Today I finally received the bill for my hip surgery. The total damage (before insurance) was $29,000 or thereabouts. My portion is $500. Only about 2%, which would seem like a decent deal of course if I thought that, ultimately, the whole ordeal would have actually been worth it.
Let's do an assessment of what $500 has purchased me:
Pain: More than before the surgery*.
Stiffness: More than before the surgery.
Range of Motion: Less than before the surgery**.
Clicking: About the same as before the surgery. (Sample plains of motion, everything.)
New issues: 3 x 1/2 inch scars + nerve damage and pain in lower thigh.
Rehabilitation: $960 in Physical Therapy and Massage to date.
So, essentially, I paid $500 for 3 scars, a damaged nerve, and an ongoing therapy bill of $160 a month. Seems like I came out on the negative there, doesn't it?
The totally frustrating thing is that my gut knew it all along but I was obsessed with the "what if" of not doing it. Something about me just didn't trust that surgeon (Mr. Black D'Onofrio himself). I should have said "no way" when he agreed to be the primary on a procedure he had never done before. I realized that when, 20 minutes before the procedure, I practically hugged the co-surgeon and burst into tears on his shoulder when he came in to check on me. But I dismissed my doubts as chicken-shit fears.
My overall assessment = Bad Decision, TravelVixen.
Moral of the story/what I will take away from this = Gut instincts need to carry more weight, even if they're not entirely rational.
So, what now? Keep stretching, keep working out, hope it gets better. As for the nerve damage, no improvement since the last report a couple of weeks ago, so a neurologist referral looks likely in the near future. But if presented with any kind of option that requires an object or objects piercing my skin, the answer is QUITE CLEARLY NO.
--------------
* "before the surgery"means with injury (not pre-injury), before the surgery. I wasn't in a lot of pain before and it's not a lot of pain now but everything is relative and it's still more than before I was supposedly "fixed".
** Granted, my ROM was good before and is above average now but that's only due to 30 minutes of stretching per day and 3 hours of intensive yoga per week. The week I went on vacation and stopped the stretching, I jumped back 20 steps.
1 comment:
Isn't it amazing how we just kinda know certain things even though we can't quite put our finger on what is clueing us in? I say, yes, trust your gut, you're a sharp, observant woman. Even if you don't know what's triggering you, something is.
Post a Comment