Re: question for Shirley
Hi Billie....I'm not Shirley, but I can give you my experience about having the myectomy surgery from Dr. Anderson. I'm in NY State, and I only went once - for the surgery. I had my neurologist (who gives me Botox) write a recommendation, and my GP (who really knew nothing about BEB, but had my health history) send a letter to Dr. Anderson. I called out there and talked to his office staff (maybe a nurse?) and started the procedure, which took quite a while to arrange, with the insurance, etc. (not completely covered - he wants cash up front for the "cosmetic" aspect of it, which is not covered with insurance.) But bottom line - no, you do not have to make two trips. Good Luck! Mary
Re: question for Shirley
Hi Billie,
Mary gave you most of the scoop. I had my doctor that does my botox write Dr. Anderson and give him my history. I called Dr. Anderson's office myself and talked to the person that schedules his surgery. The first thing that she had me do was send some pictures of my face and eyes (close-ups) she said that they could be black and white, poloroids or anything just so they could see what my eyes were doing. They want them to look bad-you know- with your eyes squeezing shut and face screwed up and such. You will need to give them your insurance information and after they received my pictures, she contacted my insurance company for pre-approval. Like Mary said, he does do a portion that is considered cosmetic-not all doctors that do this procedure do. They will give you an estimate for this charge and it has to be paid before your surgery. This charge varies depending on what he has to do.
After your insurance has approved things, they will schedule you an appointment and tentative surgery date. You will have a pre-op visit one day and then the surgery the next. The surgery takes a couple of hours, I was in the recovery area 30 minutes and then my husband was allowed to take me back to the motel and have his way with me. Oops-Not really. I'm only kidding. :-) You are given a prescription for Valium or similar medication and prescription for pain medication the day before which you already have filled. I had very little discomfort. I had my pre-op visit on Monday, surgery on Tuesday and bandages removed on Friday. We flew back home the next day. I don't recommend going home on the day that your bandages are removed. You need a little time to relax and shower and wash your hair. You just need a little more time. He recently changed the way he is doing things and likes to do one eye at a time so that you won't be blind for 3 or 4 days. That requires a longer stay and I talked them into doing both at the same time.
I'll email you and give you my email address and if you seriously decide to do this, I'll give you some other pointers.By the way, the muscles don't grow back. I wouldn't want them to do my surgery. You have the best chances for improvement with somebody that has done this surgery over and over again. He has done over a 1000 now. I'm sorry that you can't attend the conference this year. I wish that everyone could go. If I come back and this bb has been too quiet, you guys are in trouble. Shirley in AR.
Re: question for Shirley
Hey Shirley, You're bad, your husband sounds like mine. Take advantage of a blind woman. Thanks for all the info. My appointment is tomorrow at 1:00. I am going to talk to her about my options. You guys have a good time at the conference. We'll try to keep things going here while you all are gone, but it won't be easy, so hurry back.
Billie in Kansas where it is much cooler & feels so good.
Re: conference
Billie, let us know how the appointment goes.
I remember two summers ago when I had just been diagnosed and I had just found the bb and people were going to the conference. I didn't know much about anything at that point and I felt sad when some of the main posters left and it was pretty quiet. I so wanted to go but couldn't. I promised myself that I would go the next year if possible.
And now I am going to my second one. I'm glad that I am able to. It is a real treat to me and something that I have looked forward to.
Start some new topics or threads while we are gone. I see an "instigator" in you.Shirley in AR. who knows that she is bad but it is so much fun. Virginia is out there warning her hubby about me.
--modified by Shirley-Arkansas-USA at Tue, Aug 14, 2001, 21:36:20
Re: conference
Not much I could tell hubby that he doesn't already know. He had you figured out when he met you last year.I felt the same way my first year on the BB when the conference was in California, but it wasn't something I could do then, either. Virginia in AL, looking forward to the weekend and I have my T-shirt packed.
Re: question for Shirley
Billie, I don't have much time right now particularly this week, but if you wish, I would be more than happy to let you know about my Myectomies. I have had two done by Dr. Anderson and feel that I have a pretty good handle on the whole subject. I had hoped to make it out to the conference this year but as you may have heard me mention before, it is my mothers 90th birthday and we are having a big party for her this weekend. To say that I am stressed out is an understatement. We have changed the location three times and now are up to close to 250 people. She sure has a lot of friends....Talk to you soon..........Alan
Re: question for Shirley
Shirley & Alan, I just returned from getting my injections. Shirley I ask her about what you had told me on the direction of the ones in my eyelids. She said that was the way that she did them. This is the first time she has done my injections since she returned from out of the country. She was gone for 6 months & I had another doctior that I liked really well give them. They didn't seem to work as well. Hoping they work better this time. She said that surgery was my only other option, & that she didn't want to try the myobloc on me. Guess I'll just wait and see how they do this time.
Alan since you are going to be busy with your mother's party are you going to have time to help us on the bb this week-end? The party sounds like lots of fun, and lots & lots of work. This last Saturday, I went down to my home town to an 80th birthday celebration for a man I knew growing up. He lived up the road from us & also drove our school bus. There were probably 100 or so people there. It was fun seeing people I hadn't seen for several years. 3 of my sisters & my 1 brother live there, so got to see everybody at the same time.
I will keep you up on how my injections are doing.
You guys have fun this week-end. We'll probably go next year.
Billie
|