@Heather…. could you give some helpful tips on how to communicate with Dr. Hepworth’s office? We had good success until just within the last couple weeks when trying to request an appointment for our 2nd daughter and get started with new patient paperwork… I receive no response from Kristen! Do you have tips and advice to share on how to get the quickest responses? I would love to know! Thank you!
3 Likes
I finally got to talk to Kristin today! But…Dr Hepworth is booked out till May or June for follow up appointments. Also, they ask a non refundable fee of $600 to make the appointment. Yikes! That’s a lot of money to lay out for an appointment that far off! Kristin told me that Dr Hepworth is fine with meeting his patients for the first time in pre op. He knows it can be easier to keep things moving along that way.
So. A follow up appointment would give us a chance to meet the surgeon and ask questions. It’d feel so much more comfortable for me as a mother. But it really wouldn’t change the treatment plan (probably not) or get us further ahead on the surgery schedule. So is it as stupid and far flung as it seems, to go all the way to CO without meeting the surgeon? Save all that cash for post op meds? (We do all our medical self pay and with help from our church family.) Actually, we are proposing to do just that!
Somehow the gains of a follow up doesn’t match the cost.
1 Like
I’m sorry that you’re in this dilemma and trying to work out the best way forwards @Rosa , praying for you & @BuckeyePrincess to get this all worked out! 
Do you have a surgery date yet? My assumption is you had a telehealth with PA and have not yet met Dr. H? His review with PA has determined surgery is required? If so, I can understand you wanting to have a one on one with surgeon in advance. Im with you on paying that much money so far in advance of an appt. It makes me cringe.
2 Likes
Yes, we had a telehealth appointment with Alison, which turned out to be very informative. My husband is wishing not to pay for another appointment, so I will rest in his decision. He can think without letting fears and emotions sway the facts.
2 Likes
I finally got thru to Kristen after calling front desk Friday am and Jen answered the phone… she put a message in our daughter’s portal about our second daughter needing an appointment. Within a couple hours Kristen reached out to me via email and said she can get us an appointment with Dr. Hepworth’s NP within a month. I hope that actually happens, I am trying to have faith it will! But she left me know I am NOT to be sending more than one email. Well, how was I to know she was getting them as I heard NO response from her for nearly 3 weeks!! Then she told me I was not to send the CTV imaging thru power share as it is prefered to send thru the patients link. Dr. Hepworth told me with our first daughter we were to send the imaging thru power share to his email. So we did. Is that seriously not preferred? I want to honor Dr. Hepworth’s request as much as I can. Do you or @Isaiah_40_31 have any advice? I with my daughter got the new patient paperwork filled out and sent back. At this time I do not have imaging to upload on her file until the CTV is done this week.
At this point I have not heard from the Stephanie a surgery date even though Dr. Hepworth said he would looking at his surgery calendar the week of Christmas and the beginning of the year should be hearing a surgery date. I guess this is still the beginning of the year! 
Were you saying, @Snapple2020 that I could post a message on our daughter’s portal for a call to schedule and then when someone called out I could request a surgery date??
1 Like
Hi Buckeye,
Sorry u had such a problem. I happened to send in (email to Kristen)the same completed forms (Contract & Patient Questionnaire) I did for myself last Sept but filled out with my daughters info last week to get an initial appt. I got an immediate response (24 hours) with a corrected contract for the fee which went up last October. I sent the corrected contract back in and now waiting for a response with potential times to speak with Kristen to review the application. Thats how it happened last fall. Im not sure when you did power share process for sharing imaging but I do know as of Sept/Oct of last fall, it was changed to a different provider. The link is in the contract/patient packet to access the online portal system for imaging. You have to pay $15 a imaging study to upload the imaging & the report.
This is what is required now and I wouldn’t fight Kristen on this issue. Dont want to “aggravate” her any more than she already is. Use the link. It’s pretty easy. I dont like paying the $15 a study but it is what it is. I don’t walk out of radiology appt without a disk in my hand even though I won’t have a report immediately. If you dont have an NP appt fro 2nd daughter for at least a month, you are doing fine. I get the radiology report on my patient portal where I get imaging, have the disk in hand so I can upload disk & report at once. I hope that helps.
Note that the new patient consult with NP or Hep is now $900 which is collected when Kristen calls you to set up appt. You get a video appt sooner with NP. 2 months from submission of paperwork sound about what I experienced as far as scheduling an appt.
I would put a message in your first daughter patient portal requesting to have Stephanie call you to schedule her surgery. I would explain what date she was seen on and what Dr. Hep told you when you would receive a call. Perhaps that will get you some action? Let us know.
2 Likes
It sure seems that multiple family members should get a discounted rate…..dont count on it though.
2 Likes
So frustrating for you all dealing with this system! 
1 Like
Thanks for your advice! I have dealt with ‘gate keeper’ secretaries in the past and know that sometimes I need to specify what the doctor requested and asked for… then they realize they cannot bypass what the doctor told us. That is why I was wondering about the CTV imaging going thru power share versus the link in the contract/patient packet. This was in December we had the imaging sent thru power share to Dr. Hepworth’s email for our first daughter and he told us to do it that way. Yes we had needed to pay the $900 for our first daughter and expected to need to pay the same for the 2nd consult… unfortunately the medical field most times do not do discounts for 2 family members.
Thanks for ‘listening’ to my frustrations. 
I am so grateful for this forum to post questions and try to find the best way possible!
2 Likes
Yes! Two ways. Email info@denversinuscare.com with an appt request. Or call the main number and choose option 1. Call at a strategic time like Thursday at 1:30-2:30 pm, end of the week and after lunch but before they go home. I’d call every week on Thursday and Friday in that manner. Hope this helps!
Heather
2 Likes
I called Dr. Hepworth’s main office and talked to Stephanie and have a surgery date set for April 1! So now what all do we need to know to prepare for surgery? She told me the procedure is usually done as outpatient. But could be our daughter will need to stay overnight depending on her symptoms. Now April 1 looks rather far and close! And we still have not heard from front desk or Kristen on an initial consult appointment for daughter #2. At this point we will just wait to see what comes of all that and go from there.
2 Likes
Does anyone have still more advice for me? I contacted surgical coordinator today, to see if I can schedule our daughter’s surgery. I was told I cannot schedule because it is not yet my turn, there are others in line before us. Also, I was told I cannot schedule because we didn’t have an appointment with Dr Hepworth himself, although we didn’t have one with NP, Alison. Alison and Kristin both told us we can chose if we want an appointment with Dr Hepworth himself, or not, before scheduling surgery. He is ok with meeting his patients for the first time in preop because this often moves them through the system faster. We decided we are going to move ahead with surgery without seeing Hepworth because of how far he’s booked out. If the surgery scheduler has the authority to deny us a surgery date on this basis, we need to move quickly to get an appointment with Hepworth…except it’s really, really difficult to get a timely response from Kristin to make one. Any ideas? Our daughter is definitely not gaining ground, losing out actually.
Sorry, typed that wrong. We DID have an appointment with Alison in early January and she sent a surgery request to Stephanie for our daughter.
1 Like
If Alison sent a surgery request to Stephenie for your daughter then Stephenie should have a record of that & shouldn’t have denied you the opportunity to schedule your daughter’s surgery. Did you remind Stephenie that Alison had sent her a surgery request for your daughter?
1 Like
I’m so pleased that your daughter has a date, that’s good to hear!
There’s lots of info about surgery in general in this post:
ES Information- Treatment: Surgery - Welcome / Newbies Guide to Eagle Syndrome - Living with Eagle
There’s a link to a suggested surgery shopping list so you can get prepared in advance, & you can always use the search function to look up post-op recovery stories, like this one:
Upcoming Nakaji Surgery Recovery - General - Living with Eagle
The best advice is for your daughter to keep propped up as much as possible, and to ice the area regularly to keep swelling down. Take pain meds on time rather than waiting for the pain to get worse, it’s harder to control once it gets worse again. If your daughter reacts to anesthesia then talk about this beforehand as there are anti-nausea meds which can help. Make sure you have soft foods ready beforehand as chewing & mouth opening can be tricky, and laxatives in case the pain meds cause constipation… Lots of rest, and prepare for symptoms to take a while to improve, especially where there’s been significant vascular compression, as the swelling can make this worse for a bit, and the brain can take a while to re-adjust to the change in blood flow- this can takes weeks, not days.
Hopefully others who’ve had surgery with Dr Hepworth can give you advice!
There’s info too in other posts about flying if you have to travel this way?
1 Like
@Rosa , so sorry that you’re being given the run around with appointments and surgery, praying that you get answers soon
1 Like