All About G

Because Bassett is full of shit. Bullshit, in fact.

Bassett has a hell of a lot of nerve saying that they’re a reliable health care service. Ha! All they really care about is making as much money as they can; they don’t care about what the patient wants. They only want the patient to be obedient and do whatever they say.

Anyway, I’ve completely lost all respect for Kelly, the doctor who was supposed to set me up with a referral to the orthopedic in Buffalo. I take back everything I said about her being “willing to help me.”

When I had gone to see her on Wednesday… well a couple of weeks ago, I had asked if she could refer me out to the Dr. Bisson in Buffalo, because I felt that someone who had published research on clavicle osteonomies would definitely know what he was doing, and I wanted to be positively sure that the surgeon who was going to operate on me wasn’t going to kill me for not knowing what he was doing.

A couple of days later, my mom called me to let me know that Kelly had received the medical information from Ithaca Orthopedic Group. The message passed to me was “Kelly wants to refer you to one of the Bassett orthopedics in Oneonta but if you want to be referred out to the orthopedic in Buffalo, she’ll see what she can do.”

So I had given their office a call, letting them know “I would like to be referred to the orthopedic in Buffalo, kthnkbai.” And they seemed perfectly fine with it, though Barbara had said “Kelly would really like for you to see one of the orthopedics in Oneonta first,” but I made it very clear that they weren’t needed. So they said that they’d work on getting the referral for me.

Anyway, on Friday, I was awoken my a call on my cell phone. This time, it was Connie, one of Kelly’s nurses. She told me that Kelly “couldn’t refer me out to Buffalo because it was out of her network, buuuuuut she could still refer me to one of the orthopedics at the Bassett center in Oneonta.”

At the time, I told her I’d “get back to her later.”

Earlier today, mom called up GHI inquiring about the network. And, as I thought before, it’s statewide. Nothing is stopping Kelly from making that referral, because Dr. Bisson IS in the GHI network. So, after I found out this info, I called the office once again. Barbara was the one who answered the phone, and the conversation went as thus:

“Hi, I’m Regina Baker. I was called a couple of days ago about the referral to Buffalo.”

“Okay, hold on one moment.”

*on hold*

“Hello Regina? Connie’s not available right now.”

“That’s okay. Anyway, I was told by Connie that Kelly couldn’t make the referral because it was out of her network. But I made a call to GHI today and I was told that I can be referred to anyone in the state who takes GHI. So… can Kelly refer me out to the doctor in Buffalo, please?”

“Kelly left a message saying that she wasn’t comfortable with that referral.”

“… Is that so.”

“She’s had a lot of success with referrals to the orthopedics in Bassett’s Oneonta Center.”

“Yea, but those doctors can’t help me. The reason why I wanted to be referred to the doctor in Buffalo is because he can help me.”

“Kelly isn’t willing to make a referral out to that doctor.”

“Really. And, if you don’t mind me asking, why is that?”

“I don’t know, ma’am. But if you’d like, I can leave a message for her to see if she’ll make the referral anyway.”

“Yes, you go do that. Thank you.”

“Bye.”

*hangs up without responding*

That stupid bitch Kelly isn’t willing to make that SIMPLE referral, because Dr. Bisson isn’t in the Bassett network, therefore Bassett won’t be making any money. So she’d rather send me to a useless orthopedic just so the company can leech more insurance money from me. She’d rather make more money than help me fix my problem. And all she needs to do is fill out ONE STINKING REFERRAL, and send it to Dr. Bisson! And schedule me an appointment! And how do I know that’s the reason? Not just because of other experiences our family has had with stupid Bassett doctors, but because the specific quote “Kelly isn’t willing to refer you out to Buffalo.” and how they kept pushing to get me to go to the stupid Oneonta center to see their doctors who won’t be able to do SHIT!

Fuck you! I’m not going to let you pull me away from where I know I’m going to go. I don’t give two craps if you’d rather I see your orthopedics. I’M NOT GONNA GO SEE ‘EM! I know Dr. Bisson is gonna be the best doctor who can help me, and so I’m gonna go see him, and if you aren’t going to give me that simple referral, then I’m gonna find someone who will!

And already, I’ve found a local doctor who owns a private practice, and is an independent. Therefore, he won’t get on my god damn case about seeing a “specific doctor” and that bullshit. I’m sure he’ll give me the referral I need, for sure. Hell, I probably can get the referral from Dr. Krauss when I got see Laurie at the Ortho Group here in Ithaca.

As for Bassett? Well, they can all go kill themselves. I’m NEVER gonna see ANY Bassett doctors for as long as I live.

Comments (3) Apr 07 2009

I’m posting two posts today, since I realized I have a lot to say. But since it’s been a while since I updated, I wanted to let you know how the medical junk is going.

It’s going well… actually, it’s currently going no where, since I’m waiting for our insurance to actually kick in before I start talking to people. So far, however, I have two prospective (I don’t think this word is even in context but whatever. It’s Monday, sue me) orthopedics on my mind that I hope I’ll be able to see one of them for my clavicle.

The first one, Dr. Toni McLauren, is a trauma/fracture specialist based in New York City. I learned about her with the help of a wonderful communications coordinator at NYU’s medical center (I didn’t know they had a med school… potential school for later on yaaaaaay), and got her contact info and everything. She even takes GHI, which is awesome, because that’s the kind of health insurance we’re about to get. Another plus is that NYU’s med center is a research hospital. Cutting edge stuff, the most up to date technology. Good stuff, indeed.

And what I like even more about Dr. McLauren is that she’s female — I never find female orthopedic surgeons, and I’ll be honest, I have a personal bias for female doctors, since 1) the majority of doctors I’ve seen are female, and 2) males doctors just seem more stupid, 3) female doctors just seem more in tune to understanding their patient’s needs and 4) Male dentists traumatize me (a little off subject, but it matters). The only downside to this is that she’s in the city. No, it has absolutely nothing to do with transportation — I’d love to go back down to the city since it’s been a while since I’ve been down there. The issue related more to the insurance company.

I’m not sure how GHI works, and more than anything I don’t know how big my ‘network’ is. I don’t know if it’s within 100 miles of where I live (that’s the only way we could search), and I don’t know if it’s more likely that I can see anyone in the state of NY without too much trouble. If it is a 100 mile radius, then I’m going to have to jump through a hell of a lot of hoops to get downstate to see McLauren.

The other doctor, who was recommended to me by an ATC on Yahoo Answers, is Dr. Leslie J. Bisson, based in the orthopedic facility at the University of Buffalo’s med school (another potential school for later yaaaaay). He’s actually done research and published studies specifically on clavicular osteonomies. And if that’s not a good sign that he’d be a good candidate for such, I don’t know what would be.

The only thing is that he’s definitely more than 100 miles away, just like McLauren is. And actually, I don’t even know if the guy takes GHI. He is a bit closer than McLauren, but not within that 100 miles radius, once again. So we’ll just have to hope that, once again, I’ll be able to jump through enough hoops to get me sent to either one of these doctors.

(Honestly, I feel like I’d be better off seeing an orthopedic who’s based in a med school, and I’m not exactly sure why, but they seem like they’re more… idk… experienced… that’s not the best word to describe it. I’m gonna assume you know what I’m talking about)

Of course, it still doesn’t solve the insurance idiot problem. But since I had a few tricks of my sleeve as well, I have the feeling that in the end, I’m gonna get my freakin’ way. After all, I know the insurance people don’t really care, but they will care if I continuously give them hell every day until they do listen to what I have to say *evil grin*.

Comments (0) Feb 23 2009

Well, I finally got the referral I’ve been wanting since the beginning of this whole fiasco. I go see the orthopedic on Monday after my stats class. Dr. Getzin ticked me off during my appointment today by saying that I might be misinformed about the plastic bowed fracture info (because he apparently thinks that I don’t know how to research and find valid sites… idiot. I’m only in college and taught how to do proper research by every effing class every effing semester… that kind of thing kinda sticks in your head after so many repetitions), and he kept emphasizing that it’s not an emergency (uh, duh, I knew that. if it was, don’t you think this would’ve been resolved around two years ago when it actually happened?), and that he wants me to be comfortable. He even said that if it came down to it, I may just have to deal with the discomfort for the rest of my life. Talk about discouraging!

So the first thing I want to say is, no one seems to want to listen to me when I want to tell them what it is that I want. Maybe it’s because I’m not like most patients. See, every one I’ve been to wants to just eliminate the pain and discomfort for me. I don’t want to eliminate the pain; I want to fix the bend in my bone. The bend is what bothers me more than anything, and call me immature, I don’t care, but I will get it reset, even if it takes me across the country to an orthopedic that will actually do it. And maybe that makes me weird; I don’t want to make this “easy” for me. I want the corrective/surgical procedure done. I’m more than willing to let them operate on me, do whatever they need to do to get rid of it. I want to get rid of the bend.

Is it that patients want to make things as easy as possible for themselves, or is it that doctors are too afraid to do more… what’s the word… “aggressive” treatments? Do they think every patient is like that? Wimpy? And I sorta wonder what I’m gonna be met with when I meet the orthopedic on Monday. I wonder what he’ll say or do when I tell him my theory. And I wonder what he’ll say or do when I tell him exactly what I want. Will I be able to find a doctor who’ll be willing to correct the bend? Who knows? Will they even believe me when I tell them? I mean, I’ve already told Getzin, and the PTs “I know the pain’s annoying and all, but I just really want to get rid of this bend here.” And it sorta seemed like they were brushing it off… I don’t know. I just hope that I won’t need to go looking for anyone else after talking to this next guy. I hope that he’ll listen, and I hope I’ll be able to get it through to him that I want him to break and reset my clavicle.

Who knows? Anyone have any opinions? I suppose only time will tell. In the meantime, I’ll keep everyone posted.

Comments (3) Feb 03 2009

Finally, after two years of brain-wracking. Finally, after getting confusion from every single doctor. Finally, after researching and trying to figure it all out, we’ve finally discovered what the problem is with my clavicle.

Mom was looking into bent clavicles, and discovered this. It’s known as a “bowing” or “bowed” fracture.

It’s not common in people my age, but what happens is the bone bends from a compression force. There isn’t a visible fracture; instead there are micro-fractures along the concave of the bend in the bone. Logically, this kind of thing is way more common in younger children since their bones aren’t fully developed like an adult, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible for a young adult to get a bowing fracture as well.

My chiropractor once told me that bones are fully hardened until a person is around 19-20 years old. The bend occurred when I was 17, so maybe what happened was that my clavicle was just soft enough to bend. The symptoms of the case you read above match mine perfectly; deformity in the bone, tenderness only where the deformity is, surrounding joints are unaffected, and I still have a full ROM and perfect sensation. This explains so much for me, especially the question of why it hasn’t healed. A bent bone can’t heal back to normalcy since the fractures are microscopic. I don’t think it can really heal at all since the bone is still bent. Take a look at the clips and the pics that I put up so you can see for yourself…

Sorry about the awkwardness of the video clip. It’s a bitch trying to tape yourself with barely any reference as to where you’re pointing the camera. But, if you pay attention, you’ll see that there’s a very clear difference between my right clavicle and my left clavicle. You’ll see them better in the pics below:

(in order: frontal view *the image is a reverse reverse, so that means the left clavicle is on the left side of the pic*; left clavicle, right clavicle)

So you can tell which one’s my left (the deformed one), right? If not, then you’re really blind.

Wanna know the best part? You can’t reduce something like this, especially if you’re around my age. You’ll usually need surgery to correct it. And, isn’t that what I’ve been telling everyone from the start? I only blogged about it two posts ago (refer to Referrals, Referrals, More Fucking Referrals for more info). It sorta makes me want to smack several people around.

As for the cause of a bowing fracture, typically it’s a longitudinal/compression force, like I said before. Now I don’t know if you know this about me, but I’m quite intense when it comes to sports. And, especially in contact sports, I’m downright aggressive. I ram into things all the time, particularly with my shoulder. I do remember one of many times I was, for example sprinting to save a volleyball, and not really paying attention to where I was going, and I slammed into the wall. Luckily it was padded. But it was most likely one of those instances, or maybe an accumulation of those kinds of incidences, that caused the bowing fracture. Usually it would be the type of thing to cause a fracture, but because what I ran into was padded, the fractures were microscopic instead.

Sooooooo… who was acting like my opinion wasn’t valid? Who was saying that orthopedic surgery probably wasn’t the answer? Yea, well, to all of you idiots who think I don’t know what I’m talking about just because I don’t have those extra letters after my name like you do, I told you so. Maybe that’ll teach you to not disregard what I have to say.

Comments (1) Jan 31 2009

I woke up at 8am today, and got a ride over to the Island Health and Fitness Center for my 9am appointment.

My verdict? I don’t really know what to think or say.

I’d like to say we didn’t get anything accomplished, if only I knew what they, in particular, were trying to accomplish. I know I didn’t get anything accomplished.

We started out with examining my clavicle, and ended up with giving me exercises for my lower trapezius muscle (on my left side, back), because my left scapula moves differently compared to my right scapula. Wanna know how? See for yourself:

Note: just watch how both scapulae move. You’ll see a subtle difference. When the left scapula moves drastically different compared to my right, that’s due to the motion of my arms, because I was working in a very cramped space. Pay attention to the very slight differences, which means you’ll have to actually look for them.

PS – Those clips are not suppose to imply anything sexual at all, to those of you who are too retarded to think otherwise. You can see the scapular movement best when there’s nothing covering it.

In my humble opinion, I feel like the freakish scapula has more to do with the fact that I’m right handed. If it was somehow affected by/affecting my clavicle, I have the feeling the AC joint would’ve been involved and/or affected as well, and it isn’t. So in terms of fixing my clavicle problem, I’d say personally we got zero accomplished.

Moving along, if anything’s changed at all, I’d say it’d be my SC joint, because it feels like they strained something trying to distract it. Idiots. Whatever, I’m just gonna go through with this trial, which I already know isn’t gonna fix anything, and get rechecked so I can get referred to the orthopedic already. I’m assuming they’re keeping surgery as an option when nothing else is gonna work. *sigh* You would think they’d get that it probably would come to that, but whatever. Like I said, I’ll go through with it (unless they do something stupid like fuck up my SC joint or something to that effect), and I’ll be patient. I know I’ll eventually see who I want to see.

Comments (3) Jan 29 2009