Upgrade to enjoy this feature!
Vital MX fantasy is free to play, but Premium users receive great benefits. Premium benefits include:
- View and download rider stats
- Pick trends
- Create a private league
- And more!
Only $10 for all 2026 SX, MX, and SMX series.
As far as the money grab part goes. Insurance companies often have an agreement that they will only pay a certain % of something. So I'm sure that Dr's are inflating the retail prices so they get paid enough to cover their services.
Right now , my mothers on medicade and one of her Dr.s said that everything is so messed up right now . That they have 100's of people they have to treat , that they may never get paid for because of changes that are going on as far as Medicade and private insurance with changes that went into effect recently. That Dr. said they have no choice but to treat everybody and sort it out later.
As much as I hate the BS that dealing with Dr.s is, the insurance part is a million times worse. Seems to force a lot of extras or skimp in areas often.
I hope things turn around and Go well for both of You. When I was 21 , I was told I had the disk wear of a 91 year old man and that I was pretty much screwed. I broke my back as a teenager and never knew until that visit. I herniated a couple disks , but was lucky and they healed well enough that I can manage and have a relatively normal life. I'm 47 now. Every so often my back will get that tingle that I know means major pain if I don't stop doing whatever it is I'm doing. I got away from riding anything for a while. But last year got back into riding an MTB. It is an E bike. But the more I ride it the better I feel. My back feels better and everything feels better when I'm riding often. I had a riding buddy that had a similar issue with his back, but was bad enough he needed surgery back then. He ended up needing multiple surgeries after and only many years later is pain free and is now really into riding MTB's. To bvm111 I would get a second opinion or 3rd. I've been told by many Dr.s that backs and necks are super tricky to treat. Hard to see some stuff. So I wouldn't make a major decision based off a single opinion if I had options of multiple opinions. Although my mothers Nurse said that I sounded like a Dr. with my knowledge e and experience, I only make decals for a living and know what I know because I've been hurt and have had friends that got hurt.
Good luck to both of You guys
Good luck Steve
After feeling sorry for myself for most of the day yesterday and today thinking about selling the 25 350SXF and quiting riding… i finally said eff it and i’m going to work through this the best i can. My riding is the only thing that keeps my PTSD from 33 years of service with 6 combat deployments somewhat close to even and i CANT give it up. I am not going to just sit here and take it, I have an appointment with my PCM that i trust next week and will ask him if he recommends anyone else for a second opinion and he will put in as many referrals as i need to get to the right care i need, i will get at a minimum a second if not a third opinion!
Damn Lumpy, I'm sorry to hear this and I hope for the best, we will be thinking of you over here. Hope they don't have to move your surgery either
The Shop
Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
$189.95 - $239.95
Free shipping: VITALMX
Get well soon, Lumpy!!!
I herniated L4/L5 in 2016. At that time I did PT, Injections and finally saw 2 surgeons. The first surgeon wanted to fuse my back at 3 levels. He said my back was weak below and above the herniated disc. I went to down to USC to get a second opinion. That surgeon said he would do a Microdiscectomy but told me to wait 2 years post injury because it could heal enough that I didn't need surgery. Well guess what? He was right, at about 2 years I felt pretty good. 3 years ago I herniated L3/L4 and now its not getting better this time around. I'm having my doubts these days that all my pain is coming from my back though. I think my SI joint is trashed. There is a video on youtube about SI adjustment. You should try it and see if it helps your pain. The 5th exercise always works for me. https://youtu.be/rC6GP5ZELuA?si=uZWEWiuRksjWz5Vs
I had good luck with the injections too. After I got over how big the needle was that they were using.
I had a badly broken foot that was "fixed" by one of the best in NE, he is a Harvard professor now. Back when he fixed me he was working on Pro athletes and people who were really messed up. My insurance changed and he no longer took it. It took 6 months of seeing other Surgeons to find one that would try and fix my foot . A lot of them were intimidated by the task of trying to fix an issue that came after such a respected surgeon had been in there. I ended up finding 2 that were willing to look into it more and fix it if they found something they felt they could fix. It ended up being infected . a MRSA infection that was a result of contamination during surgery . A simple blood test hinted to them what was going on and now 12 years later , my foot is totally fused , but pain free. I have ankle movement still.
My main point being, don't give up too early and trust Your gut. The 2 people I found that were willing to try and fix my foot were also very accomplished Dr.s themselves . But it took 6 months to find them. I found that I had waits of 5 or more hours in the waiting room at early visits to those top guys. And they were booked months out as well. I wish good luck and health to anybody who reads these posts.
Still moving forward like there are no complications on surgery happening Wednesday
@bvm111. If you do need surgery, check out Dr Jeffrey Cantor in Ft Lauderdale, FL for one of your 2nd/3rd opinions. He's a spinal surgeon who has more modern techniques.
I'm in San Diego, but will most likely be having Dr Cantor fix my neck later this year. When I was hospitalized in Oct 2022, with my left side paralyzed (without an accident or stroke), the local surgeon wanted to fuse C4-C6 the following week. I held off and did research. I found Dr Cantor. Dr Cantor has procedures that can create space for the spine, most of the time avoiding fusion. He also fixes complications of fusions. As an engineer, I'm very impressed with what he's doing.
My situation is complicated because I have a loose vertebrae from a childhood accident where an asshole hit me with his car on purpose. He went off the road, onto the shoulder, knocked me into a ditch 20 feet away, then got out of his car, told me to "stay down there. That's where you belong!", then got back into his car and drove away, never to be caught. Well, at 12, you go on with your life, but it caught up to me 48 years as I was spontaneously paralyzed on my left side, while losing the sense of temperature and pain on my right side from the chest down. I have most of it back, but cannot in good faith ride MX, until I get the loose vertebrae, and other spinal damage fixed.
With the loose vertebrae, I may need to fuse one joint, but the others can be fixed without a laminectomy or fusion.
I don't know if Dr Cantor will work out for you, but he will review your MRI/Ct scan for free, and let you know if he has a solution that is better than traditional techniques. If he doesn't, he'll tell you.
All the videos are on his channel.
https://www.youtube.com/@DrJeffreyCantor
Laminoplasty alternative to laminectomy.
https://youtu.be/D4B-6S5gPnc?si=S0DoO287GBGynCAu
The Specialized tools available today.
https://youtu.be/v93Sa6-uahU?si=wIeNWIpK7pURFkrX
A 40 minute video on spinal injuries and the available options.
https://youtu.be/sK5BdbUY8LQ?si=lTA686cfFLL_mcln
I wish you the best!
Awesome, thank you for the info on the doctor I will look him up and see where this goes. I will delay surgery until i absolutely have to do it, if the injections work then i’ll just go with that as long as i can. I still have ZERO pain anywhere along my Lumbar or Sacrum, no clunking or cracking like my C spine does! I have PT evaluation in the morning and my Primary Care just submitted me for a Pain Management referral to TRIcare this morning so it might get approved sometime in 2025 … i wish i was joking but TRIcare is the gift that keeps on giving 😂. My pain has calmed down overall with the best being right after i wake up and for a few hours i’m almost pain free, also if i stay busy it’s pretty good too but if i relax for even a little while it starts throbbing pretty good in my upper hip and shooting down to my knee… it really is something how it just takes the breath out of you!
Thanks again, i’ll check out the videos tonight… I appreciate it!
Good luck with everything. Had my first ruptured disc surgery at 12 from a BMX racing loop-out and have had back issues ever since. I hope you find relief!
Have I ever mentioned that I HATE Doctors???
Surgery canceled.
Damn! What a mess!
Damn.
Rescheduled?
Long story short but As of right now it is going be roughly a 6-9 month delay.
This is absolutely crazy is there something wrong with your heart that they can't do surgery you've already passed the EKG?
OK this is where the story gets long and extremely stressful.
This surgery prep has been going on for 2 months of jumping through all the hoops along the way.
In the anesthesia preop exam (yes thats a thing) 2 weeks before surgery they did a EKG and they said everything looked normal and at that point everything was a go. Odd part is there was No request for a cardiologist that I was expecting.
Then they finally wanted me to go see a cardiologist on Friday 6 days before surgery. It was not the Dr. it was a PA and when I went in the exam room the 1st nurse did the usual stuff like blood pressure then wanted to do a EKG and I asked why because one had just been done the week before and it was right there in my medical records on the computer screen for them to look at. After saying it had just been done the nurse said insurance will not pay for it a 2nd time so it would be 100% out of pocket. So I declined.
As some of you may remember 5 or 6 years ago I literally dropped dead and was bump started and ended up with a stint for a blockage my right coronary artery. In the Dr’s notes he mentioned that I also had a 50% blockage in my left anterior descending artery but it wasn’t bad enough to require anything.
Mind you the PA had my years of seeing my cardiologist records and the original surgeons notes. The 1st thing she pushed me doing was a stress test and she would not even look at the EKG that was on the screen. She walked me out to the checkout to schedule a stress test and the earliest available appointment would be on the 18th so they wanted to cancel surgery. I am typically a mellow go with the flow type of person but this time I got PISSED and I LOST. The 1st thing I said was are you fucking kidding me? I have been dealing with this pain for 9 months and you want to cancel the surgery? After I lost it all the sudden there was about 5 people scrambling calling all their locations and they found a location (about 90 minute drive) where the stress test could be done at 7am the day before surgery.
About 1/2 way through the chemical stress test I received a call and surgery was a GO at 4:30 am arrival time. Wife and I left there happy to be a GO for surgery.
About half way home I received a call and in their words they “found something and they want to go in a look around” so surgery is canceled. In looking at the notes the something they saw was the 50% blockage was now at 54%
Guess what I am doing next Tuesday morning. IF they go in and just look around and do nothing else surgery will be a go again. By going in and looking around I am sure they will be doing something and putting in a stint.
Stint means no surgery for at least 6 months.
wow...lovely medical racket we got going on here.
My sister had back surgery a year and a half ago. I cant remember what they did but she was in horrible pain.
She treated getting her back fixed like a full time job....not what was wrong with her back or what procedure was needed but HOW TO NAVIGATE THE INSURANCE/MEDICAL SYSTEM. She was brilliant. She anticipated every road block they tried to put up and fought hard each step of the way. With incredible persistence I believe it only took her 6 months before she got her back surgery.
edit to say, I am not blaming you or anyone else at all Lumpy for this delay. I share my sisters story more as an example of how fucked up our medical system can be at times.
Pit Row
That really sucks! But maybe it will end up being a good thing. On my first surgery they overdid the anesthesia and I flatlined . I was 21 and healthy and they got me back and I just had a really sore throat after having a machine helping to get me breathing again.
I know how bad backpain sucks. And I hope that You get relief ASAP. My foot injury and surgeries spanned 10 years, and as much as it hurt. I would wake up and my back would be hurting way worse than the foot they had just scraped /drilled and screwed. Laying flat for surgery irritated my back and riled up the discs I had issues with. I ended up growing very close to my parents over that time, spending more time with them. I too lost my temper a few times over those years.
The injury and pain forced me to slow down and Thanks for the update, I also hate Dr.s .
Best of luck, Lumpy. I absolutely HATE medical insurance. Nowhere else in modern life can you point to a business that is so obviously made for profit and not customer service. We all know that businesses are for profit, but at least some can pretend that they care about you.
I started seeing this attempted upselling in the medical world when I ironically saw the same Dr for carpel tunnel on my L hand and he pushed me to get the nerve test done (insurance did not cover so $500 out of pocket) on both hands even though I have had zero issues with my R hand and next appointment after the test he then claimed it was in both hands and immediately started pushing me to do surgery on both hands (at 2 different times) and he got rather upset with me when I wanted to do the shot instead of the surgery on my L Hand. Injection appointment he then said that they did not have the ultrasound equipment that was supposed to be used to see where the exact location of where the injection went. This guy made several red flags go up right from the beginning.
I thought it was really strange that He was the 1st Dr that I saw for my back only to later find out he does a more natural approach to pain relief and after about 2 months that he is not a surgeon. Wasted time and 6 weeks of PT.
Changing insurance on Jan 1st and out of that practices network (after they lied saying the new insurance was in network) and moving on to the new practice that was in network was one of the best things and this whole thing started quickly 😝 moving forward.
Now to possibly be a complication or possibly better off for me at my end but later this year I turn 65 so I will be going on Medicare.
My sisters husband went to a Dr. the other day with some back pain. And he said they spent 5 or 10 minutes talking about his back, and then 40 minutes was spent trying to sell him on some treatment that wasn't covered , would be $1k out of pocket and require a total of 15 or so treatments. And that he was some sort of investor in the company that provided whatever it was. He said he felt like he was at a car dealership instead of a back Dr.
A couple of my surgeon's told me to avoid any surgeon who is pushing surgery on me as a first option. I hope that You get everything fixed up soon. My mother is on Medicaid it don't get much better as far as dealing with dumb shit.
There are tons of quacks out there pushing BS remedies for back pain. It is pathetic.
Good luck with the surgery. Had a similar situation where I was on the gurney for leg surgery and they "saw something" in my EKG and I had to take another stress test. Delayed surgery a month and just totally set me off. Wish you well.
I have had a disc replaced in my neck which sounds scary but was instant relief. I was active duty military at the time but was authorized to see civilian doctors. The first Dr office they put me in contact with called and immediately started asking if this was due to a car accident or work related. when i told them no, they said they would have to call me back. days turned into weeks and every time i called they kept asking if it was either vehicle or work related. i eventually got tired of the run around and told them how i felt. They said they would refuse to treat me and to not call back. I called my insurance and gave them the run down and they sent me to a different DR who turned out to be amazing. a few weeks later another Marine was sent to the first Dr office and got the same run around i was getting. To me it seemed very clear that they only wanted to take in patients that they could up the cost on and make more money.
I've never met you Lumpy, but I'll be praying for you. I hope it all goes smoothly, and that you're able to live and ride without pain.
Good news or bad news??
Did some hose un clogging today. Good news back surgery can happen in 3 months.
That last picture is priceless…it says..
“Fuck You! We do want we want!” (©️Jefferson Starship)
I knew some of you would get it 😂
Lumpy, you are absolutely correct on the upsell thing. I started noticing at the dentist, back when they started using language that reminded me of car salespeople. I went in for teeth cleaning, never ended up getting my teeth cleaned, but was told all about how my mouth was going to be in major trouble soon and that I needed all kinds of therapies and processes, most of which wasn't covered by insurance, but they had a great payment plan, so would I like to put 10% down on my credit card today, or 15%?
It's really sad that the medical world is going the same direction.
Post a reply to: Moto Hose shut down for surgery