KICKING AND SCREAMING!!!

First, let me thank everyone for all the prayers! My birthmom is halfway through her chemo treatments and still going strong! I spent a week in the hospital for the FOURTH TIME with this MRSA and when I asked the infectious disease doc how we can keep me from being in the hospital every 6 weeks with this, he said, deal with it. If that wasn't enough, he kept sending in a surgeon who kept wanting to hack my leg open without knowing how deep my MRSA was...1 cm thank you very much And if That wasn't enough, when I went to talk to my lovely PCP about writing my letter he acted like he had NO CLUE what I was talking about...I tried explaining to him that I picked my surgeon and he required a letter upfront...my PCP started mumbling about not knowing about insurance approval diets...um HELLO WHAT THE HELL HAVE WE BEEN DOING SINCE APRIL>?!?!?! SOOO then he says the surgeon has to write the letter and he'll set me up with a referral , HELLO I FOUND THE ONE I WANT!!! I just wanted to wallop him upside the head! Needless to say I had to cancel my psych eval...again! Now I'm ready to throw my hands up...I feel like everything I've worked so hard for keeps getting thrown back in my face, and now it looks like my once ever so helpful PCP isn't going to be so helpful and acts like his head is up his you know where!!

For people who spent so many years in school to become doctors, sometimes they haven't got a clue. And to think they are getting paid for their lack of attention, ignorance and general bad attitude. Did you get everything cleared up with your PCP before you left or did you just leave frustrated? If you left without resolution, I would set up another appt with him and have the letter ready and just ask him to sign it. There are several version of letters out there on the site. Good luck and Hang in there! Amy

Yes your surgeon has to write a letter to your insurance company for the approval but you also need the letter from the PCP. DAH!!!!! Some doctors just are not with it. It sounds like you have more than enough to handle. My wish for you is "smooth sailing ahead"

Oh gosh Kim, I'm sorry things are so tough. You've always seemed like such a strong willed person, even when things get rough, so I'd like to enourgage you to keep at it. Amy's right, if it wasn't resolved, try another appt. with your whacko PCP and maybe take that letter with you...sometimes they (unfortunately) don't want to deal with taking the time to write a letter I really believe that you can do this though. If you need anything, please let me know. Danielle

dont give up ..... i have been trying to have surgery for over 3 1/2 years . i was about to give up and just deal with my weight and try to be happy . then i found a wonderful doctor and a great office (cary you rock) and with in one month i have done all the pre -op and have been approved for surgery ....you just have to keep the faith and keep at it . tina

Have your surgeon's office get in touch with the person that handles referrals at your PCP's office. She/He can explain exactly what you need and why. Sometimes they take it better coming from another Dr's office. Also your PCP may not feel comfortable saying definitively you need the surgery -- hence his desire to referr you to the surgeon before he writes a letter. Oh by the way -- is your PCP not comfortable with your choice in surgeons? I would find out why he wants to referr you to someone else. Maybe he knows something you do not know.

You'd think doctors would have more of a clue sometimes, wouldn't you? When I approached my PCP, I had all my ducks in a row. I told her what I wanted to discuss and why and then gave her a letter that she could sign and she was quite delighted by that. I have the two letters on my profile and you should feel free to use them if you want. The PCP letter was taken from this site and I just changed it to fit my own case and the other letter I just wrote from my heart so Aetna would know that I felt I had complied with their requirements and that I had a lawyer standing by in case I needed it. I was approved in less than 24 hours, so there's no arguing with success. Good luck and do NOT give up!! Jan

Have they found what antibiotics aren't resistance to the MRSA through blood cultures? I get cellulitis in my legs a lot. At one point it was never getting better, I had a port for IV antibiotics and it turned out that was infected with MRSA. Dyoxycycline is what I was given, because they found in my blood cultures that the infection was resistance to everything else at the time. There is a SUPER antibiotic out there...I will try to find the name of it for you. Sarah

my surgeon had a "sample" letter all ready, all the pcp had to do was fill in the blanks...and that's just what he did, he whited out the (insert here) fields and hand wrote in the responses, lol. when i found out i called the office and told them they had to type it and put it on their letter head (and they are supposidly smart, lmao) well, i ended up writing the letter putting it on disc and bringing it there for him to print and sign. the surgeon said it was the best letter that they had gotten yet...if they only knew. now all i have to do is fight the ins co and get them to approve it. i got my first denial the day before thanksgiving, got my letter today saying why i was denied. i will save that for a seperate post. good luck in your fight with the primary. just because they have letters behind their names doesnt mean they are that intelligent.