Rortator cluff surgery | Arthritis Information

Can someone help, Has any of you had this surgery. I have been going for a year and a half to my rhemy and in this last 5 months I have been telling him that my shoulder hurts really bad and all I got from him is I don't need to take any x-rays because I know it is your RA. Well I finally told my family doctor and he said I want you to go to orthro for bones. So I did and he took x-rays and a MRI of my shoulder and I got the report back and I have a very large tear in my shoulder that needs surgery as soon as possible but the thing is I will not have insurance after the 31 of this month. I am retiring the 27th of this month and can not get on my husband insurance until 1/1/08

So I called my insurance company and they said they would pay maybe for the surgery but not the 3 months of theapy. God I don't know what I am going to do. Maybe I should not get the surgery. I am stuck I think. Oh and another thing. I am still waiting for my gold shots from my rhemy he said they are on back order The shots that is. He is making me suffer. I have pain feet, shoulder, fingers, toes neck. I am ready to scream. Thank you all for letting me vent. Joan

angel. you should be able to quality for cobra coverage for the three
months following your surgery. check into this so that you don't lapse even
a day on your coverage. you cannot afford to do that right now. I've had shoulder surgery. Remember, everyone's surgery is different, everyone's tear is different. I had a SLAP Lesion, rotator cuff tear, the bicep was off and had to be re-attached too. Long recovery. you will definitely need a lot of physical therapy, so do check into cobra coverage. Good luck!is cobra insure expensivepaying for PT out of pocket will be expensive. Cobra is cheaper than having no insurance in the long run. Check it out

I also had this surgery, and I agree that you will require a lot of physical therapy. It is detrimental to your recovery and regaining full range motion of your arm, so I would strongly recommend you not skip PT! If you have a large tear, then you are in a tremendous amount of pain and are probably sleep deprived (I sure was!). If you wish to wait until Jan '08 - see if your doc can give you a cortisone injection to your shoulder to help you get through the holidays. Sometimes they work great...sometimes they don't..but it might help you.

Best of luck...and don't despair....My surgery was a complete success and I'm even bowling again!

Be careful waiting until new insurance kicks in. They may classify it as a pre-existing condition (since you already have a firm dx) and not cover you at all.

Feel better.

Andrea