There you go.

I feel so bad for everyone who's surgeon doesn't mention NA. You can't tell me that the surgeons don't know about NA. Hands are their life. If we as lay-people found NA, I know the hand surgeons have been aware of NA for some time now.

The good news is that with every NA procedure performed, there is anywhere between one and one hundred (or more) people who know the truth and will share it with everyone they meet.

As NA patients, we are committed to sharing our experience and gained information with everyone we meet.

Sandie

Quote:

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<<WARNING>> ... Plus, the downside with Dr. David Kline, regardless of his expertise, is that he is not in "the club" of Certified Hand Surgeons (CHS) and might not be as respected as Press/Eaton/Denkler. Nevertheless, it's always worth a try.

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RandyH, geez, I am sure you didn't mean this like it might sound to some people. Dr. Kline is certainly as well respected as any other physician we share the air with -- perhaps you meant some hand surgeons may have too much of a bias to see clearly?

At some point, they are going to have to adopt as a motto:

"who you gonna believe, me or your lying eyes?!!!"

Kind regards,
Jill at Dupuytren's Center


Edited at 14.09.07 05:39

I found this forum just today. A wonderful asset. Here is my experience as of today. I finally faced up to DP a few months ago after enduring an increasingly bent ring finger for years. I received a referral from my primary at Kaiser Oregon and finally got a consult with an orth surgeon. The first words out of his mouth were "The only option we have is surgery."

My brother has the same condition and is a Kaiser member in Northern Calif. His Dr has recently trained in NA and is going to accomplish this in October. Thus I was pretty familiar with NA. I asked my Dr. if it was an option. it was a flat NO with little explanation. When I politley challenged him as to why he said he was asked almost weekly about NA but their surgery board had met and agreed not to endorse the procedure. He began the process to schedule me for surgery without ever discribing the surgical process in even broad detail.

That same afternoon I called Dr. Klein's office and was pleased at the openess and detail provided. I was asked to take pictures of my hand and email them which I did. I have also tried to contact the doctor my brother is using. Remember he is a Kaiser staff trained by the Larkspur, CA (Denkler).

Now I have begun an effort to get a referral from Kaiser NW to either Kaiser NorCal or Klein for treatment, I asked my primary for a referral and was denied. I now have a request from my surgeon but don't anticipate a positive response.

On a positive note about Kaiser: I also called hospital administration and got a lot of support so far. They explained that a doctor's request for referral is reviewed by a referral board. I can appeal through a grievance process either the doctors denial or the board's denial, if that occurs. The administrator even took the time to research DP on the web including the NA option. She looked at the before/after pics and had a pretty full understanding before we ever had our first conversation. I was impressed.

I have already made my decision not to have surgery. It is merely a question of where I get NA and if I get it covered by Kaiser. My sense is that I will prevail and, in the process break down a few barriers to the Kaiser resistance to this procedure. One of their own has gone for training and has done over 20 treatments. I will try to update my experiences. I certainly appreciate hearing what others have faced.

Thanks Sandie. I should hear the first answer tomorrow from the Orth surgeon about a referral. That will set the stage for everything to come. Although I do not think patients should have to become experts on such a topic, obviously we have to be advocates for ourselves and stay involved in our own health decisions. This topic requires some activism to open up minds of health providers. I have been pleased with Kaiser to date. They handled the birth of two of my children with superb expertise. I will try to help them understand this innovative solution to a wide spread issue with similar professionalism.

I would say I will keep my fingers crossed but, until I get NA that is not possible.

All the best.

Thanks for posting the procedure on YouTube. I hope more people will post their NA videos so newbies will know it's not just a one-shot deal but rather a repeatable thing. Plus it's fun watching sucess in action.

Annabelle