Ed -Definitely very good thoughts to ponder. I have/had “Mal de Debarquement Syndrome” ever since I got off a week long family cruise in late 2015 (1 year before this PN came along). It’s rare for it to still linger this long; certain situations still make me feel like I’m swaying on a rocking boat (like looking out of windows on high floors or standing in front of an elevator waiting), but it is so very much better than the 18 months after I got off that cruise and couldn’t pump gas without holding onto something. That was the very specific referral for brain MRI I got last year, it was a very specific area and not looking for anything Neuropathy. I guess I’ve been thinking for PN and my complaint of lower back pain that came with it that an MRI of the whole spinal cord is what I’ve been wanting, see if any nerves are being pinched or how my lower back is? Maybe even a Ct Scan might help? I admit I am not a medical person.
As for insurance being deciding factors, I kind of doubt it. My general experience is that doctors themselves rarely know what kind of insurance I have or what it covers. However, I’m inclined to believe many do know more about the Medicare plan, as I had a doctor 6 years ago outright tell me he couldn’t do something because of Medicare. I kindly told him that I wasn’t on Medicare, and he did an “oops” and got the PT referral in. Another doctor said I couldn’t get a referral to Duke in NC because I lived in SC back then and my insurance would require me to stay in state and go to MUSC in Charleston, and both university hospitals were 3 hours from where I lived, just different directions. I very quickly caught him on that one and told him my insurance was OK as long as I stayed in the United States. (Over time I realized there was a courtesy buddy-system within SC to push patients to their state medical university)
My insurance has changed over time, as I eventually was officially disabled, which after 18 months or so of that made me go on Medicare despite my younger age; then with my other insurance has recently changed to a Medicare advantage plan, so I don’t even know my benefits and coverages anymore lol!! All I know is I still pay for Medicare and my other insurance. Seriously though, my Medicare Advantage Plan (UHC) covers PT very generously vs Medicare and pays for gym memberships too.
My PT says a disadvantage of an MRI is that it very often tells patients of a finding that has never been an issue so shouldn’t be a concern, but that once a patient learns of it they get alarmed and want something fixed that isn’t broken, and that’s a thinking that doctors have about not wanting to do MRIs. But while I’ve forgiven, I’ll never forget a Medical University in 2019 not telling me of a (cancerous) lump they found in a scan, and even when I finally requested the report and discovered their finding, I didn’t see or thought I felt the cancer - but it needed to be treated! So parts of me would like an MRI to help convince me there’s nothing there (or is) to help explain. But Ed, I know I have to get over it, sorry to dwell.
In the mean time, your valuable coaching words are with me everyday- to Think Of What We CAN Do, not What We CAN’T Do! And to keep moving! Deb