Yes, I felt a lot better after seeing Dr. Schneider, but of course want more opinions. Maybe this is because most of the people on this forum are from Cali, but it seems like the best most experience PT's are located over there and that is really something to consider, as now it is an issue of choosing an experienced and skilled surgeon as well as an experienced and skilled therapist for post surgery.

I have only read something about a patient on the forum who had their surgery with Dr. Lee, but also don't know very much about him. Apparently he only has a few years of experience but I thought it was worth a shot to speak to as many surgeons as I can before making my decision.

Fortunately, I don't need to worry about in and out of network surgeons as I had met my annual deductible and out of pocket max both in and out of network within the first 2 months of this year :| so I should be ok, but thanks for the heads up. I left his assistant a message, haven't heard back yet.

No, I hadn't thought about the Doctors you mentioned but I will definitely consider speaking to them as well, I mean considering I am willing to fly across the country, it no longer matters what state I end up in I guess. I am definitely leaning more towards Cali however, since I can recover in SF (after the first week of staying put), even after doing surgery in LA or Orange County, and the flight will be nice and short as opposed to a few hours. NY is still an option and I have decided if I do stay here my surgery will be with Dr. Schneider since I don't have many options here and he seems to be fairly experienced.

I also spoke with Dr. Niren Angle today (mostly based off of Marc's positive experience with him) but am in too much pain and exhausted right now to continue typing, so I will post about my convo with him tomorrow.