There are various kinds of health insurance. Some kinds have national networks of doctors, and some only have local networks. Some provide out-of-network benefits, and some don’t. Even if it’s not normally covered, there is generally an appeal process, but that’s often a very difficult path to follow.

Thank you. We have many good docs here, I am just high risk. I would imagine any operation on a pouch would be high risk. This is so scary and you want to know you have the best. It is probably a pipe dream.

Heck, if I needed a pouch revision I *would* try to get it done by Remzi. My insurance does have out-of-network coverage, but the deductible and co-pay are higher.

That's what I have always said too. I am in WA State, though. There is a Remzi trained doc in CO. I still need to do my research here. Seattle has a thriving medical community with the U of WA, Swedish Medical and the Polyclinic. We'll see. I just cope with knowledge. The more I have, the better I feel. I noticed Remzi does take my insurance, but again, it is out of State so you are probably right that it will cost a lot more.

Out of state isn’t necessarily out of network. Blue Cross-Blue Shield plans tend to have a national network, for example. A post-op stay in NYC could be expensive, though, unless you have close family in town. Perhaps Remzi’s office could recommend someone closer to you.

Remzi does video appointments with the NYU app, due to coronovirus, nowadays. I had my last appointment with him this way. You can at least get your first consultation this way without traveling.

I had a non-local friend who had a redo with Remzi recently, and she was discharged one week after the surgery, and had to take a plane. I should say that was not a good idea. They did not even give her opioids for the flight. You should have funds to stay at a hotel around NYC for a week or so after discharge from your surgery, and have someone to take care of you in the meantime.

You don't have to stay at a hotel in Manhattan in NYC, you can get a 45 minute Uber ride and find more affordable places to stay.

Lots of good advice. Thanks. I like the idea of seeing if they will recommend someone closer. He"They have to have trained a lot of surgeons. 

The plane trip across the country would be horrid, especially with no opioids. Sometimes I feel like the rule makers sit in white rooms with no dust and decide our fates. The regulations do not always meet reality.

Thanks. I meet with a surgeon on Friday. Lots of questions for her. 

Hi Kta, I did not want to do discourage you, I just wanted give you an idea about logistics so that you can plan better.

If you can save some money for the flight and for a week hotel stay around town, you can do this. Many people do it.

If you would have to do this alone, you could always order food to the hotel, (probably just plain cheese pizza, and chicken soup) and make doordash to deliver groceries to your hotel room, but it would be easier if you would have someone else with you to do those for you. They would not have to stay the whole time either. I am local here, I can bring a load of groceries to the hotel once.

I did not understand why they refused giving her opioids. They sent me home with 30 dialudids, so I found it weird why they did not give her any. They gave her a lot of other pain meds though.

There might be a legitimate reason, as the pain management team at NYU is independent of the surgical team there. She was on epidural longer, she stayed longer at the hospital. Or, the pain management team might have suspected something.

In any case, even with or without opioids, you should not fly on the day of your discharge. It is recommended to stay within driving distance to the hospital for a while in case of complications, and there is a two week post-op appointment with a PA that you can make in person if you stay at a hotel for a week.

He will do what he can, hes awesome. He did my redo in Cleveland before he left for NYC, and we still talk. My sister has Crohns and she was having issues in Orlando where she lives, and he called down to that hospital to a colleague he knows there and got her in the right hands..