Surgery with Dr. Lenke

[rohrer01]

Good news! I'm happy for you. Are you paying for the BMP or is Lenke going to find a "reason" that he HAD to use it so the insurance will have to pay? What a horrible thing to have to go through as if the surgery itself wasn't stressful enough! BREATHE....

[Mojo's Mom]

Whew! What a relief. Now you can go back to being thankful for surgery just around the corner. Happy Thanksgiving, Doreen!

[JenniferG]

What a roller coaster for your Doreen. Following your progress daily and plugging for you! I hope you don't have to cover the cost of BMP. Wishing you the very best of luck!

[JDM555]

So glad everything worked out. I too was worried my surgeries wouldn't be approved. Luckily, I had changed insurance between my first surgeries in 09 and now. I'm not sure if my surgeon asked insurance to approve BMP or did it on his own. I'm sure since I've already had pseudarthrosis, and tried PT, injections, meds, external bone stimulator, etc. they had no excuse to deny LOL.

But I'm glad it was approved, I got BMP, and was able to stay 9 days in the hospital when my insurance wanted me out in 5. Like Linda said, they are really cracking down on surgeries, and I'm super glad you got approved. The wait is more stressful than the damn surgery! Haha

Good luck, and I'll keep you in my prayers till your big day.

[jrnyc]

congratulations on the good news, Doreen...

jess

[mabeckoff]

Glad to hear that your surgery was approved. You are in my prayers

[loves to skate]

Doreen,
What a roller coaster ride you have been on. So glad to hear you are approved for the surgery finally. My guess about the BMP is that the hospital will eat the cost. It's only a guess, so don't quote me. Anyway, you have lots of good folks on here rooting you on.
Sally

[golfnut]

I think these insurance companies like to keep us on edge. I received a letter from Healthlink denying BMP, but Dr. Lenke had Barnes "absorb the cost.". Kelly said he wouldn't do the surgery without it. I am glad itbis all working out for you.

[djkinkead]

Great news! That insurance company sure didn't treat you very well. It sounds like too many insurance lackeys were involved in the decision making process.

[Elisa]

I've been thinking about you today Doreen and am thrilled that things are moving ahead as scheduled. Phew! You don't need that kind of stress at the moment, that's for sure.

[TwinmomTN]

I am so happy for Doreen. The insurance companies are so difficult to deal with. I never did get my insurance to approve the Forteo but the pharmaceutical rep has provided samples so far. Now you can relax and enjoy your holiday.

[LindaRacine]

Great news. Although you probably lost a few years off your life from all the stress, the outcome was a good one.

The x-ray you mentioned is a Push Prone X-ray. I asked Dr. Hu about it today. I'm surprised that you got both a Push Prone and side bending films...

Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2000 Jan;25(1):76-81.
Comparison of push-prone and lateral-bending radiographs for predicting postoperative coronal alignment in thoracolumbar and lumbar scoliotic curves.
Vedantam R, Lenke LG, Bridwell KH, Linville DL.
Source
Midwest Orthopedic Institute, Richmond, Indiana, USA.
Abstract
STUDY DESIGN:
A comparative evaluation of supine right and left lateral-bending radiographs and push-prone radiographs in patients with thoracolumbar and lumbar scoliosis to determine postoperative correction of the curve.

OBJECTIVES:
To determine the difference in the ability of the push-prone radiograph and the supine lateral-bending radiograph to predict postoperative coronal alignment for primary thoracolumbar and lumbar curves managed with an anterior spinal instrumentation and fusion.

SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA:
Right and left supine side-bending radiographs are the standard means of evaluating curve flexibility before surgery in idiopathic scoliosis. A push-prone radiograph also has been obtained at the authors' institution as a single dynamic radiographic assessment of forced correction of the primary curve and resultant effects on compensatory curves above and below the fusion.

METHODS:
Preoperative standing, supine right and left lateral-bending, and push-prone radiographs were performed in 40 patients who underwent anterior spinal instrumentation and fusion. Postoperative standing radiographs of the spine were obtained at 3 months after surgery. Measurements on all the radiographs included the coronal Cobb angle, the angle of the lowest instrumented vertebra to the horizontal, the rotation of the lowest instrumented vertebra, and the distance of the midpoint of the lowest instrumented vertebra from the center sacral line.

RESULTS:
The lateral-bending and the push-prone radiographs predicted less correction of the Cobb angle and the angle of the lowest instrumented vertebra to the horizontal than was achieved after surgery. However, the push-prone radiograph was superior to the lateral-bending radiograph in accurately predicting the postoperative correction of the rotation of the lowest instrumented vertebra as well as the translation of the lowest instrumented vertebra from the center sacral line.

CONCLUSIONS:
The push-prone and lateral-bending radiographs are similar in predicting less correction of the Cobb angle after anterior spinal surgery. The push-prone radiograph helps in determining the effects that correction of the primary curve has on the curves above and below the level of fusion by better predicting the translational correction of the lowest instrumented vertebra and the rotation of the lowest instrumented vertebra.

[jrnyc]

i am really surprised that in this age of technology, a push/prone thingy is the best they can come up with!
do they not have something a little more sophisticated...??!

jess

[Confusedmom]

Hi Doreen --

Just getting caught up on everything. Best wishes to you! I can't believe it is coming up this soon. Be sure to have someone post on the forum for you ASAP after the surgery. We will all be thinking about you.

Weird about the "push prone." Dr. Lenke's staff must have done a "pull prone" or something on me. I was on my back and they had two residents pull my feet and jaw in opposite directions to see how far they could stretch me out.

Anyway, good luck with everything. I'm glad the insurance issue got resolved. Which company is it, by the way?

,
Evelyn

[LindaRacine]

Hi Doreen --

Weird about the "push prone." Dr. Lenke's staff must have done a "pull prone" or something on me. I was on my back and they had two residents pull my feet and jaw in opposite directions to see how far they could stretch me out.

Sounds like the normal bending x-rays that most of us have been through. The one Doreen mention is done face down.