What led me from Scranton, PA...to New York City...to Duisburg, Germany...

From: Helen Dynda (olddad66@runestone.net)
Sat Oct 28 10:55:59 2000


Dear International Adhesions Society members and friends,

I will be going to Duisburg, Germany to have my adhesiolysis procedure done; and I thought you might be interested in knowing what led me to making my choice between Dr. Harry Reich, Dr. Jay Redan, and Dr. Matthias Korell...the three BEST adhesions specialists in the world!!

Dr. Harry Reich is an OB/GYN, who is recognized internationally for his skill and experience in laparoscopic surgery. On May 1st of this year Dr. Reich formed a partnership with Dr. Jay Redan, a general surgeon, who is also very skilled and experienced in laparoscopic surgery. Both doctors are dedicating their skill and experience in laparoscopic surgery toward trying to help the many people in the world, who suffer from chronic pain as a result of adhesions.

Dr. Reich believes that any amount of blood left in the body cavity is one of the causes of adhesions ( there are other causes as well ). He has developed specific techniques in an attempt to prevent the re-formation of adhesions. I was able to view a video of the adhesiolysis procedure, which Dr. Reich performed on Deb from Wisconsin in April 1999 . It took Dr. Reich 10 hours to complete her adhesiolysis!! Today she is pain-free!!!

Dr. Matthias Korell, an OB/GYN, is also a laparoscopic surgeon. Dr. Korell has specialized in adhesiolysis procedures for the past 15 years and has done research on adhesions. He is well known in Europe for the success he is having with adhesiolysis procedures. He too is a very skilled and exprienced adhesions specialist!!

I had high hopes that I would be able to have my adhesiolysis procedure done by Dr. Harry Reich and Dr. Jay Redan at the Community Memorial Hospital at Scranton, PA. As Beverly suggested, I sent my surgical and pathological reports ( I am so thankful that I only had 3 surgeries in 30+ years! ) and the video from my August 01, 1997 diagnostic laparoscopy to her; and she reviewed them before sending the reports and video to Drs. Reich and Redan.

Then Dr. Redan reviewed my surgical and pathological reports and viewed the video. He then notified me by email that he felt that my adhesiolysis procedure would be fairly easy for he and Dr. Reich to do...in comparison to other adhesiolysis procedures, which they have done. So, I had passed that hurdle.

My next step was to arrange for an appointment. It was at that point where a problem presented itself!! When I tried to arrange for an appointment, I learned that - because I was a Medicare patient - I could NOT have my surgery done at Scranton!!! I learned that Dr. Reich and Dr. Redan refuse to accept Medicare's method of payment for adhesiolysis procedures...and rightly so!! Adhesiolysis procedures are reimbursed by Medicare to surgeons at one standard fee...without any consideration given to the length of time an adhesiolysis procedure can take nor any consideration given to the skill and experience of the surgeons! I offered to self-pay to have Dr. Reich and Dr. Redan as my surgeons...but I was told I could NOT do that either!! If the hospital would allow Drs Reich and Redan to do my surgery - and if I were allowed to self-pay - the hospital would be fined!!!

I was offered an alternative: I could have Drs. Reich and Redan could do my surgery at St. Vincent's Hospital in New York City! Dr. Redan told me that he had to wait until the middle of August before he would know if his hospital privileges at St. Vincent's had been accepted. Dr. Reich was already performing surgeries at St. Vincent's. I learned that, if I had my surgery at St. Vincents's, Medicare and my supplemental insurance would pay something ( I have no idea how much ) toward the hospital and the anesthesiologist bills; but I would have to self-pay to have Drs. Reich and Redan as my surgeons!!

What I, as a Medicare patient, cannot do in Pennsylvania...I can do in New York! Doesn't make too much sense, does it? I then learned that everything is MUCH more expensive in New York City...with rooms renting from $225-300 a day!!! No doubt having surgery in New York City would be MUCH more expensive too. It was then that I decided that I could not afford to have surgery in New York City!!

After reading about Beverly's and Mary's trip to Germany in the middle of July for Mary's surgery...and after helping Beverly and Mary organize the information, which they brought back as a result of their trip, I learned that Beverly was planning to accompany some more patients to Germany. So I asked her if there would be a chance that I might go with them. First, Beverly contacted Dr. Korell to see if he would be able to accept another surgical patient for the week of November 6th. Next, I had to send my surgical reports and video to Dr. Korell. Then Dr. Korell confirmed that he would accept me as a patient.

Since then my husband, Don, and I have been busy taking care of things that have to be taken care of in advance of our trip to Germany. We had to get certified copies of our birth certificates, have our pictures taken, and then apply for our passports. Since we had a late start in taking care of all of this, we had to pay an additional fee to have our passports expedited...meaning our official passports would be returned to us much sooner than usual.

Then, we had to make arrangements with our travel agent; and we actually purchased our round-trip tickets to Dusseldorf, Germany...which were considerably less expensive, since we will be going to Germany in November ( November to April are off-season months ).

Next, we applied for debit cards at our local bank. With a debit card we will be able to withdraw money from our checking account at any ATM machine in Germany...at least that is what we were told. This week my husband picked up the German Deutschmarks, which he had ordered from our local bank last week.

As we start to think about packing those suitcases and making arrangements for someone to keep an eye on our house, etc...the clock is slowly ticking the hours and minutes away. The days of the week are slowly passing; but now that the weekend is here, I sense that time is going to fly by fast...because on November 2nd at 6:00 PM I and my husband, Don, will be boarding United at the airport in Minneapolis with Chicago as our destination.

At Chicago's O' Hare Airport we will meet the following people for the very first time - although I feel like I already know them - Beverly Doucette from Wisconsin, Paul Miller from Florida, Anne Hayashi and her husband, Masa, from California. At 8:50 PM all six of us will board a United Airlines flight with Germany as our destination. We will be air-bourne approximately eight hours before our flight lands at the airport in Dusseldorf ( at 3:25 PM on November 3rd - their time ).

We will be met at the airport by someone from the hospital in Duisburg, who will then take us to Duisburg, Germany, where we will be staying until November 21st. Laura from Maryland and Mary from Canada will be arriving in Germany on separate flights. The four of us ( Laura, Mary, Anne and myself ) will be having adhesiolysis procedures - with Dr. Matthias Korell as our surgeon - sometime the week of November 6th.

Monday, November 6th, I am sure will be a day for us to meet with Dr. Korell and have the required pre-op tests taken care of. Then, during this same week each of us will be having surgery.

As a result of the considerable research which I have done, I feel very confident that I have made the right decision in choosing to have Dr. Korell as my surgeon for my adhesiolysis procedure in Germany. Surgeons in Europe have been using Intergel, a gel adhesion barrier, since 1998. So Dr. Korell will be able to instill Intergel, a gel adhesion barrier, at the conclusion of each of our surgical procedures. All four of us are required to be in-patients in the hospital for 5 days following our surgery. When Dr. Korell performs each of our second look laparoscopies ( several days after our initial surgery ), we will be required to be in-patients for 3 days.

All of these extras - plus the fact that surgery is less expensive in Germany - have made this a very acceptable situation for me. Joanne Butman's pioneering trip to Germany in March2000 for surgery - followed by Beverly's and Mary's trip to Germany in July for Mary's surgery - have relieved any fears which I might have had about traveling to a foreign country for surgery. Trying to understand the German language will probably be the most difficult part of our trip; but the English language is taught in the German schools...so I think we will manage fairly well after all.

What is so extra appealing about traveling to Germany for surgery, is that we will also be able to so some sightseeing while we are there!! Isn't it a amazing that a person can travel to a foreign country for surgery and still be able to turn this surgical experience into a once-in-a-lifetime pleasureable experience!! Mary and Beverly traveled to Holland, while they were there last July; and it is very possible that this will be a possibility for us as well. We now have our own travel guides...Beverly and Mary!


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