Really? I stayed one night at the Colony, and that seemed fine. Is it specific areas of the city, or just in general?

(Edit: I imagine that my parents will probably rent/bring a car, so that won't be a limiting factor)

David

David,
Judy is right, there are some parts of the city that aren't too safe. While the Courtyard Marriott has all the amenities, it isn't in the greatest area.If you walk in one direction, you will get to downtown NH and the Yale campus. If you walk the other direction, well.... I wouldn't do that at night. The Colony is same, near downtown, near shaky area. The shaky area is called the Hill neighborhood and there have been several drive by shootings this summer. A 13 year old girl was shot & killed several months ago and a week later a 14 year old boy was hot & killed. I've certainly had no problems driving in those areas during the day.

Oops the boy was SHOT not hot.

Understood. Based on those comments (and looking at a map), I am guessing you might suggest hotels a bit away from downtown, such as:

--Residence Inn (SE New Haven)
--Fairfield Inn (SE New Haven) *** Looks like a good choice, based on location and your suggestions.
--Days Inn (NE New Haven, other side of 91)

...and perhaps (although perhaps not, since they are definitely in downtown New Haven)...

--New Haven Hotel
--Omni New Haven Hotel

Thoughts?

Thanks.

David

David just last night there were to separate shootings (different areas of the city) killing 2.

Judy

The Omni Hotel I think would be pricey. It's the nicest hotel in New Haven and definately downtown as is the New Haven Hotel, not sure about New Haven Hotel's prices. There are lots of restaurants in walking distance as well as a movie theater.(Criterion)Both are closer to the hospital (not walking, tho). It's a ten minute drive to hosp., but so is Fairfield Inn. Downtown can be noisy, sirens... It would be nice if Yale NH Hosp had a deal for patients at area hotels. They do that in Germany...
If you were to have to pay for the surgery, do you have any idea what they would charge? Have you thought about Germany? If you have to pay, Chuck, Judy, & I can all say very positive things about getting the surgery overseas by Dr B.

Ann

If my insurance will cover 1 level Prodisc (+one level off-label), then my estimate is that it will probably cost around $12k.

If my insurance won't cover 1 level Prodisc, then Dr Y. has estimated around $50k. More than likely, my parents will probably offer to cover the costs, and I know as I fact that they would choose CT over Germany, even with approximately +$10k difference in costs.

Based on what I have seen and heard so far, I am leaning towards the Fairfield Inn at the moment.

David

50k is very low for here.
remeber the girl that was on the today show her's was 68,800 without doctor fees and she was a single level
chuck

Agreed. This is what Dr. Y has told myself and a separate patient that need the exact same procedure.

I haven't seen an invoice / detailed quote that would give me a bit more comfort, but I can't really ask for one until I am sure exactly how much I will be paying out of pocket. Dr Y. has told me on several occasions that ADR surgery @Yale is close to the surgery cost of Dr. B. I wonder if this is all-inclusive, or if this is exlcuding any costs of any kind, to be honest....

Once mid-October comes around, I can schedule the surgery and ask for the pre-auth/pre-denial from my insurance company, and move forward from there. I am really tired of "living" my life the way I am, and I really don't care anymore how much it costs. My hope is that Dr. Y is correct in that my total costs will be < $60k. If not, then I will probably suck it up and move forward anyway.

David

Keep us posted...I'm getting ready to make an appt with Dr Yue to see whats what with my L5-S1 herniation.