I have been doing some research on which doctor to get a second opinion from and have narrowed it down to Dr. Lonner and Dr. Lenke. They are the ones I hear the most about. I am impressed with Dr. Lonner's up-to-date knowledge of minimally invasive procedures. I am impressed that BOTH doctors put up patient testimonials with before and after X-rays. I will say that it looks as though Dr. Lonner gets better corrections in curvatures than Lenke, but Lenke is also doing surgery on some pretty seasoned people (how do you say "old" with political correctness?) with previous surgeries, broken Harrington's etc.. At least the man isn't afraid to tackle the challenge. As I think of my experience with Dr. Tribus, he has no such testimonials or before and after's on his website.
My only problem is how to pay for it. I have had many people suggest to me to try to get SSI for chronic pain. Then I can get medicare and get the surgery from a surgeon of my choice. I just feel guilty doing it. I know my pain is disabling, but I see so many of you with worse deformities working that I have a hard time justifying it in my mind. Any thoughts on that would be great, too. Don't worry, my feeling won't be hurt if you think I'm nuts for considering it. I just don't know how we could ever pay for a surgery like that. There is no way on Earth that my insurance would pay for me to go to NYC for an operation like that.
I have traveled out of state to go to the best female reconstructive surgeon, I believe in the country, if not the world. I had the money then to pay for it, but it was cheap, only $6000 for EVERYTHING including motel and airfare and the surgery. Now I'm broke. My house isn't even worth as much as the surgery would cost, so I can't even go that route.
I'm also having a VERY bad pain day.I have days like this pretty often and I know it would be very difficult to hold down a job unless I was self-employed. Nothing has helped me today. I can barely function (no housework at all - I feel guilty putting it all on my family), my neck hurts, my ribs hurt, my spine itself hurts, I didn't even take my walk todsy. Oh wait! It's not scoliosis related! LOL I'm just being catty. sorry. Any input on Dr. Lonner or SSI would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. Maybe he would let us make payments????
My only problem is how to pay for it. I have had many people suggest to me to try to get SSI for chronic pain. Then I can get medicare and get the surgery from a surgeon of my choice. I just feel guilty doing it. I know my pain is disabling, but I see so many of you with worse deformities working that I have a hard time justifying it in my mind. Any thoughts on that would be great, too. Don't worry, my feeling won't be hurt if you think I'm nuts for considering it. I just don't know how we could ever pay for a surgery like that. There is no way on Earth that my insurance would pay for me to go to NYC for an operation like that.
I have traveled out of state to go to the best female reconstructive surgeon, I believe in the country, if not the world. I had the money then to pay for it, but it was cheap, only $6000 for EVERYTHING including motel and airfare and the surgery. Now I'm broke. My house isn't even worth as much as the surgery would cost, so I can't even go that route.
I'm also having a VERY bad pain day.I have days like this pretty often and I know it would be very difficult to hold down a job unless I was self-employed. Nothing has helped me today. I can barely function (no housework at all - I feel guilty putting it all on my family), my neck hurts, my ribs hurt, my spine itself hurts, I didn't even take my walk todsy. Oh wait! It's not scoliosis related! LOL I'm just being catty. sorry. Any input on Dr. Lonner or SSI would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. Maybe he would let us make payments????
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