Quote from: badgerbrocktree on December 04, 2024, 06:08:47 PM@bid133: okay, so HR is the big hurdle. This is really good to know. I already told my manager about this, which might have been a mistake. He was supportive, however-- in fact, he was the one who directed me to the medical leave / partial pay process. I am far more concerned with getting the time off than the pay, so if HR can label this a medical LOA rather than just some sabbatical, that would be fantastic. I would not be able to get some plain sabbatical until 2026, probably.
@Activatedxx: I had a consult with Paley and he said there were no deformities 
I can try another consult with another doctor and see what they say. What's the sign of a rotational deformity? Like walking with toes pointed out?
@darksol64: These claims / health insurance companies are insanely rich and definitely not the paragon of virtue or fairness. They are not some community friendly, non-profit charities. They are lucrative businesses. As such, I feel zero guilt over stretching the truth to get compensated by them. Also, yes, where I live (coastal US), I feel short and this has bugged me my whole life, so I am solving it.
Please be sure to apply for FMLA if you qualify (https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fmla/faq). That protects your job while you are away and your medical privacy. And if you qualify, HR doesn't have to label it as anything in particular. You'll just be under FMLA.
Filing For Extended Work Absence / Disability: How to maximize approval chance?
Quote from: bid133 on December 06, 2024, 04:36:41 AM
Please be sure to apply for FMLA if you qualify (https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fmla/faq). That protects your job while you are away and your medical privacy. And if you qualify, HR doesn't have to label it as anything in particular. You'll just be under FMLA.
I’m not sure about FMLA, because I had just transferred back to my company after taking a break earlier this year, so I was less than a year and didn’t qualify for FMLA.
If Paley said you didn’t have one, then you prob don’t, obvious ones are bowed legs/knock knees
From experience Paley doesn’t like working with insurance. Try HSS or Assayag/connaway
He wouldn’t cover my rod removal and HSS did with my insurance
TLDR: Everything looks technically sound for unpaid medical leave (5 months off). Next step is find a local US doctor who will sign my application (Birkholtz is in South Africa and most likely cannot sign waiver that expects US physician).
Okay so update:
My work has non-medical LOA, paid short term disability, and non-paid short term disability (the latter two work in parallel with FMLA). As for time-range, if approved, I will get up to 26 weeks off. I've already chatted with my manager, told him all the details of the leave (was honest), and he gave me a thumbs up and a thanks for the ahead of time notification. I understand getting his approval wasn't necessary, but I have a good relationship with him, and I'd prefer to leave on a good note.
Now, Dr. Birkholtz wants me at his clinic for 5 months (4 months for 8cm distraction, 1 additional month to monitor transition to crutches), which falls inside that 26 week window. So we're all set there.
My next step is to find a local doctor who will write a letter approving me for leave of absence, as Dr. Birkholtz does not have a US Medical license.
Quote from: badgerbrocktree on December 06, 2024, 09:21:49 PMTLDR: Everything looks technically sound for unpaid medical leave (5 months off). Next step is find a local US doctor who will sign my application (Birkholtz is in South Africa and most likely cannot sign waiver that expects US physician).
Okay so update:
My work has non-medical LOA, paid short term disability, and non-paid short term disability (the latter two work in parallel with FMLA). As for time-range, if approved, I will get up to 26 weeks off. I've already chatted with my manager, told him all the details of the leave (was honest), and he gave me a thumbs up and a thanks for the ahead of time notification. I understand getting his approval wasn't necessary, but I have a good relationship with him, and I'd prefer to leave on a good note.
Now, Dr. Birkholtz wants me at his clinic for 5 months (4 months for 8cm distraction, 1 additional month to monitor transition to crutches), which falls inside that 26 week window. So we're all set there.
My next step is to find a local doctor who will write a letter approving me for leave of absence, as Dr. Birkholtz does not have a US Medical license.
Just curious. If you’re from the US, why don’t you just use a US surgeon? Birkholtz charges 62k for femurs, which is about what Assayag charges (if you do one leg at a time it’s outpatient and you can save some hospital fees). Also, they have a non profit medical housing here that is 15$ a day. I assume you would be paying much more to buy a ticket and hotel/airbnb there
Quote from: Activatedxx on December 06, 2024, 10:13:36 PMJust curious. If you’re from the US, why don’t you just use a US surgeon? Birkholtz charges 62k for femurs, which is about what Assayag charges (if you do one leg at a time it’s outpatient and you can save some hospital fees). Also, they have a non profit medical housing here that is 15$ a day. I assume you would be paying much more to buy a ticket and hotel/airbnb there
Birkholtz is an all-in package with a stay-in clinic-- no airbnb issues, and tried-and-tested caretakers already panned out.
That being said, I had no idea about Assayag's medical housing-- I assumed every place in the US would require you do your own set up with airbnb and caretakers. I'm definitely going to go visit him for a consultation in this case. Thank you for the rec!
Ah also nutrition was a factor. The food is already prepared and included with Birkholtz. I need to ask more about how that works.
With other doctors, I am curious how most people handle purchasing and preparing food if doing this solo.
Quote from: badgerbrocktree on December 06, 2024, 11:12:14 PMAh also nutrition was a factor. The food is already prepared and included with Birkholtz. I need to ask more about how that works.
With other doctors, I am curious how most people handle purchasing and preparing food if doing this solo.
Everyone just buys meal preps like cook unity and orders out once a while. Groceries through delivery and other stuff from Amazon. The Hp housing is about 450$ monthly, and you can use insurance for PT. Even if it ends up being more though, I’d rather pay slightly more to stay in the USA than go to a different country
How does one cook from a wheelchair? Or are people leaning over on their walkers to cook?
Quote from: badgerbrocktree on December 06, 2024, 11:29:05 PMHow does one cook from a wheelchair? Or are people leaning over on their walkers to cook?
Cook unity are pre made meals, you just oven/microwave them. There’s a kitchen in the lobby and a small one in your room. You just pop in the meals and heat them up. There’s other ones like factor etc, a lot of people use it for dieting outside of LL. If you work a lot and don’t have time to cook, they deliver pre made meals for the entire week that you just heat in the oven or microwave
How is staying in the HP house otherwise then?
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