Setting off metal detectors at the airport

An x-ray of my right heel after surgery and the way it is currently

I won't rehash the details of my accident of August 2002, but the most difficult and longest recovery was from the essential destruction of my calcanei (the heel bone) in both of my feet. Pictured above is the "erector set" of plates, pins and screws that Dr. Stephen Benirschke constructed in both of my feet in order for them to heal properly and eventually allow the joints around the shattered bone to function as "normally" as possible. As witnessed by my only slightly impaired mobility today, Dr. B's work was of the highest order.

The metal is serving no purpose and Dr. B suggested that I schedule a day surgery with him to have the hardware removed. I would need to avoid putting the weight of my body on the foot for the five days following surgery. I have scheduled to have Dr. B perform the surgery to occur on June 23rd, 2005.

All great plans must at some point go awry. I got a call from Dr. B's billing clerk and she said that she would need to have Kaiser (my HMO) to sent a letter to Dr. B's office in Seattle stating that they approve of my having this operation outside of the Kaiser network. The very nice woman in Dr. B's office named Emmy, told me that I would need to contact my primary care physician, Dr. Tang, to start the paperwork in motion by contacting Kaiser San Francisco's outside services office. When Emmy told me the name of the woman handling my case, I knew I was going to be for a tough battle. This woman, who shall remain nameless as I have learned that naming names when not talking about them nicely does get one in trouble in some unforeseen way, was the 800 pound gorilla that stood in my way of being released from Kaiser into the care of the doctors in Seattle back in 2002. Let's just say the word "NO" doesn't cause her any pain or guilt to say.

So this morning, I headed over to see Dr. Tang to get the ball rolling. Even though I didn't actually get anything rolling due to the fact that Dr. Tang isn't himself an orthopedic specialist and therefore wouldn't hold any sway in the decision making process. However, he did suggest that the person who may be able to make a decision and have that decision carry weight with outside services be the attending physician during my stay in Oakland, are you ready for this blast from the past, Dr. Josef Gorek. Dr. Gorek performed the initial surgery to fuse the L2,L3 and L4 vertabrae in my back. The scar I have from that surgery is still a sight to behold here on the left side of my body. Anyway, Dr. Tang said that since it was Dr. Gorek and his group that released me from Kaiser's network to the more experienced and specialized surgeons that I needed to see who were in Seattle at Harborview Medical Center.

Since Dr. Gorek is himself an orthopedic surgeon, and the surgery to remove hardware from my feet would be classified as an orthopedic surgery, it would be up to him to decide whether or not a surgeon in the Kaiser network can do the surgery or whether or not it is in my best interest (and note I'm going to get him not to say in Kaiser's best interset) to have Dr. B, the surgeon who inserted the metal, to do the removal.

I tried calling Dr. Gorek today, but the Oakland Kaiser Facility's Department of Orthopedic Surgery is closed Friday. I will call Monday and leave a message with Dr. Gorek. I don't think he has thought of me since my final checkup with him back in August 2003.

Lastly, because it would be Dr. Gorek making the call to send me out of network, I would work through the Oakland Kaiser's outside services office and avoid dealing with "the woman" altogether. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

No news yet about the ruling on my claim against Subaru.