@jkichar I'm sorry you are getting the run around. However, I am not surprised. This surgeon doesn't want you as a patient and is being dismissive. I have been in that position myself with having had carpal tunnel surgery when the surgeon missed that I also had overlapping symptoms from Thoracic Outlet Syndrome which is a nerve compression in the shoulder. Even after I had an official diagnosis of TOS, and went back to the hand surgeon, he refused to allow physical therapy. If you are pointing out a "mistake" so to speak, they avoid you as much as possible. The hand surgeon also hid in his office (I had already seen him there) and had his staff tell me he was not there. I was also refused help by 5 spine surgeons before I came to Mayo because they didn't understand how to connect my symptoms to my spine images. With the complete loss of disc height in a few of your vertebrae, that represents some advanced spine deterioration, and he may not be confident in his abilities to fix that. I'm sorry you are caught in the 90 day blackout for medical care, but you need a more advanced surgeon for an expert opinion.

I would highly recommend my surgeon at Mayo Rochester. He is excellent, as well as being kind and compassionate. I will answer questions if you have them. You may request that he review your case when you apply to Mayo for an appointment. It will be different when you get to Mayo, like a breath of fresh air. If you want to request Dr. Fogelson, write him a letter about your symptoms and history of your spine issues and send it with your request. Of course, you need to describe your last surgery and how you had problems afterward, and that the surgeon did not address all the issues. Repeat what the other pain doctor said about your need for surgery and that you are being referred only to pain management or PT. Having difficulties getting proper medical help may help you when you describe all of it and that you are not getting medical help. Do not be judgmental about your opinion of your surgeon but be honest about your symptoms before and after his procedure. Surgeons know when surgery is a failure and let them be the one to make that judgement. This keeps you as an innocent patient only seeking help from a real expert. In other words, don't bash a doctor to another doctor. That could be offensive. Keep everything in the effort to get help. A surgeon who takes a difficult case and resolves it well will feel good about helping you. Set up your experience to allow this to happen. If you need to vent, respectfully do that on Connect instead, so all of your communication with a new surgeon is positive. It is worth traveling to get to an excellent surgeon. You can apply to any of the Mayo campuses, however, there are a lot more spine surgeons at the original location in Rochester.

My surgeon, Dr. Jeremy Fogelson
https://www.mayoclinic.org/biographies/fogelson-jeremy-l-m-d/bio-20055624