Re: My fight with insurance (lori)

[Guest guest]

I'll let you know how it goes. We were in the Markell's for about 2 weeks. Gabe

has atypical clubfeet and it wasn't till Koru told us to cut the backs out of

the Markell's that we learned Gabe's heels weren't down in the Markell's and

probably never would be. Gabe was treated by Burkhalter the first 3 month of his

life. He did Gabe's bilateral tenotomies. He did a good job. I wrote him

recently to suggest that should he ever run into a pair of feet like Gabe's

again, he should definitely at least suggest the 's, which he didn't in

our case. I never heard back from him, but he is a VERY busy man. One note of

advice, DON'T GET TO YOUR APPTOINTMENT EARLY. We saw him once a week for 3

months and never waited under an hour to see him. I'm not sure what Burkhalter's

sentiments about the 's are, but if you feel like it's the thing to do,

certainly don't let him talk you out of it. As I've said before, he told us it

was the Markell's or surgery... nothing else. So, while he

is a good DR. do go with your instinct about any advise he gives.

Lori wrote:I wish I had the info for you. We have Tricare

as well and Im

curious to see how your appeal goes.

Im assuming you tried the Markell's first. How long did you use them

before going with the 's? We've been in Markell's for

about a year and he's still able to slip out of the right boot

(RCF). The left stays on fine. He now has red marks on the top of

his foot that dont fade away. Theyre not blisters and theyre not

sore to touch.

We're about to PCS to Hawaii to see Dr Burkehalter so we might be

going into 's.

Lori

> Writing a letter to Tricare in appeal to the latest rejection of

my clain\m for 's. Trying to get some numbers... In an

attept to convince them that they are saving oodles of money... Does

anyone have a rough estimate of how much the average surgery costs

for severe, bilateral, atypical clubfeet? I asked Joyce and she said

she doesn't have that kind of info on hand.

>

> __________________________________________________

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the advice!! I had a good feeling about him. Before we

accepted these orders, I called his office to see if I could speak

directly with him about his experience w/ the Ponseti method. I was

shocked when he called me back and spoke w/ me for as long as I

needed.

I let him know then how I felt about surgery and he assured me that

he would do everything he could to avoid it. We had a great Air

Force Dr at Keesler AFB in Biloxi, MS but she recently left which

has left us w/out a provider until getting to Hawaii.

I watch Elijah's feet like a madwoman and so far, theres no sign of

relapse even with him being able to pull out of the shoe

occasionally.

Btw, what branch of service are you associated with? And where are

you stationed now?

I honestly feel like Elijah will end up in 's. If I can

help you in any way with your fight with Tricare, let me know.

Lori

> > Writing a letter to Tricare in appeal to the latest rejection of

> my clain\m for 's. Trying to get some numbers... In an

> attept to convince them that they are saving oodles of money...

Does

> anyone have a rough estimate of how much the average surgery costs

> for severe, bilateral, atypical clubfeet? I asked Joyce and she

said

> she doesn't have that kind of info on hand.

> >

> > __________________________________________________

> >

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the advice!! I had a good feeling about him. Before we

accepted these orders, I called his office to see if I could speak

directly with him about his experience w/ the Ponseti method. I was

shocked when he called me back and spoke w/ me for as long as I

needed.

I let him know then how I felt about surgery and he assured me that

he would do everything he could to avoid it. We had a great Air

Force Dr at Keesler AFB in Biloxi, MS but she recently left which

has left us w/out a provider until getting to Hawaii.

I watch Elijah's feet like a madwoman and so far, theres no sign of

relapse even with him being able to pull out of the shoe

occasionally.

Btw, what branch of service are you associated with? And where are

you stationed now?

I honestly feel like Elijah will end up in 's. If I can

help you in any way with your fight with Tricare, let me know.

Lori

> > Writing a letter to Tricare in appeal to the latest rejection of

> my clain\m for 's. Trying to get some numbers... In an

> attept to convince them that they are saving oodles of money...

Does

> anyone have a rough estimate of how much the average surgery costs

> for severe, bilateral, atypical clubfeet? I asked Joyce and she

said

> she doesn't have that kind of info on hand.

> >

> > __________________________________________________

> >