Spring of this year I visited my doctor about an ear infection -something I seem to have been prone to over the years. He gave me some meds and told me to visit an ENT about the ear pain and some hearing loss I’ve had in my left ear. The ENT was very nice and said blockage, a badly bent septum and a few other problems were causing my eustation tube to collapse which caused pressure on my ear drum and made me prone to infections, but he had a cure for my problems. A fairly straight forward surgery which involved several procedures and only one recovery time. Great, dandy.
Being a musician and hoping to finish two albums this year, having working hearing is something I’m interested in -so I schedule the surgery.
The surgery, while quite painful, seemed to go without a hitch. After all the packing was removed and the swelling went down I had a new head. Of course, it looked the same, but for the first time in my adult life I managed to feel what it was like to move air through my nose. I could smell and taste like I never thought possible. After only two weeks my ear stopped hurting for the first time in years. My wife said I even stopped snoring at night. I also noticed I was sleeping better. I was a happy camper.
Fast forward about 4 weeks, things start not going so well. When I inhale through my nose the sides of the nostril pull in. The left side is worse then the left. If I sniff hard, the thing closes all the way and I can’t move any air on that side. Of course, I call the ENT. The ENT says this happens from time to time and he did attempt a valve repair on my nose while he was in there. He said 90% of the time it works fine. 10% of the time something else has to be done to fix the problem of the nose collapsing. He says a doctor in the area fixed his nose when it was damaged a few years back. This doctor removed the cartilage from part of his ear and rebuilt his nose valves with it. This doctor is a friend of his and he hooks the two of us up.
ENT number 2 is also a plastic and reconstructive surgeon. I visit him at the office, he agrees with doing the “ear2nose” surgery. He says he’ll fix my nose and gives me a number to call to arrange a time to have surgery.
This is where it gets stupid.
I have a $1000 a year maximum “out of pocket” with my insurance company. Considering I already had a surgery this year, I’ve already met the $1000. I expressed great interest in having this second surgery done before year end for that reason (financially, this year has been real thin and digging up the first $1000 made for a tight belt.). So I call to arrange the surgery. We figure a date a few weeks out. I’m told I need to give them a $1000 deposit to even secure the date. I explain my insurance will pay for everything and they tell me no $1000, no surgery.
Frustrated, I get on the phone with my insurance company. They say the doctor doing the surgery is one of their “preferred” doctors, so there shouldn’t be a problem. I end up going back and forth on the phone for the next couple of days with the hospital, the insurance company and the ENT. At the end of it all I end up nowhere. I decide to let it rest for a few days because, quite frankly, the entire thing was pissing me off. Meanwhile, my nose issue gets worse. I decide the best thing to do is get a second opinion with another ENT.
A few days later I’m in the office of ENT number three. I hate to say it but some people are not meant to be doctors. She didn’t listen to a single thing I said to her. I told her my nose is better when it is a little congested because when it is fully clear it has enough airflow to pull the sides of my nose in. Her answer, NOSE SPRAY,. to clear my sinues. But, but, but,. When I’m “clear” I can’t breathe at all. Also, she suggests to do nothing for a year and see what happens. But, but, but, my nose is getting worse everyday and my ear is starting to hurt again.
She did say the 2nd ENT is the only doctor in the area that can do the “ear2nose” procedure, which is something ENT #1 told me as well. I still wanted to kick her.
I return home not really wanting to wade through another year of ear infections, pain and being dizzy. My wife decides to get on the phone with ENT #2 and after a few hours somehow she manages to schedule a surgery date with ENT #2, without a deposit. Don’t ask me how, she just did. This was in early October. The surgery date was set for December 9th.
Today, one week before my surgery, I get a call from ENT #2’s office. They said they just heard back from the insurance company. They approved the procedure and the ENT, but not the hospital. I can only have this done if the doctor does the surgery at one of their “approved” hospitals. She says the only option is to cancel the surgery or cover the expense myself… Or, schedule the surgery on one of the days ENT #2 does the surgery at the approved hospital (which is only one day a month). And then, just to rub it in, she says when I reschedule the surgery they will NOT wave the deposit again. I thank her for the really shitty news and hang up. I really wanted to kick her.
I call the insurance company. They verify they will pay for 100% of the operation at the approved hospital. They also tell me ENT #2’s office didn’t send the pre-approval request to them until November 24th. WTF?? They wait damn near two months before sending the request?
The insurance company says they might reconsider if the doctor sends them a request ASAP on the reasons why this needs to be done now at ENT #2’s home hospital. I call ENT #2’s office back but by 3pm all I could reach was an answering machine.
When my wife called in October to schedule the surgery the first date they had at the other hospital (now known as the “approved” hospital) was in March. Of course that was two months ago.
Right now, all the pressure in my left ear is back. Some is beginning to develop in the right side as well. I have less airflow in my nose then when I started. Both sides are collapsing when I sniff, one side closes when I inhale normally and the other side is not far behind. You can hear what little air is moving through my nose in the way you can hear a pug or bulldog breathe. My sense of smell and taste has returned to what it used to be. I’m snoring again and sleeping how I used to.
That was $1000 well spent.
FUCK FUCK SHIT FUCKER SHIT ASSHOLE FUCK SHIT!
Now I get the great pleasure to scrounge up another $1000 to fix what is worse then what I had to begin with. But I have plenty of fucking time to save as I won’t be getting in until NEXT FUCKING SPRING! There should be some special consideration when one “approved” doctor makes matters much worse. I scheduled one week of time off of work for this surgery back in October. My time has already been covered so now I get a fucking week off… without pay. I put off doing vocal tracks on the albums until the sides of my nose stopped flapping in the wind like two pieces of uncooked bacon. Damn.
I think the worse part is not really having a direct source to aim my anger. ENT #2’s office is at the top of the list, but really they are just following policy (of course her jab about the deposit wasn’t all that nice considering). The insurance company really can’t be blamed because they do have their approved doctors and hospitals. The first ENT isn’t to blame because he tried to fix the issue before it was even an issue.
At this point I’m considering finding someone to give me a septum piercing half an inch into my nose and using a barbell to hold the fucker open.
