Living in Sacramento may screw me

Things are not looking good for my hip surgery in Sacramento.

Through my own research and from referrals provided by 'e' of The Gerli Life's surgeon in L.A., I am beginning to suspect that there are no orthopedic surgeons in the Sacramento area that perform Arthroscopic Femoro-Acetabular Surgery.

There seems to be one in San Francisco who is the holy grail of hip arthroscopy, Dr. Samson, who was not only recommended by another local orthopedic surgeon who I contacted but was also recommended by e's surgeon. Then there are two more that are located in Redwood City and Stamford.

Now, I don't know for sure, but I'm guessing my health insurance is not going to cover a referral out to one of them.

Based upon information I've been able to glean from some reputable sources on the intranet (orthopedic surgeon societies, health-care providers etc...) it seems that, although this procedure has been common in Europe for 10-15 years, it has not been widely embraced by orthopedic surgeons in the U.S. where it has only really caught on in the last 5-7 years. No specific reason was given for this and I've been unable to find anything that tells me that open surgery (other than being obviously less tricky for the surgeon due to mechanics) is any more effective in the short or long-term than the same procedure done arthroscopically. In fact, all evidence points toward the arthroscopic procedure providing the same short- and long-term benefits but with the advantage of less trauma, a faster recovery time, and (in someone my age and with my active lifestyle) a better chance of returning to former levels of activity.

So, the fact still remains that I'm not going to do open surgery, no matter what the outcome of the referral/insurance conundrum.

Hopefully, if/when my surgeon calls me back today, he has some beacon of light to offer me - maybe someone locally who is less well known but who has been doing this for a while, or perhaps some information on one of the out-of-town surgeons who perform local procedures periodically or something. Yes, I'm grasping at straws. Even if I can get it done locally (which is really just a matter of overcoming geography: ie, no real obstacle) there's nothing to say my PCP can refer me to that person and my insurance will cover me. Of course, I am surmising and may be overcomplicating the situation based upon no solid information right now.

Typical: if I lived in England, I could probably get this done on the NHS. (Yes Mum, I have considered just coming home to get it done.)