I myself have not been able to cook a meal for at least 2 months now,let alone lead any sort of quality of life, and now have to use either my walking stick or my wheel chair to be able to go out, that's if i'm not bed bound, which i recently spent 1 month in bed not being able to do anything. BUT there doesn't seem to be anybody in England that will help me.
But i suppose asking this of these wonderful skilled Dr's abroad are far to busy to be able to help people in England that cant necessarily afford the treatment abroad. I dont mean this in an offensive way. IT'S JUST WISHFUL THINKING.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
REGARDS
jackie B England
>----- Original Message -----
From: Jim Lewis <jndlewis@optonline.net>
To: Multiple recipients of list ADHESIONS <adhesions@mail.medispecialty.com>
Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2001 5:56 PM
Subject: Re: From Scranton, PA...to New York City...to Duisburg,
Germany.....
> At Tue, 24 Apr 2001, Helen Dynda wrote:
> >
> >I posted this message for the first time in October 2000. I am
re-posting it now to help clear up confusion as to where I had my surgery in
November 2000:
> >
> >- - - - - - - -
> >
> >I will be going to Duisburg, Germany to have my adhesiolysis procedure
done; and I thought you might be interested in knowing what led me to making
my choice between Dr. Harry Reich, Dr. Jay Redan, and Dr. Matthias
Korell...the three BEST adhesions specialists in the world!!
> >
> >Dr. Harry Reich is an OB/GYN, who is recognized internationally for his
skill and experience in laparoscopic surgery. On May 1st of this year Dr.
Reich formed a partnership with Dr. Jay Redan, a general surgeon, who is
also very skilled and experienced in laparoscopic surgery. Both doctors are
dedicating their skill and experience in laparoscopic surgery toward trying
to help the many people in the world, who suffer from chronic pain as a
result of adhesions.
> >
> >Dr. Reich believes that any amount of blood left in the body cavity is
one of the causes of adhesions ( there are other causes as well ). He has
developed specific techniques in an attempt to prevent the re-formation of
adhesions. I was able to view a video of the adhesiolysis procedure, which
Dr. Reich performed on Deb from Wisconsin in April 1999 . It took Dr. Reich
10 hours to complete her adhesiolysis!! Today she is pain-free!!!
> >
> >Dr. Matthias Korell, an OB/GYN, is also a laparoscopic surgeon. Dr.
Korell has specialized in adhesiolysis procedures for the past 15 years and
has done research on adhesions. He is well known in Europe for the success
he is having with adhesiolysis procedures. He too is a very skilled and
exprienced adhesions specialist!!
> >
> >I had high hopes that I would be able to have my adhesiolysis procedure
done by Dr. Harry Reich and Dr. Jay Redan at the Community Memorial Hospital
at Scranton, PA. As Beverly suggested, I sent my surgical and pathological
reports ( I am so thankful that I only had 3 surgeries in 30+ years! ) and
the video from my August 01, 1997 diagnostic laparoscopy to her; and she
reviewed them before sending the reports and video to Drs. Reich and Redan.
> >
> >Then Dr. Redan reviewed my surgical and pathological reports and viewed
the video. He then notified me by email that he felt that my adhesiolysis
procedure would be fairly easy for he and Dr. Reich to do...in comparison to
other adhesiolysis procedures, which they have done. So, I had passed that
hurdle.
> >
> >My next step was to arrange for an appointment. It was at that point
where a problem presented itself!! When I tried to arrange for an
appointment, I learned that - because I was a Medicare patient - I could NOT
have my surgery done at Scranton!!! I learned that Dr. Reich and Dr. Redan
refuse to accept Medicare's method of payment for adhesiolysis
procedures...and rightly so!! Adhesiolysis procedures are reimbursed by
Medicare to surgeons at one standard fee...without any consideration given
to the length of time an adhesiolysis procedure can take nor any
consideration given to the skill and experience of the surgeons! I offered
to self-pay to have Dr. Reich and Dr. Redan as my surgeons...but I was told
I could NOT do that either!! If the hospital would allow Drs Reich and Redan
to do my surgery - and if I were allowed to self-pay - the hospital would be
fined!!!
> >
> >I was offered an alternative: I could have Drs. Reich and Redan could do
my surgery at St. Vincent's Hospital in New York City! Dr. Redan told me
that he had to wait until the middle of August before he would know if his
hospital privileges at St. Vincent's had been accepted. Dr. Reich was
already performing surgeries at St. Vincent's. I learned that, if I had my
surgery at St. Vincents's, Medicare and my supplemental insurance would pay
something ( I have no idea how much ) toward the hospital and the
anesthesiologist bills; but I would have to self-pay to have Drs. Reich and
Redan as my surgeons!!
> >
> >What I, as a Medicare patient, cannot do in Pennsylvania...I can do in
New York! Doesn't make too much sense, does it? I then learned that
everything is MUCH more expensive in New York City...with rooms renting from
$225-300 a day!!! No doubt having surgery in New York City would be MUCH
more expensive too. It was then that I decided that I could not afford to
have surgery in New York City!!
> >
> >After reading about Beverly's and Mary's trip to Germany in the middle of
July for Mary's surgery...and after helping Beverly and Mary organize the
information, which they brought back as a result of their trip, I learned
that Beverly was planning to accompany some more patients to Germany. So I
asked her if there would be a chance that I might go with them. First,
Beverly contacted Dr. Korell to see if he would be able to accept another
surgical patient for the week of November 6th. Next, I had to send my
surgical reports and video to Dr. Korell. Then Dr. Korell confirmed that he
would accept me as a patient.
> >
> >Since then my husband, Don, and I have been busy taking care of things
that have to be taken care of in advance of our trip to Germany. We had to
get certified copies of our birth certificates, have our pictures taken, and
then apply for our passports. Since we had a late start in taking care of
all of this, we had to pay an additional fee to have our passports
expedited...meaning our official passports would be returned to us much
sooner than usual.
> >
> >Then, we had to make arrangements with our travel agent; and we actually
purchased our round-trip tickets to Dusseldorf, Germany...which were
considerably less expensive, since we will be going to Germany in November
November to April are off-season months ).
> >
> >Next, we applied for debit cards at our local bank. With a debit card we
will be able to withdraw money from our checking account at any ATM machine
in Germany...at least that is what we were told. This week my husband picked
up the German Deutschmarks, which he had ordered from our local bank last
week.
> >
> >As we start to think about packing those suitcases and making
arrangements for someone to keep an eye on our house, etc...the clock is
slowly ticking the hours and minutes away. The days of the week are slowly
passing; but now that the weekend is here, I sense that time is going to fly
by fast...because on November 2nd at 6:00 PM I and my husband, Don, will be
boarding United at the airport in Minneapolis with Chicago as our
destination.
> >
> >At Chicago's O' Hare Airport we will meet the following people for the
very first time - although I feel like I already know them - Beverly
Doucette from Wisconsin, Paul Miller from Florida, Anne Hayashi and her
husband, Masa, from California. At 8:50 PM all six of us will board a United
Airlines flight with Germany as our destination. We will be air-bourne
approximately eight hours before our flight lands at the airport in
Dusseldorf ( at 3:25 PM on November 3rd - their time ).
> >
> >We will be met at the airport by someone from the hospital in Duisburg,
who will then take us to Duisburg, Germany, where we will be staying until
November 21st. Laura from Maryland and Mary from Canada will be arriving in
Germany on separate flights. The four of us ( Laura, Mary, Anne and myself )
will be having adhesiolysis procedures - with Dr. Matthias Korell as our
surgeon - sometime the week of November 6th.
> >
> >Monday, November 6th, I am sure will be a day for us to meet with Dr.
Korell and have the required pre-op tests taken care of. Then, during this
same week each of us will be having surgery.
> >
> >As a result of the considerable research which I have done, I feel very
confident that I have made the right decision in choosing to have Dr. Korell
as my surgeon for my adhesiolysis procedure in Germany. Surgeons in Europe
have been using Intergel, a gel adhesion barrier, since 1998. So Dr. Korell
will be able to instill Intergel, a gel adhesion barrier, at the conclusion
of each of our surgical procedures. All four of us are required to be
in-patients in the hospital for 5 days following our surgery. When Dr.
Korell performs each of our second look laparoscopies ( several days after
our initial surgery ), we will be required to be in-patients for 3 days.
> >
> >All of these extras - plus the fact that surgery is less expensive in
Germany - have made this a very acceptable situation for me. Joanne Butman's
pioneering trip to Germany in March2000 for surgery - followed by Beverly's
and Mary's trip to Germany in July for Mary's surgery - have relieved any
fears which I might have had about traveling to a foreign country for
surgery. Trying to understand the German language will probably be the most
difficult part of our trip; but the English language is taught in the German
schools...so I think we will manage fairly well after all.
> >
> >What is so extra appealing about traveling to Germany for surgery, is
that we will also be able to do some sightseeing while we are there!! Isn't
it a amazing that a person can travel to a foreign country for surgery and
still be able to turn this surgical experience into a once-in-a-lifetime
pleasureable experience!! Mary and Beverly traveled to Holland, while they
were there last July; and it is very possible that this will be a
possibility for us as well. We now have our own travel guides...Beverly and
Mary!
>
> --
> Could you please send me any information available on how to contact Dr.
Harry Reich.
> Thak You,
> Jim
>