Mar

6

Ortho

March 6, 2013 | |

I had some second doubts about the route I was going. I injured myself on 2/16, went to the ER on 2/17 and was all set to try and acquire an appointment for 2/19 to be seen as quickly as possible for my Achilles Tendon Rupture (ATR). This, as I learned through various ATR blogs of other people going through the exact same issues, is because scar tissue can start to form around the tendon and it was generally advised to have surgery within a week to 10 days of rupture. I knew how surgeons can be booked for weeks or months in advance so that’s why I went the ER –> Referral route in the first place.


I decided to call the Ortho Practice on 2/18 and leave a message so that I can be scheduled first thing on 2/19. It turns out that this office checks their messages during holidays…I get a call back right away explaining that they will do their best to get me in as soon as possible the next day. Unfortunately, I learn that the physician I was referred to had a full plate and decided to give this case to a younger partner at the practice. Thinking back now it makes sense that this happened…Achilles Tendon surgery probably pays a lot less than joint replacement work could. In any case I was a bit concerned as I wanted the best care possible, but decided time was of the essence and without any luck at several Portland area ortho/sports medicine clinics I decided to go with the referral.

The surgeon was younger and had been in the practice for a little over a year, having practiced at another facility previously. We went over the Thomson test again and he also validated the past diagnosis. Surprisingly he didn’t insist on an MRI to verify; he said he could order that if we wanted, but it wouldn’t change the way he would operate. He also gave me the option of Operate or Not Operating…if we wanted to go the non-operative route he would refer me to another doctor in their practice. He was very open and discussed the options with us in detail. I felt comfortable about it so I gave him the go ahead to schedule the Surgery.

The next day I get a call and hear that our insurance would not clear the use of their facility for some reason so I was to go to the local hospital instead. No problem for me, as the hospital was only 2 blocks away from my house! So, surgery was set for 2/22 and I started the waiting game…the nerves were getting to me and I felt optimistic about people who said they felt very little pain afterwards, but also realistic that the likely scenario was a world of hurt once the nerve blocks wore off.

Comments

2 Comments so far

  1. normofthenorth on March 6, 2013 1:38 pm

    So they left you hanging and you’re taking out on US?!? ;-)

  2. yakswak on March 8, 2013 11:55 am

    Oops, had surgery, recovering now…on to the next post!

Name (required)

Email (required)

Website

Speak your mind

*
To prove you're a person (not a spam script), type the security word shown in the picture.
Anti-Spam Image

Powered by WP Hashcash