Hope everyone has a happy and healthy new year.
Although I have not contributed very much to the Forum this year, I have practiced a particular kind of support since my AN surgery more than six years ago. As a result of my posts here and elsewhere, I am contacted directly by newly diagnosed people and direct referrals from my doctors fairly often and pretty consistently....probably one or two per month. Whenever I get that email or phone call, I will drop everything and write a reply or talk on the phone. Nothing is more important than helping someone who is feeling as stunned and ignorant as I once did, and the sooner one can start the process with optimism, hope, and confidence, the better and less overwhelming it becomes.
Every situation is different, naturally, but insurers refusing to pay for out-of-network doctors for people who have no access to local, experienced AN neurosurgeons is becoming increasingly prevalent. Still, I believe that where there's a will, there's a way, and one's choice of surgeon should not be dictated by insurance companies, which are concerned not with your outcome, but with their business practices, policies, and bottom line. Forgive my digression, but this is a pet peeve of mine.
Anyway, my new year's resolution is to keep doing what I've been doing. Pay It Forward was a movie in which the central premise was that if an individual does something positive for three people and they ask how they can repay the kindness, the answer is: Do something positive for three other people. In the movie, this was supposed to change the world for the better. But whether it can or not, I do believe in it, have seen it work many times and for many people over the years...and all it takes is a little time.
