So it’s insurance “open season”. Be vewwy, vewwy quiet, we’we hunting insuwance, ahahahahahaha.
In a near-perfect personification of that age-old children’s classic “Head, and shoulders knees and toes”, and helped by my turning 50… things are falling apart. The head = sleep study, that’s no biggie. The toes = assorted foot problems, the occasional steroid shot / orthotics, again no biggie.
The shoulder: MRI will happen in January, but probably some problem with rotator cuff damage. Treatment may consist of physical therapy, maybe injections into the affected area, and possibly surgery.
The knee, also MRI in January, probably a combination of tendonitis and cartilage damage. may also require some arthroscopic surgery to clean things out a bit. This (and the shoulder) will obviously depend on the results of the MRIs.
The questions:
Shoulder surgery: usually inpatient or outpatient? Any experience or professional anecdotes welcome. Recovery times? How disabled and for how long?
Shoulder other: Are steroid (or other) injections commonly used? The doc didn’t specifically say what the treatments might be; I’d suspect that PT would be step 1.
Knee, arthroscopic surgery: usually inpatient or outpatient?
Knee, other: having done PT for the knee many years back (and spent a year in near-constant pain, with no benefit except for really great calf muscles), I don’t think that’ll be on the table. Possibly injections (either steroid, or some sort of synthetic joint fluid). Any experiences with that, please spill! Steroid shots into my feet have been… unpleasant so I’m not looking forward to THAT.
Anyway - at the moment, I’m trying to decide between various levels of insurance. I’ve already opted for the mid-level (no deductible but higher cost) and am trying to decide if I want to bump things up even further (lower limit on out of pocket but still higher up-front cost). Knowing more about the surgical options etc. will help me decide. It’s fortunate that things have started falling apart JUST in time for open season.