing more painful than watching one of our children suffer.
Take care and let us kow how it goes.
Leesa, thanks for your kind words of offering to help me find places to stay, etc. I may take you up.
David and Donna, is it absolutely necessary to have a car while there? How far were you from everything, Dr. Filler's office, The Neurography Institute, Cedars Sinai? I am gathering everything is far apart. I am so used to living in a smaller city. Even in Toronto Icoud get around to various places by cab. But I gather this is not the case in the LA area. If I remember the Neurography Institute is in another town from Dr. Filler's Nerve Institute. Did you arrange your own places to stay or did the people who made your appointment help wiht places to stay?
From the sound ofthings Donna and David's surgeries were different. I imagine Donna's was more straght forward since the cause was very obvious with the sciatic nerve going right through the piriformis. That is the most classic cause of piriformis syndrome. David, yours sounds more complicated and your surgery probably was more complicated and thus more pains, muscle spasming,etc. post surgery.You are both solucky to have such supportive spouses. I am one to just keep to myself when my pain is at its worst. I just make up excuses as to why I can't go out and lie on the sofa on my side and watch some distracting TV or I do a meditation. John Cabot Zinn has some great body scan tapes and he works lots with people who khave pain at the U. of Mass..
The people I have known who have had piriformis have only had bouts of it so it is so good to be in touch with people who have had it chronically and are willing to share their story. As always, thanks.
Shirley
Take care and let us kow how it goes.
Leesa, thanks for your kind words of offering to help me find places to stay, etc. I may take you up.
David and Donna, is it absolutely necessary to have a car while there? How far were you from everything, Dr. Filler's office, The Neurography Institute, Cedars Sinai? I am gathering everything is far apart. I am so used to living in a smaller city. Even in Toronto Icoud get around to various places by cab. But I gather this is not the case in the LA area. If I remember the Neurography Institute is in another town from Dr. Filler's Nerve Institute. Did you arrange your own places to stay or did the people who made your appointment help wiht places to stay?
From the sound ofthings Donna and David's surgeries were different. I imagine Donna's was more straght forward since the cause was very obvious with the sciatic nerve going right through the piriformis. That is the most classic cause of piriformis syndrome. David, yours sounds more complicated and your surgery probably was more complicated and thus more pains, muscle spasming,etc. post surgery.You are both solucky to have such supportive spouses. I am one to just keep to myself when my pain is at its worst. I just make up excuses as to why I can't go out and lie on the sofa on my side and watch some distracting TV or I do a meditation. John Cabot Zinn has some great body scan tapes and he works lots with people who khave pain at the U. of Mass..
The people I have known who have had piriformis have only had bouts of it so it is so good to be in touch with people who have had it chronically and are willing to share their story. As always, thanks.
Shirley
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Shirley,
See what David and Donna say about renting a car but I can tell you that Dr. Filler's office is around 8 miles away from Cedars, 9 miles away from LAX (the airport) and around 25 miles away from the facility where they do the neurography which is in Pasadena. Wonder where David and Donna stayed? At times the freeways can be really, really bad so if you're not used to driving in nasty traffic, just be mentally prepared! Anyway, my offer stands to help in any way I can, just say the word.
Leesa
See what David and Donna say about renting a car but I can tell you that Dr. Filler's office is around 8 miles away from Cedars, 9 miles away from LAX (the airport) and around 25 miles away from the facility where they do the neurography which is in Pasadena. Wonder where David and Donna stayed? At times the freeways can be really, really bad so if you're not used to driving in nasty traffic, just be mentally prepared! Anyway, my offer stands to help in any way I can, just say the word.
Leesa
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LOL, if we had known Leesa lived there, we would have just taken her car and moved in with her.
More seriously, we rented a car and stayed in Santa Monica at hotels(we made two trips) near Venice Beach. We made our own reservations. Never even thought about asking Dr. Filler's office for help but that is not a bad idea.
We stayed probably 15 minutes from Dr. Filler's office. The MRN office was in Pasadena and it took us nearly an hour. My goodness, Pasadena is a pretty city. For some reason, I thought Cedar Sinai was near downtown LA. Actually, it was much closer than I thought and is actually located Beverly Hills. Much closer than downtown LA.
If you have surgery, you will also have an appointment with an internist set up by Dr. Filler's office. He is located in Century City. Nice guy.
We arrived on a Sunday. We drove to Cedar Sinai just to find out where we had to be the day of the surgery(Tuesday morning) and where to park. Useful trip. The day before the surgery(Monday), we went to the internist appointment in Century City and then went to Dr. Filler's office to meet with Sheila, his NP. Then it was hop, skip, and jump to our hotel near Venice Beach.
We paid a little more for the hotel but we wanted a room with a kitchen because we knew we would be there the rest of the week and there would not be any going out to eat. We just went to the grocery store the day before the surgery and stocked up on what we needed to get through the week. The net was we probably saved some money from always having to get food from a restaurant, carry-out. Plus, that would have meant that my wife would always had to be out driving and getting food by herself. Not much fun for her.
Make sure you MapQuest everything and you will be fine.
Let us know if you have any other questions.
David
More seriously, we rented a car and stayed in Santa Monica at hotels(we made two trips) near Venice Beach. We made our own reservations. Never even thought about asking Dr. Filler's office for help but that is not a bad idea.
We stayed probably 15 minutes from Dr. Filler's office. The MRN office was in Pasadena and it took us nearly an hour. My goodness, Pasadena is a pretty city. For some reason, I thought Cedar Sinai was near downtown LA. Actually, it was much closer than I thought and is actually located Beverly Hills. Much closer than downtown LA.
If you have surgery, you will also have an appointment with an internist set up by Dr. Filler's office. He is located in Century City. Nice guy.
We arrived on a Sunday. We drove to Cedar Sinai just to find out where we had to be the day of the surgery(Tuesday morning) and where to park. Useful trip. The day before the surgery(Monday), we went to the internist appointment in Century City and then went to Dr. Filler's office to meet with Sheila, his NP. Then it was hop, skip, and jump to our hotel near Venice Beach.
We paid a little more for the hotel but we wanted a room with a kitchen because we knew we would be there the rest of the week and there would not be any going out to eat. We just went to the grocery store the day before the surgery and stocked up on what we needed to get through the week. The net was we probably saved some money from always having to get food from a restaurant, carry-out. Plus, that would have meant that my wife would always had to be out driving and getting food by herself. Not much fun for her.
Make sure you MapQuest everything and you will be fine.
Let us know if you have any other questions.
David
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Shirley,
I won't say that its absolutely necessary to have a car while in LA, because it appears there is a fairly good public transportation system. However it was too complicated for us to figure out in the short time we were there and with the tight appointment times I had to get everything arranged in one day, it was pretty close to necessary. There are cabs, but I'm guessing you might come out cheaper renting a car. Don't know that one for sure.
We got a motel about 5 minutes from the airport, which put us about 20 minutes in low traffic time from Dr. Filler's office. The Neuography Institute is in Pasedena, and it took us maybe 45 minutes to an hour to get there from Dr. Filler's office. Cedars Sinai Hospital was about 30 minutes in a different direction from our motel. Every place we were was good to give us a Mapquest map to help us find our way to the next place.
I made all our arrangements myself, after checking out several different web sites. You can check out travelocity or kayak or other similar sites to help find places and rental cars. You'll probably save money if you rent your car away from the airport and check motels for airport shuttle service. We got a motel which had a fridge and microwave which save a ton of money and was handy when I didn't feel up to going out.
Donna
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Hi I am new here. Due to pain still having after surgery done by Dr. Filler mid September. Also I did not get insurance permission before going to CA. I am from Hawaii and once I got to Dr. Filler's they filed with insurance and the insurance said usally they need two weeks before they give an answer. In the end they covered as a non-participating doctor, hospitol, etc. My bill with everything ended up being just under $107,000 not considering any travel and stay expenses. Of that $107,000 insurance sent a total of 5790.80 for all the bills. Thus I owe over $101,000 out of pocket. I cant convince them to pay anymore. They think this surgery can be done here in Hawaii. We don't have the same MRI they used in CA. They don't even have a code for it so they are using a standard MRI rate at a non-par level. So I wondering could you possibly email with you thesis minus personal info or at least the main points you made.
My pain is only about 25 to 30 percent decreased after the surgery. Everyone is still talking about nerve pain. I don't think my pain is the same. The siatica pain is completly gone Thank God. But the deep pain in butt and on side of hip as well in front around hip flexer area is still extremly painful 24/7 never left for even 1 minute this is even true before surgery but pain was worse. I am taking moraphine, anti inflammatories and valium daily. Everyday. Still in pain. So I don't have any electric feeling of pain anymore which I assume is nerve pain. I just have deep aching pain all of the time. It has been almost 3 1/2 months since my surgery. Doctor Filler wants me to come back I may need more surgery. But I must get the insurance to cover as to I can pay the $101,000 still owed much more that much more again.
My surgery with Dr. Filler was exactly 6 hours and 23 minutes he was going to at first just notch my priformis to release it, but when he got in there he said it was in such a spasm and full of scar tissue as well as extremly fiboris. So he took it out. Also my sciatic nerve went thru piriformis muscle. He also found a huge cluster of nerves traveling around and thru (yes I sad THRU) sciatic nerve so he had to cut all of that out. My sciatic nerve also had fiboris tissue around which he cut out. My Femor artery also went tru (yes I said THRU again) my sciatic nevre three times he could not fix that because he cannot cut femor artery but was hopeful for relief from other issues. So my incision on mid butt in probaly longer (total4" long) than most. Also he flipped me during surgery and cut me laterlly along bikini line to attack vein issues this cut 3" long.
Any comments would greatly help or if you have any questions I will gladly anwser. Please SWAAGIE if you can help I would so much appreciate it.
My pain is only about 25 to 30 percent decreased after the surgery. Everyone is still talking about nerve pain. I don't think my pain is the same. The siatica pain is completly gone Thank God. But the deep pain in butt and on side of hip as well in front around hip flexer area is still extremly painful 24/7 never left for even 1 minute this is even true before surgery but pain was worse. I am taking moraphine, anti inflammatories and valium daily. Everyday. Still in pain. So I don't have any electric feeling of pain anymore which I assume is nerve pain. I just have deep aching pain all of the time. It has been almost 3 1/2 months since my surgery. Doctor Filler wants me to come back I may need more surgery. But I must get the insurance to cover as to I can pay the $101,000 still owed much more that much more again.
My surgery with Dr. Filler was exactly 6 hours and 23 minutes he was going to at first just notch my priformis to release it, but when he got in there he said it was in such a spasm and full of scar tissue as well as extremly fiboris. So he took it out. Also my sciatic nerve went thru piriformis muscle. He also found a huge cluster of nerves traveling around and thru (yes I sad THRU) sciatic nerve so he had to cut all of that out. My sciatic nerve also had fiboris tissue around which he cut out. My Femor artery also went tru (yes I said THRU again) my sciatic nevre three times he could not fix that because he cannot cut femor artery but was hopeful for relief from other issues. So my incision on mid butt in probaly longer (total4" long) than most. Also he flipped me during surgery and cut me laterlly along bikini line to attack vein issues this cut 3" long.
Any comments would greatly help or if you have any questions I will gladly anwser. Please SWAAGIE if you can help I would so much appreciate it.
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Hi Elliot,
How are you recovering from surgery now? I'm also from the UK and have had piriformis syndrome for 8 years. I would like to know how the post op recovery was and if you needed physiotherapy? Also, if you don't mind, could you tell me how much the surgery costs by Dr Filler?
How are you recovering from surgery now? I'm also from the UK and have had piriformis syndrome for 8 years. I would like to know how the post op recovery was and if you needed physiotherapy? Also, if you don't mind, could you tell me how much the surgery costs by Dr Filler?
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Hi Dominic,
I have piriformis syndrome too. I have also been in touch with Dr Dieter Mortier. Have you had any surgery yet? Have you seen Dr Mortier in person or have you just spoken with him via email, also what do you think of him and his Surgery etc?
Regards,
Jag
I have piriformis syndrome too. I have also been in touch with Dr Dieter Mortier. Have you had any surgery yet? Have you seen Dr Mortier in person or have you just spoken with him via email, also what do you think of him and his Surgery etc?
Regards,
Jag
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Hey all,
All the trip planning info has been great as I, too, am trying to figure out all the details of the trip to LA.
Shirley, from my planning and estimated budget, I think it would be most affordable to rent a car. Cab fare is horrible and it would help to have a vehicle rather than being stuck in a hotel room.
I have my appointment scheduled for the 23rd but it looks like I'll be defering it (again). Still working on the funding and finding a time that my fiance can go with me. He teaches calculus in the evenings twice a week (he's a smarty pants...mathematician by day, professor by night...).
My SI block was done last thursday and was positive on the right. As expected, none of my butt pain on either side was touched, but the awful pain I have in my right SI went down from an 8 to a 2. And that was the only pain that got better. The joint capsule has a tear in it, and I have told this in a benign thing by some MD's and others have told me it's a bad, bad thing. No idea. I am going to speak about RFA with my doc about this on Tuesday. I have no idea how I blew out my SI but it feels blown. I am afraid that if I don't treat my SI (stabilize/fix it somehow) then my butt will never be able to rehab. Or it could be vice versa...if we could get my butt under control, my SI may get better. I honestly have no answer to this. I don't think I have slept worrying about it.
I'm starting ART this week. I'm not too optimistic about it, but I'm giving it a go...I'm hoping it will provide me with some symptom relief as I go through this diagnostic process. Loratab is no fun.
Menzie, good luck this week. My prayers are with you and your daughter.
And to everyone else, take care of yourselves and your hiney's.
:D
Julie
All the trip planning info has been great as I, too, am trying to figure out all the details of the trip to LA.
Shirley, from my planning and estimated budget, I think it would be most affordable to rent a car. Cab fare is horrible and it would help to have a vehicle rather than being stuck in a hotel room.
I have my appointment scheduled for the 23rd but it looks like I'll be defering it (again). Still working on the funding and finding a time that my fiance can go with me. He teaches calculus in the evenings twice a week (he's a smarty pants...mathematician by day, professor by night...).
My SI block was done last thursday and was positive on the right. As expected, none of my butt pain on either side was touched, but the awful pain I have in my right SI went down from an 8 to a 2. And that was the only pain that got better. The joint capsule has a tear in it, and I have told this in a benign thing by some MD's and others have told me it's a bad, bad thing. No idea. I am going to speak about RFA with my doc about this on Tuesday. I have no idea how I blew out my SI but it feels blown. I am afraid that if I don't treat my SI (stabilize/fix it somehow) then my butt will never be able to rehab. Or it could be vice versa...if we could get my butt under control, my SI may get better. I honestly have no answer to this. I don't think I have slept worrying about it.
I'm starting ART this week. I'm not too optimistic about it, but I'm giving it a go...I'm hoping it will provide me with some symptom relief as I go through this diagnostic process. Loratab is no fun.
Menzie, good luck this week. My prayers are with you and your daughter.
And to everyone else, take care of yourselves and your hiney's.
:D
Julie
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Buttpainbigtime,
I'm at work so I odn't have it with me. It's not in e-mail form but I will give you the outline here and then review when I get home to see if I missed anything.
The following are what I provided:
1. A cover letter explaining my appeal, my treatment history, all my medical reports(MRI, EMG, chiro, physical therapy, etc..). It also was very specific regarding the issue that even Blue Cross personnel could not find another physician in my area who could do this surgery.
2. My initial request to Blue Cross/ Blue Shield to have Dr. Filler treated as in-network.
3. Their inital rejection letter.
4. A medical neccessity letter from Dr. Filler outlining my case, diagnoses and surgery plan.
5. A coding sheet from Dr. Filler's office.
6. A copy of Dr. Filler's formal outcome study from 2/2005. You can get this from Dr. Filler's office.
Please understand that my appeal had nothing to do with Cedar Sinai as they are a contrcted Blue Cross network provider. I'm guessing that most of your bills are in association with the hospital. HOWEVER, if you can convince your insurance company that Dr. Filler is the only prctical alternative for this surgery, then they will be forced to reconsider the Cedar Sinai bills as well because that is where he has privileges.
Also understand that I pursued this appeal prior to surgery.
I'm so sorry about your insurance troubles and your pain. I've truly grown to loathe these companies and their lack of compassion for people versus the almighty dollar.
Please let me know if you need anything else.
David
I'm at work so I odn't have it with me. It's not in e-mail form but I will give you the outline here and then review when I get home to see if I missed anything.
The following are what I provided:
1. A cover letter explaining my appeal, my treatment history, all my medical reports(MRI, EMG, chiro, physical therapy, etc..). It also was very specific regarding the issue that even Blue Cross personnel could not find another physician in my area who could do this surgery.
2. My initial request to Blue Cross/ Blue Shield to have Dr. Filler treated as in-network.
3. Their inital rejection letter.
4. A medical neccessity letter from Dr. Filler outlining my case, diagnoses and surgery plan.
5. A coding sheet from Dr. Filler's office.
6. A copy of Dr. Filler's formal outcome study from 2/2005. You can get this from Dr. Filler's office.
Please understand that my appeal had nothing to do with Cedar Sinai as they are a contrcted Blue Cross network provider. I'm guessing that most of your bills are in association with the hospital. HOWEVER, if you can convince your insurance company that Dr. Filler is the only prctical alternative for this surgery, then they will be forced to reconsider the Cedar Sinai bills as well because that is where he has privileges.
Also understand that I pursued this appeal prior to surgery.
I'm so sorry about your insurance troubles and your pain. I've truly grown to loathe these companies and their lack of compassion for people versus the almighty dollar.
Please let me know if you need anything else.
David
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