Sleep is Great
I am going to bed, falling asleep and sleeping for seven hours with only one or two awakenings. I am a light sleeper and I attribute these awakenings to that and I am not experiencing any breathing problems. I am waking up somewhat refreshed and have plenty of energize throughout the day. In the evening I am tired, but I am 60+ and I have to say I am making up for lost time so I have a lot going during the day.
I still have some swelling and numbness in my upper gum area, but no pain anywhere. I am still down 22 lbs which is great and eating is still a chore. So be it.
Dr. Li's office advises that most patients get a post op sleep study at three months, so I need to get going on setting that up at Stanford.
Insurance not so Great
I thought it has been only two weeks since my last entry, but it has been one month. Sorry about that. I have been totally involved in corresponding with my insurance company. They have thrown out two policies at me which have reduced my reimbursements by as much as $15,000. You should all be aware of these two policies if you are considering MMA Surgery.
They are:
"Multiple and bilateral surgical procedures"
"Primary billed procedure and secondary (minor) billed procedure"
With both of these insurance policies and reimbursement procedures the insurance company saves many dollars. I was not advised of either of these policies when I was talking with the customer service representatives prior to surgery. I was advised in the pre-authorization letter that the two minor procedures, the septoplasty and arch bars would be considered incidental and part of the primary procedure which is the Maxillary Osteotomy and Mandibular Osteotomy.
The bottom line was my insurance company wanted to pay for the upper jaw advancement at full benefits and the lower jaw advancement at half benefits because they were performed at the same time, even though the work and time was equal for both and each required separate incisions.
I am still battling these issues, but I am fighting a multi-billion dollar business. So look into these two issues and contact me with any questions.
I will keep you posted
John,
ReplyDeleteIt's been great reading your blog. I also have sleep apnea and am also a patient of Dr. Li's, who has suggested that MMA is the only "cure" but who also suggested that I first have a septoplasty and turbinate reduction and see how that affected my CPAP effectiveness, which right now is far less than satisfactory. I'm scheduled for the septoplasty/turbinate surgery on June 1 with Dr. Li. Reading your blog and those of others has been extremely helpful in getting a sense of what's involved in the surgery and the recovery, and the effects on sleep. I'm leaning more and more toward the MMA surgery, but we'll see what happens with the septoplasty/turbinate surgery. Thanks again for being willing to put your experiences out there.
Eric