Quick shoulder post-script

Hello beloved readers and hope my more frequent musings and postings suits you.

One other thing on the shoulder and a question I sent to the PA: given what happened with the insurance company's denials of the MRI (took 3 weeks) what are the hurdles we need to clear and barriers we need to remove to get the surgery approved?

When it comes to my TBI everything is approved (even if covered at frankly paltry rates in some cases.) They look at the history and see that I’ve done and tried everything. And I have. EVERYTHING. So they give my procedures and interventions and attempts the papal blessing.

The shoulder’s been the opposite. Deny everything, like the spies say.

Parenthetically Nick also got some denials during his care, including the attempt to get him to Rusk for acute rehab. But we both realize now that there really wasn’t anything they could have done in the week post surgery. Too much swelling, inability to bear weight, the most limited PT imaginable - what could they have done, really?” He might have been better off staying in the hospital longer. He wasn’t ready to come home yet, that was clear.

Here, vs Rusk though. He does the limited PT he’s sanctioned to do (in bed, does it religiously,) gets to spend a little time with Bear, eats well (so far I’ve made meatloaf, beef stew, baked ziti, several types of bread, biscotti, brownies and pound cake. I do a two-hour session with him from 4-6, some TV, some podcasts, a little reading when I can. Oh and I wash his hair. Try that at Rusk.)

So I think it’s a reasonable question to ask - really don’t want to get this all lined up only to have it blow up at the end. I think we’ve done all the conservative treatments the protocol demands: rest, ice, nsaids. For PT I do the stretches that she-ortho showed me and I work out without exacerbating. According to all of the orthos in my orbit that all qualifies. The idea of anyone but the surgeon manipulating my shoulder makes me feel queasy.

The question is in and I’ll post the answer when I have it. Perhaps all I need to do is stand on one foot and recite the Talmud. You never know, it’s happened before.