There's Hope at Last!

I have been fighting a problem with my hips (AVN), and the left one in particular.  On an MRI of my left hip, a cyst and a tear in the labrum was revealed.  Since then, I have been playing the bureaucracy to get an arthroscopic procedure to remove the cyst, and repair the torn labrum.  I thought it would be easy enough, an orthopedic surgeon could take care of that, right?  Sort of... maybe... What do you mean you're not a hip guy?  I don't give a rat's rump if you can boogie the night away, or speak in the current vernacular, I want you to get a f-ing cyst out of my hip.  Oh, you mean you're not that kind of hip doctor?  Elbows, knees, ankle guys.  Yeah, I get it, hip work isn't hip work, mostly for old people.  If you work knees and elbows, you can get on with a MLB, or NFL, or NBA team as a consultant.  Swell...

Finally found an actual hip guy up in Carmichael, a suburb of Sacramento, a drive of 50 miles, or so.  Met with him, got to scheduling, and United Healthcare/Military/Veterans decided that I didn't need something in the Dr.'s request, and "partially" approved the procedure.  Dr. Greene wasn't going to do what was approved, so everything (including a $51 co-pay), just stopped.  This was in early May 2015.

I spent the month of June trying to re-establish the fact that, of the three options I was given (do nothing, get hip injections (steroids), or arthroscopic surgery), the only viable choice was surgery.
I asked my Primary Care Manager, Dr. Vogel, to see if he could get the hip injections coordinated with my back injections, scheduled for July 13, 2015.  Meanwhile, in a series of e-mails through Relay Health (it's meant to computerize appointments, prescription renewals, etc.) but I sent him a plaintive request for help with my referrals, stating firmly that the "do nothing" option was not.

This whole thing began because I was no longer able to walk even nine holes of golf.  I'm fortunate, in that I have access to the military course at Travis, where I pay for my golf annually, and I can get a "cart card" that drops the regular price of renting a cart from $18 to $13 for a full 18 holes.  The fact is, I miss walking the course.  Cypress Lakes (the Travis AFB course) is flat, although there are raised greens and tees, and some small knolls throughout the layout, so it's easy to walk.  Eventually, I'd like to get one of those self-propelled carts, to walk alongside, but I could do with one that is easy to push.  That is still in the future, however.

In July, I met my appointment for my back injections, and was asked if I was ever told that steroid injections in my hip were no longer allowed because of my AVN.  I told him that I was, but that I wanted that little fact brought up again, due to my current problem.  Finally, I got a phone call about the "partially approved" referral, and an appointment to see Dr. Vogel to see WTF was going on with United Healthcare.  Six days later, I get a new referral for Dr. Greene authorizing the arthroscopy.

I called the Dr.'s office today (Friday, August 20, 2015, and got through to his surgical scheduler, who said she didn't have a copy of the referral (she does now).  I'm waiting for her to call me back, sometime today.  There's hope.