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| this is me after a day and a half on steroinds |
Last summer I began having pain in my left shoulder when I reached out with and sometimes just moved my left arm. One afternoon in October I was in my attic with a repairman, I reached out for support and thought my arm was going to fall off! The man asked me, “You gonna be alright?” “Yeah, in a minute.”
That was excruciating. The next day I went to the Urgent Care. The doctor examined me and had me stretch my arm in various ways. Then she placed her hand on my back, below my left shoulder and told me to raise my arm. “Yep, I know what it is.” She declared I had “shoulder impingement and scapula hitch” which could be treated with physical therapy. She said she would call the hospital and they would then call me to set it up.
After a couple of weeks the hospital did indeed call and we scheduled therapy twice a week for the month of December. So for the month of December I got double therapy - I would walk down to the hospital (2 miles each way) twice a week and receive an hour of stretching and strengthening.
And there was improvement. But not total. The first week of January the therapist said, “Your shoulder should be better by now. I think you need to see an orthopaedist.” I should add, every week they tested me for a torn rotator cuff but always concluded, “No, I guess not.”
Well, you can’t just call an orthopaedic doctor - you need to be referred. So I scheduled an appointment with my doctor. He checked my movement, then scheduled an x-ray. Which showed nothing, so he scheduled an MRI. Whoops! Insurance denied it. I guess he didn’t have enough clout, so he referred me to an orthopaedist.
When I went to the orthopaedist, I repeated my journey thus far, he examined me, then did an x-ray. Again x-ray showed nothing so guess what? He scheduled an MRI! This time insurance approved. So finally, in March, I had my MRI (read that story here ).
I went back to the doctor for the report. “30% tear of the rotator cuff.” This is borderline. Under 30% calls for one treatment (shot etc), greater than 30% calls for another treatment (surgery). “What do you want to be able to do?” “I want to kayak again.” “Surgery it is. Let me refer you to our surgery expert. He took an extra year of school just for this sort of thing.” So I’m scheduled to see yet another doctor.
I arrive for my appointment with Doctor-who-specializes-in-shoulder-surgery. I rehearse my journey to this point, explain my pain and lack of movement, he examines me, then concludes that yes, surgery is called for. He explains how this works, the pain and recovery involved, and we schedule it for Tuesday, April 4th.
The Friday before, March 31, I walk down to the hospital to make arrangements and meet the anesthesiologist. Everything is set. Well, everything but the exact time. They will call me Monday to tell me that. Monday morning, April 3, the doctor’s office calls me. “Insurance is declining this.” Seems there is a misunderstanding of ‘how’ I hurt the shoulder. I explain. They will call the insurance company back. Then the insurance company calls me, with the same question. I explain again. Later that afternoon, the doctor’s office calls me again. A different person this time. “Insurance has denied this procedure. Can we reschedule this for the 18th?” “No. I will be out of town on the 18th.” (We were going to Edisto and had already paid for the house. Besides, I want to wait until the insurance actually approves this.)
The doctor’s office called me and said there was to be a peer to peer phone call. In other words, my doctor calls the insurance doctor and makes his pitch. He did that last week. Insurance doctor remains steadfast and unconvinced, “No!” So, the doctor’s office calls me back, informs me of this decision, and asks me to come in to “discuss my options.”
That appointment is Monday, April 24. When my doctor comes in he is rather sheepish and very apologetic. “I’m sorry for all this.” I tell him, “To tell you the truth, I wasn’t all that heart-broken by the decision. After reading up on the surgery, I wasn’t too keen on it.” He laughed.
Before continuing, let me explain something. After the first denial, I met with my pastor for fellowship. As I explained what was happening he asked me, “Have you been anointed and prayed for about this?” Why, no I haven’t. So, right there in the Dunkin Donuts parking lot, he anointed me with oil and prayed for healing for my shoulder. I didn’t feel anything, but I would periodically test my arm to see if it was better. I still had pain at certain points, but I did have increased movement. The plan is for surgery, but my shoulder, though still hurting, has greater mobility and less pain. As I laid in bed the night before the peer to peer, I prayed, “Lord, you rule in this.” That’s why I wasn’t heart-broken by the decision.
Back to the doctor’s office. I explained that my shoulder seemed to be improving (“I’m not surprised. We often see this happen”) and that having done some reading on the shot, I just didn’t want that option. “Is there an oral steroid that you can give me?” “Yes.” He then explained how it would work (6 day regimen followed by a month of some other medicine to keep the steroid from hurting my stomach), but he added, “I won’t be surprised to see you in 5 months.”
(I’m not really. But I am hot all the time and have a little trouble sleeping)
I’m praying that this treatment will work.
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