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cancelling due to back problems with insurance


tommy47
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I purchased insurance 4 months ago when I booked our princess cruise in January. recently I had a real bad episode with my back with spasms etc. I went to the back doctor and was told that its going to take a couple of months to heal due to the 2 degenerative disks that showed up on the xray. I had called the travel company and asked if I was covered if I cant make it and they said yes and I would need a letter from the doctor. I just found out that my doctor is retiring in December so if im not better for our cruise at the end of January can I have my primary doctor write a letter. thank you

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I purchased insurance 4 months ago when I booked our princess cruise in January. recently I had a real bad episode with my back with spasms etc. I went to the back doctor and was told that its going to take a couple of months to heal due to the 2 degenerative disks that showed up on the xray. I had called the travel company and asked if I was covered if I cant make it and they said yes and I would need a letter from the doctor. I just found out that my doctor is retiring in December so if im not better for our cruise at the end of January can I have my primary doctor write a letter. thank you

 

2 Problems

 

I doubt your Primary is going to put anything in writing regarding your Ortho or Neuro Dr. statements. Possible malpractice and insurance issues.

 

Degenerative Disc Disease does not show up on x-rays. This would only be diagnosed via, MRI, CT with contrast, or possible Mylogram if old school Dr.

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degenerative disk desease did show up on xrays. he showed me where the space between the disks was smaller than the other ones. herniated or bulging disks cant be seen with an xray. as far as asking my back doctor now to do a letter im thinking about when would he date it. im not sure if he would agree to date it for January. if he dates it now the travel insurance might not go with that.

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I think part of the problem there, though, is that DDD is, itself, not a medical reason not to travel. I have DDD and I'm going on a cruise next month. It's the specific manifestation of a problem that needs to be the diagnosis and foundation for the prescription against travel. If you're actually suffering from the effects of DDD in the moment, then I would not be without a specialist. If you know your specialist is retiring, this is the time to find a new specialist, transfer your records, and perhaps even give your new specialist an opportunity to speak briefly with your retiring specialist.

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I originally was told I had a degerative disk in back because of my symptoms and an x ray. this was 25 years ago. my wife and I have been on like 25 cruises and like 30-40 trips to vegas over the years. this has never stopped me but this latest episode 6 weeks ago while on the harmony of the seas during the hurricane was a killer. I was lax on my exercises and strained my back on the 6th day by standing in one spot for over an hour trying to reach southwest to change our flights. the next day my back spasmed out real bad. the beds were real low and to try and get out of bed each of the next 8 days was not fun. sitting was also killing me. it was a nightmare. flying home was real tough. I really inflamed my back. im now doing exercises among other things to get back to where I was but its been a slow process. If im still like this in January it would be no fun going on a cruise

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I originally was told I had a degerative disk in back because of my symptoms and an x ray. this was 25 years ago.
I was originally told that I had colitis because other diagnoses for some symptoms I had were eliminated. (I don't have colitis.) I also was originally told that I had asthma because typical treatments for asthma seemed to relieve some breathing symptoms I had. (I don't have asthma.) I went along for years thinking I had those maladies, because the symptoms matched, because other diagnoses were discounted by testing, and because typical treatments seemed to have some positive effect. Like it or not, medical "science" is ofttimes more "art". I think art belongs in museums. For colitis, I would rely on nothing short of significant biopsy evidence, confirmed by two different doctors, from two different procedures. For asthma, I would rely on nothing short of objective confirmation of variable airflow obstruction, using spirometry or peak expiratory flow monitoring. And for DDD, at this point, I would rely on nothing short of an MRI. X-rays can exclude other diagnoses, but cannot definitively diagnose DDD.
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I'm not a doctor, so no need for additional long medical discussion.

If your doctor states you will be unable to cruise on the date of your trip, they don't "write a letter." You'd need to cancel your cruise, and start a claim with your insurance company. Your doctor will have to complete required forms issued by the insurance company, and possibly forward medical records.

Highly suggest you discuss this with your insurance company and your doctor at the time before you cancel.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I just went for an mri and will get the results this week. then I will make my decision soon. I understand that I have to first cancel the cruise and then call insurance company to start claim. my question is how long does it normally take for them to send out the paper work. also does it go to the doctor or to me to give to the doctor to fill out. thank you

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I just went for an mri and will get the results this week. then I will make my decision soon. I understand that I have to first cancel the cruise and then call insurance company to start claim. my question is how long does it normally take for them to send out the paper work. also does it go to the doctor or to me to give to the doctor to fill out. thank you

 

We've had some claims handled very well with Travel Insured.

 

The forms were sent as emailed PDF's (or downloaded), and once we had everything completed (including the form from the physician), we scanned all of that plus supporting documentation, and emailed everything as attachments. (The scans were large files, so we sent it in batches, and asked them to confirm receipt of each one.)

 

I suppose they could contact physicians/hospitals directly, but in our cases, they had everything go through us. (If the contacted the physicians to "double check", that would be fine, of course, but we weren't aware of it. In one case, the physician was overseas, and there was a bit of a language problem. I think in that case, the hospital records, also not in English, were probably what was mostly used.)

 

We hope that you end up doing well and can enjoy your trip!

 

GC

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