April's SI Joint Surgery

Many of you know, April had a hip replacement in 2013 after two prior hip surgeries and over ten years of pain and problems.  She has continued to have shooting pain down her leg and further diagnostics determined there was additional degeneration in her SI joint in her pelvis.  Over the last year, she has continued physical therapy and had five spinal nerve injections to treat the pain and inflammation.  She has also consulted with four other doctors, had chiropractic care, soft tissue work, core exercises, and acupuncture treatments.  After months on this treatment plan, she still suffers from pain at a 5-6 on her pain scale WITH medication.  At this point she is unable to perform daily activities without medication.  She has exhausted all possible forms of treatment.  Her surgeon recommended having an SI joint fusion, using new iFuse technology from a company called SI Bone.  This is a minimally invasive surgery, with a much faster recovery time than the older technology for SI joint injuries. 

The iFuse Implant System was developed for patients who have failed non-surgical options for sacroiliac joint pain.  Over the last several years, more than 17,000 procedures have been performed.  Even with these statistics, her medical insurance has denied treatment using this technology.  Over the last eight months, she has been going through Aetna’s appeal process.  She has submitted over 100 pages of documentation including request letters from three doctors (primary surgeon, physical therapist, and pain management doctor), an expedited review request, clinical notes, operative reports, image results, studies on the iFuse Implant System, and patient selection criteria.  They still REFUSE to pay for this surgery.  At this point, the only option is for her is to pay for this surgery out of pocket.  Anything you can help contribute to this cause would get her one step closer to living a pain free life.  Thank you in advance for taking the time to read her story. We all love April, and want to see her get better. Any donations, big or small, are of equal significance in reaching our goal by November 30th.  This will cover about a third of the total medical costs associated with this surgery.  We sincerely appreciate your help and consideration.