[Cynlite]

It was good to hear that NJ Gene did so well with his 1 level cervical disc surgery in Texas! Cost excluding traveling expenses was $22,400 for a Mobi-C. He's another successful member of the Mobi-C club and I'm so hoping it stays that way! That was a very reasonable cost for the surgery from a very respected surgeon if anyone reading this is looking to have this surgery in the U.S.

My Mom passed last Friday so I've been pretty paralyzed physically and emotionally this last week. It is honestly the worst event I've experienced in my life. Emotional pain turns into physical pain for me so, I've been trying hard to be as calm as possible but, it's difficult. I wish I had my surgery planned already so I could use it to distract me and have something to look forward to but, as hard as I have tried to find the answer, my search is still not complete and as most on this site know, it's hard to do this when in pain.

I tried calling several other surgeons at the Barrow Institute but, their office staff was not very accommodating. I did find out that no surgeon at their main location does ADR after making a ton of calls and finally reaching someone in Administration who knew what was going on at the Institute. What a huge waste of time I have spent with this supposedly top notch spinal hospital! Four of their surgeons are listed on the Mobi-C site and some of the bios say they do ADRs but, I'd have to find one not at the main hospital location. Plus, none of them are advertising that they are Mobi-C doctors so, that doesn't give me a warm and fuzzy feeling.

I called my insurance company and told them I was gridlocked in their network because most of their neurosurgeons are at Barrow and most won't see me because of my prior surgeries. They said they were not surprised as they had heard this before! (Keep in mind, I have no hardware in me so, this is kind of surprising.) The insurance company said I could go to my primary care and have her request that I see a surgeon out of network. I asked if I could go out of state if approved and they said "yes." I asked if I could go out of country and they said "no." It's just another hoop to jump through and they could still say no to me so, I don't know if I'll go this route. I think I have to pick out the surgeon first so, it's a bit complicated. I am so tired of trying to find a surgeon in network and fighting the insurance battle. I'm six months into the process and really no further along in the U.S. with the exception of an offer to fuse my neck but, the surgeon telling me that he didn't think it would help me with much of my pain. So, I'm hoping I get some answers from Europe soon. After that, I'll know better what to do next.