They don't know why I have the pains. With that said, it's definitely getting better with time. It doesn't worry me at all, and it doesn't prevent me from normal activities.

You never know regarding the weight... you and I are different heights and have different circumstance, so they may be willing to perform surgery. Never know until you ask.

Interestingly, I literally just spoke with Medicare today regarding insurance, and I also obtained some Medicare/Mayo payment info from Facebook last week when I saw that someone else asked about Medicare and Mayo answered them.

I have two insurances. I have Medicare Part A as my primary for in-patient hospitalization, and my secondary insurance is via my husband's employment. Mayo is billing my in-patient, hospital stuff from October to Medicare Part A first. Anything not covered will then be billed to my secondary insurance, which Mayo has always accepted despite that I live in Western New York. The Medicare Part A deductible for 2016, when I had the surgery, was $1,288, so I will owe that amount to Mayo. (The Medicare Part A deductible for 2017 is $1,316.)

Based on your age, I assume that you have Medicare Part A, which would be used toward the surgery & hospitalization; Mayo would submit your claims and Medicare will reimburse them directly. With that said, you should be aware that Mayo is a non-participating provider under Medicare Part B, which is used to cover out-patient visits, etc. This means that Mayo sees Medicare Part B patients, but they do not always accept assignment for payment. When this happens, per Medicare, Mayo submits the claims for Part B claims to Medicare, then Medicare pays you, and you would be responsible for reimbursing Mayo.

Some info: http://www.mayoclinic.org/patient-visitor-guide/billing-insurance/insurance/accepted-insurance/medicare