This has been an absolute mess. I have to get my knee fixed, it keeps shifting. So you don't have to look that up, it moves in directions it's not supposed to, in my case both too far forward and too far towards the outside of the knee. You have to have a pre-surgery clearance no more than 30 days before the surgery - so they know the anesthesia won't kill you.

So I start the process May 5th, with the blood work and ekg, chest X-ray the 9th - first available appointment. The ekg was irregular, but nothing to prevent surgery. My doctor send over the ok on the 12th. The anesthesiologist says I have to get clearance from a cardiologist on the 15th. First available appointment, June 1. I see the cardiologist and he does an ekg, no problem. Most likely the previous results were because I have big breasts and the tech doing the test put the electrode on a breast muscle not my ribs. But to be sure I have to have a stress test and echo.

First available appointment for the stress test is June 7. Ok, I can do that, just have to have the blood work again. The results of the stress test aren't available to the doctor on the 7th, but the place where I had the test doesn't have any record of a problem that day. The cardiologist can't get my results to read until the 9th, so now I have to have the X-ray again. Only he didn't issue the ok for surgery like he said he would. According to his office, that isn't a problem, he'll do it at my follow up visit, July 10. So I tell them, the tests have to be no more than 30 days before the surgery, if I wait to my follow up I'll have to have another ekg. Can the doctor review the tests and issue the ok now? No, he's out of the country until July 9.

None of the offices involved in this mess think they did anything wrong. All of them were told it was part of presurgery work up. Since I don't have clearance I will have to have the ekg, blood work and chest X-ray again, about $4000 to repeat the tests on top of the $11,000 insurance has paid for the first round of tests. No one understands why I'm feeling royally screwed.