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← Return to Hardware failure from fusions
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Bones, Joints & Muscles | Last Active: Aug 9, 2023 | Replies (21)
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Wow that’s crazy that you would be responsible for paying for this. It should be the orthopedic office who put in the titanium’s to pay for this. They are the ones that decide what type of metal goes on you. I really hope this do. Is right about the hardware that’s over my SI joint causing the pain. Because if that’s not the case I’m stuck living in horrible pain. Pain meds, pain pumps and stimulators don’t work with my type of pain.
Thank you so much for the information. I will check it out!
Replies to "Wow that’s crazy that you would be responsible for paying for this. It should be the..."
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@eddiestella1 You're welcome. Your surgeon is making recommendations with the best information they have available at the time and considering your health conditions, and often there are no perfect solutions. They can't promise to return your body to a younger state before damage or wear and tear happened or that nothing else will happen. Everything is a compromise of sorts, and as patients, we sign documents that we accept the risks based on a doctor's recommendations. When you think of yourself as "less than perfect" it's a loss and is hard to accept, but in reality that is normal as we go through life and age. Most of us develop some ailment that follows us for life. Not being "perfect" is really just being normal.
In my case prior to my spine surgery, the blood test said no allergies to titanium or other metals. After I fractured my ankle, it took 6 months before anything changed and that is when the hives started. I had pain, but there is lots of pain after a broken ankle during healing. My ankle isn't as good as before I damaged it, but this is the best it can be for now, and I'm doing what I can to avoid having a joint replacement in my future. Medicine is like that. It can do wonders for us that didn't exist years ago, but nothing is perfect. We are still learning new things and new ways to deal with disease and injuries. Doctors need multiple levels of proof and evidence before something is accepted as fact, and my surgeon was not willing to say that I reacted to the titanium or that the hives were related. He knows some patients have pain, about 20% he said, and that is enough to warrant hardware removal, but it was really my choice.
The issues with payment comes down to the insurance companies wanting to stay profitable and refuse payment if they can get away with it. Doctors have no control over that. Surgeons are under the control of insurance companies who can decide at the last minute not to cover a surgery, and the doctor has to cancel a scheduled procedure. It's not good, but that is what happens sometimes.