Surgery Scheduled for Hubby.

[mom2cbnt]

Surgery is scheduled....

This is a tentative date.. 90% sure it ¡s going to stay the same. Wednesday May 26th. He will be having the translab on the left side (unless they find something hinky with the CT Scan)  We need to arrive at U of M in Ann Arbor at 5:30 is and the surgery should start at 7 am.   Dr. El Kashlan and Dr. Thompson will be the ENT and Neuro for this.

My mother is planning on Driving out from CA and arriving the 24th and staying about 1-2 weeks as needed. My MiL will be flying in on the 24th also from CA and staying about a week.  I will be staying at the Med Inn there at the Hospital while he is there. Since I have my mother and mother in law going to be here with our 3 kids ages 6, 8 and 11.  Thank Goodness my Mother and MiL  get along huh?

He has a CT Scan this Friday, and then the other PRE op Testing closer to the surgery. May 18th he has Nerve testing, for the facial nerve, the balance nerve, and a meeting with the Therapist for after the surgery, Then on May 20th he has an appointment with the Neuro and his Pre-op Physical..

Kind of feels nice to have that done.  We have spent the last few weeks feeling like Eeyore walking around with a thunder cloud hanging over out heads pouring rain on only us.

Keep you all updated as things happen.  Now to figure out how this whole Short term disability stuff works.   Dh has 9 weeks full pay through work and another 14 wks at 60% pay..  Now is this the same as the State's Disability stuff or do we need to file stuff with them as well.   Regarding insurance, do I need to call my insurance before the surgery etc.. we have a PPO through BC/BS and dont usually need any kind of referrals/ preauthorizations but you never know  right?

THanks for all your support so far.

[james e]

Congratulations on the date. I just had a right translab on March 24 with a BAHA implant. I was only in the hospital for 3 days. I think my excellent physical health was the key to my early release, so if you can do anything before your surgery for your overall physical health by exercise and diet, today is a good day to start.

We had not given a lot of thought about my recovery at home, but I have come up with some ideas that we could have pre planed for, but never gave any thought to, because we did not know what we would run into. I will start a post on that later, and there must be hundreds of great recovery ideas out there.

Good luck to you.

James

[Pooter]

Congrats on the date...  From what I know of insurance (both HMO and PPO), you have to have the surgery pre-authorized.  Typically, the hospital is aware of this and will make the call and have it pre-authorized for you (probably because the insurance company wants to see proof that the treatment is needed, what all will be charged to them, etc..).  I know when I had surgery with BC/BS Texas (HMO), when I called the hospital to "register" for my surgery, they said they would get the pre-authorization done.  They want to be sure they're going to be paid BEFORE any treatments are done.

It's great that you have help with the kids.  That will take some stress off of you so that you can focus on your "DH".  I know what you mean about walking around like Eeyore leading up to surgery.  Try to relax and you both just get laser focused on getting it over with, getting better, and returning to some semblance of normalcy for your kids as quickly as humanly possible.

To James' point about starting a recovery thread.  Unfortunately, I think recoveries are just as unique as the AN itself.  Recoveries vary from person to person and methods for aiding recovery will vary vastly also.  I can see that there may be some universal things, but overall recovery is going to be unique and you deal with it as it comes.

Regards,
Brian

[mom2cbnt]

Thanks Brian.

[Cheryl R]

The time will come fast till surgery time.     I was never required with my BC/BS to tell them ahead.   I did anyway just to make sure.   But they told me no I didn't have to.      Think each state may be different.                    I am not sure what you mean about state disability.    The work disabilty sounds like what many do have.             Once I used any PTO from my work then as a nurse at a county hospital,then went to the 60%.    That was all one could do.          Does your state have 2 types of medical leave/disabilty.       The 60% was good for up to a year and now I can't remember what one did after that if couldn't work.        I am now retired so doesn't apply to me anymore.                  The surgeons office and or hospital should be able to tell you any info too.                I do know now that my MRIs have to be told about ahead with my BC/BSD but since have NF2 is no problem to be oked.   But my hospital takes care of that.
                         Good luck with surgery.    My advice always is to not push yourself after surgery to prove to yourself that you will have a normal life again.    You will in time!                             Cheryl R

[Jim Scott]

mom2cbnt ~

I'm pleased to learn that your husband is all set for the surgery.  Having a date (hopefully, firm) does relieve a lot of the pressure surrounding the decision to operate on the AN. 

As I understand it, Short-Term Disability is with your employer and not a government function.  If, post-op,he was unable to return to any kind of productive work, he could probably apply for his employers Long Term Disability benefit as well as Social Security Disability benefits.  However, that is highly unlikely to happen so I wouldn't be concerned about it.  If you're at all concerned about getting pre-approval from Blue Cross for the surgery, go ahead and make the call.  I had BC and didn't need prior approval but as you stated "you never know".  Good luck. 

Jim