One Year!

It's been just over a year since I had the surgery on my hip.  I don't have much but good to report on how it's going.  BlueCross BlueShield of Utah sent me a sort of obtuse letter a couple of weeks ago that thanked me for calling to their attention that they had disallowed my procedure and revoked all the funds from the providers.  They reversed their decision, presumably re-paid the providers and told me how important I am to them, while raising my premium the usual 5% per quarter.  I remember when we used to get those kinds of returns in the stock market!

I am relieved that the insurance company relented without too much more friction, however.  I was just getting ready to contact a lawyer, something I would always prefer to do without, to put in gently.  Now I am trying to think if the health insurance premium I pay for myself and my kids is worth it, if self insuring isn't a better way to go until Obamacare kicks in in some form or another.  Or, maybe I should go see my surgeon, Josh Hickman, who I hold in increasingly high regard, and see about doing the other hip before I turn 55 and BlueCross really won't cover it.

I have been experimenting with short jogs for the last several months.  Until this month I always ended up a little more sore in the hip than I wanted to be.  But now, a half mile of jogging mixed in with a several mile hike has no negative repercussions.  I can't tell you what a pleasure and pleasant surprise that is.  I still believe that if I could manage to lose weight I would be able to go much farther.  No progress yet on that (increasingly large) front however.

I have been re-married for a month now, my hip is acting as good as new, and I just got my first closely cropped male-pattern-baldness haircut.  Life is sweet.

Glad to Have a New Hip

Let me add that the hip is doing great. With 800 mg of ibuprofen once before skiing I can ski all day almost pain free, both during and after. My new hip is better than my old, and my old is pretty good. The procedure will be worth it even if I have to pay for it. I doubt I will have to pay for, the insurance company is just trying to assure it's well earned reputation, but the hip is great.

Insurance Denied

I've never had a major, non-emergency, hospital experience. Perhaps I am just naive. But I was suprised last week when BlueCross of Utah sent me letters last week denying my claim for the hip surgery. I don't have much information yet. BlueCross has a policy of managing their front phones with people who don't know as much about insurance as you or I. But what they seem to be saying, rather obtusely -- the letters they sent me said I wasn't insured at the time, a statement they now retract-- is that I did not qualify as a candidate for the hip resurfacing procedure, which makes it an "investigational" procedure and they don't pay for investigational procedures.

BlueCross has paid the providers but they will now get that money back, presumably by deducting from other monies owed them. If worse comes to worst I will be on the hook for $35,000. I had called BlueCross several times before the surgery to be sure I was covered. I spoke of that somewhat disquieting experience previously (again the incompetence of the people that man their phones). I was eventually told that they did cover the procedure and that I was insured. The caveat now appears that I was covered if they determine I qualified for it. The surgeon's office also called the insurance company to verify I was covered. What I didn't see coming was that BlueCross does not necessarily accept the surgeon's decision to use this HR procedure, and that they don't decide until after the fact. If that is standard industry procedure I will go ahead and let myself have an angry discussion with the surgeon for not warning me.

More as I learn something.

Use Your Body, Then Go Bionic

I've had a new hip since July 21, 226 days already. A few updates.

My usual preamble. I am not writing this because I think any reader is breathlessly waiting to hear more about my joints or because I find myself so damned interesting that I just have to tell someone. It is to help benchmark the quality and timing of recovery in order to make decisions about hips as yet unattended to. Anyway, yada, yada.

I am well past the point of wondering if my hip (surgery was on my left hip) has recovered to the point that it is better than before surgery. Now I mostly compare my left hip to my right hip, and for the most part, the new hip is better. I am skeptical about the experience of others who said they were running marathons 6 months after surgery. Skeptical at least that this body could have done that. There are yet others who are complaining a year or more after surgery that they thought it would be better than it is. Different strokes, but I'll bet those marathoners were in more pain than a person should be and that the late bloomers need to get out there a little more and work through some pain.

A few benchmarks since I blogged last. Downhill skiing still hurts some while I ski, but about equally in both hips. The pain has switched from hurting while there was compression pressure on the joint to mostly being in the upweight and weight transition phase. The result is that I am still having a hard time connecting quick turns, which is about my favorite thing to do, but not so bad at fewer, longer turns. Cross country skiing is not painful any longer. Notably, and a big deal for me, is that there is no longer residual pain after I ski. I used to limp around for days. Hiking and walking are nearly pain free.

I tried jogging on a treadmill for a half a mile a couple times a week about 6 weeks ago. That didn't work out. This last week I tried it again. My left hip still hurts a bit while doing the jogging, more than the right, but there was no residual pain. I think I am now at the point that I can start adding a little uphill jogging to my getting around. I am pretty happy about that.

My lower back was chronically sore before surgery. Time at the telescope stooped to the eyepiece tracking a star for a photo, for instance, was about tuning out the impressive back and hip pain. That is gone now and my lower back is rarely sore.

I still believe that my body weight is a limiting factor to reducing my remaining hip pain. I've tried several different ways to lose weight and have not succeeded. To the contrary. But, as they say, if at first you don't succeed . . . try something different! My point is that with the new hip losing weight would pay larger dividends than ever. Either way, I can see that I now have a lot longer in my life to be a lot more active. I was feeling rather old and feeble for awhile.

So get out there! I'll give you the name of a terrific surgeon if you need it!

Back on Skis

Nick and I went up to Snowbird today for my first day on skis with the new hip. I might have gone as early as a month ago, but the snow was thin and hard and my hip had been sore. Even so, I still managed to be back on skis at about the 5 1/2 month-post surgery mark.

While not the same as a complete body makeover, the hip was better than it has been for the last several years. I would say that while skiing today it hurt about as much as it did 5-ish years ago. The big difference, and this is the like day versus night part, is that it doesn't hurt right now as I write, just 2 hours after skiing. It has been nearly 10 years since I walked without a limp after skiing. I am pleasantly surprised . . . and starting to think about the other hip. Ski on!