The Dr just emailed me and said he called the neuro-op and asked if they toke my insurance even tho they were not on my list of Dr.'s and they said yes they could take my insurance.

I'm seeing this more and more, Dr.'s NOT on the list of Dr.'s but if you call and ask they say "well we can take your insurance".

This is how it was with the neuro I saw in the ER and wanted to see him in his office, they were not on my list of Dr.'s but when I called them they said they could take my insurance but I would pay 20% of the bill. DH and I opted for the guy I'm seeing now, wrong choose.

I had always believed this too, and have reserved the use of steroids for any eye or breathing problems. However, it doesn't seem that they are particularly helpful for ON, at least according to the attached links:

NMSS; steroids do not effect the course of the disease, and short and long-term effects of using them:

http://www.nationalmssociety.org/doc...nm_relapse.pdf

NMSS: people treated with oral steroids for ON did not do as well as those who didn't, and the use of them caused an increased risk of recurrence:

http://www.nationalmssociety.org/sit...ures_on_vision

Optic Neuritis Treatment trial results:

http://www.nei.nih.gov/neitrials/vie...Web.aspx?id=47

MX7, weren't they originally thinking it was some other kind of neuritis that was causing this? It sounds like they are waivering now (or is this a new specialist?), but have you researched the causes and whether steroids (or any other medications) might be helpful for the other kind of neuritis?

I think tkrik's idea about phoning the insurance company is a great one. How can they refuse a specialist that is recommended for eye care?? (Then again, I don't know the US medical system...)

Cherie

we used to have a clinic at the club...so i am used to how the insurance works.

if your insurance company gives you a printed list every year...most likey it isn't up to date. dr's drop or add companies all the time. or they will add your company. it doesn't cost them a penny to add. usually just a little paperwork.

don't be afraid to negotiate that 20%. many will take your normal office visit charge.

Thanks, I don't even waste my time with the printed book, they have a list online I use.

OH! NO NO they do not put the scanner on your eye. I have had two eye orbit scans. You just lay there in the MRI machine like any other MRI scan. Nothing touches you! You would get an injection and that is not a big deal. But other than having to be still for a while, it is nothing!!
You are thinking about the test for glaucoma. I hate that test too. But that is done in the doctors office. The
MRI is done at the hospital or other medical center.
The eye orbit scan is nothing!

LA

Thank you for the links (I'll have to go back and read them fully in a bit.
Yes I thought it was ON from day 1 (Jan. 3rd) thats why I went to the ER and than to my neuro. Because I had a broken blood vessel in my eye the Dr.'s didn't think it was ON or even anything more than a broken blood vessel. Than when I saw the eye Dr. I told him about the trip to the ER and the neuro and he said that you can easily get a broken blood vessel if you are straining your eyes trying to see clearly (I had told him I sent most of the morning hold one eye closed and was trying to see if I really was having a hard time seeing out of my left eye ). The eye Dr. told me at that 1st visit he thought it was ON (or the ON that is the vessels behind the eye that were swollen) than when I when back and saw his wife (also eye Dr) to repeat the VF test she told me she thought it was ON also.

The Dr even told me this and I looked it up online.
http://health.nytimes.com/health/gui.../overview.html

Ok, thanks. I thought it was you who was told that it could be another type of neuritis.

Glad you can get into the doc you need to see. Hopefully they'll nail it this time!

Cherie

This is why it's not a clear case of ON, he looked at my dilated eyes with that scope thing and didn't see and surface swelling of the vessels but said there IS swelling going on based on all the test and my SX's. I'll bet if he saw the swelling him self he wouldn't be sending me to another Dr.


BTW, The links you posted didn't work. I'll bet I can do a search and find them tho.

Keep in mind this would be covered under medical, not vision. Don't confuse the two just because he's an eye doctor....