hopes are up...
Jan. 7th, 2002 02:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rootofnewti called AETNA. the skin biopsy at Johns Hopkins is covered, so is the doctor who does it. i just need a referral from my PCP, in addition to the 'script written by my neurologist.
the carpal tunnel splints will be covered, as well.
and my foot orthotics are covered on a case-by-case basis. the ortho surgeon just has to call and say, "YES, these are a medical necessity." and POOF! they'll be covered.
:D
now, i hope this all works out. i was really dreading scrimping for the foot plates.
the carpal tunnel splints will be covered, as well.
and my foot orthotics are covered on a case-by-case basis. the ortho surgeon just has to call and say, "YES, these are a medical necessity." and POOF! they'll be covered.
:D
now, i hope this all works out. i was really dreading scrimping for the foot plates.
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long saga follows...
Date: 2002-01-07 01:05 pm (UTC)my regular GP thoughti was just having regular migraines... he put me on all sorts of meds... the worst were the ones which dilated the blood vessels. i have low blood pressure... passing out frequently was SO MUCH FUN. and that's also when we discovered my intolerance of most pain meds. i spent my junior and senior years mostly high. :/
finally, i got a headache on a rare visit home. mom saw right away that it was my jaw (her story coming next (; )
at the time, our orthopoedic dental dude was savvy enough to file TMJD under ortho/joint problems. then insurance caught on to savvy docs like him and started excluding TMJD COMPLETELY.
fortunately, after several years of wearing splints (lots of different ones--the lab liked me--my lovely jaw torque let them have money to discover better acrylic polymers), i'm more or less cured. i do have certain triggers--stress, hard/crunchy foods, fellatio, etc... but i haven't had a TMJ migraine in several months. my current insurance excludes TMJ completely.
my mother is less lucky. for 25 years (from the time she was 18-20), she was told that her pain was all in her head. by the time she got to a good doc, she hadn't been able to eat solids for a year, had lots lots of weight, had lost her cartilage disks in both TM joints, and had HOLES in the bones of one joint. she'll be on NSAIDS and pain meds for the rest of her life and will always have her splint. fortunately, her insurance covers TMJD.
my ex's insurance covers her TMJD... and her doc is calling for the surgery. :/ none of the splints have helped and she has horrid, regular migraines. :/
you know... a lot of TMJD cases were caused by orthodontists. they tried to create perfect smiles, neglecting the perfect bite. my ortho actually tried for the perfect bite, but genetics won.
i'm sorry yours is causing you so much trouble. i consider myself lucky that mine is normally okay. and i can tolerate alleve these days, which means i can take two at the first twinge of inflammation and head off a migraine before it starts. right now, i'm stressed over all this insurance biz, so i'm rather clenchy of jaw.
Re: long saga follows...
Date: 2002-01-07 01:18 pm (UTC)My migraines were caused by bc pills (which I discovered when the doc suggested I use different birth control until I stopped having regular vomiting with migraines). I can only take Aleve or ibuprofen rarely, as I take Celebrex daily. The TMJ pain is only a tiny thing to put up with compared to yours, or your mom's, or my hands, hip, and knees. . . .
Re: long saga follows...
Date: 2002-01-07 01:28 pm (UTC)