For those who work at botanical gardens, what days of the week do you work? And what hours? I'm in the greenhouse and we have a few different schedules, Tuesday-Saturday, Sunday- Thursday, and Monday-Friday. Typically 8:00-4:30.
History: I’m a 37 year old female with 10 years of chronic back pain, the last 4 being the worst. I’ve herniated several discs, had numerous injections, lots of PT, stretching, and other conservative care. Modic changes in 3 of my vertebrae. Apparently a perfect candidate for Intracept.
I just had Intracept yesterday, L4-L5-S1. Today I’m doing much better, just muscle/surgery pain, but, the procedure was a little rough for me. I was under twilight anesthesia, but really felt them going into the S1 vertebrae, intense pain to the point I cried. It seems like they struggled because it took a while, way more time than the other two vertebrae. I was told they ended up giving me a lot of medication for the anesthesia, like, a lot.
The procedure took 30-40 minutes longer than expected.
To be clear, on day 2 I’m not in any crazy pain. More than some people, it seems, but nothing unmanageable. If this procedure clears up some of my chronic pain, I’d gladly do it again because it wasn’t that terrible. I don’t want to scare anyone away from the surgery!
A lot of people say the procedure is a cake walk but I know we’re all different. Did anyone struggle during the actual surgery? What did your doctor tell you afterwards?
I’ve been trying to get approval for a spine procedure for the past four years. Regence considers it experimental despite the CEOs wife receiving the surgery and it being covered by Medicaid.
I work for a University and contacted a Benefits Specialist who negotiated on my behalf with Regence for an exemption for the surgery. They were able to get approval and Regence says they’ll pay. When I call Regence, they say the exemption is stated in the notes with email records, Pre-authorization is waived and the procedure will be covered- they will provide reference numbers for the notes and recorded call where they state the procedure is covered, but will not provide written documentation stating the same. My provider has called three times and received the same verbal confirmation, but is unable to get anything in writing.
My provider won’t schedule the surgery without written documentation. I feel stuck. I’ve reached out to my University rep, so hopefully this will be resolved soon but I’m mostly curious as to why Regence won’t provide written approval?
I was given the option to sign a waiver stating I’d pay for the $40,000 surgery if Regence doesn’t cover it -but I don’t fully trust insurance and I can’t pay for the surgery. It’s medically necessary and I don’t want to be on the hook for a $40,000 medical bill.
TLDR: Regence won’t provide written documentation for an exemption for a procedure, but the doctors won’t schedule the procedure without written documentation. What to do next? And why won’t Regence provide anything in writing?
Thanks in advance for any insight.
Edit: Thank you everyone! I’m so grateful for the explanations and advice on how to move forward. I’ll be reaching out to the University to let them handle this. Once again, thanks.