Cost of Stanford

[treynor33]

I decided to get a lot more serious about the SP and also inquire about the cost etc of the actual seminars. I sent Dr Wise an email and he quickly answered me back with the below message. He answered faster than I can get a local Dr to return my call or emails

I know a lot of people are always asking how much etc. I had the same questions. So I thought this email would be a great help to some of you. Not sure if I can swing it, I guess it would be dependent on how much my insurance can help me. I'll inquire with them soon. Here is his response.....

Dear Scott,

Thank you for your email. The cost of our 6 day clinic is $3850. Insurance typically covers some portion of it, usually the urologic visit which is about $600. While participants' insurance pay can pay for some of the physical therapy and/or the behavior modification/relaxation training, patients typically pay for the majority of the clinic. You would have to ask your insurance carrier about all of this. Including air fare, car rental, lodging etc, the cost to come here is somewhere around $5500 where there is no insurance coverage.

Our clinic's aim is to teach participants how to do the protocol themselves. About 85% of our protocol can be done by the patient himself and this is our goal. Once a participant has experienced physical therapy the way we do it, it is easier for them to find a physical therapist and know if the PT is being done correctly. We expect that even if someone continues PT in their home area, that such treatment will be time limited.

If you are interested in coming to our clinic, I would have to speak to you first. If you wish, you can contact me weekday afternoons at 707 874 2225.

Sincerely,

David Wise, Ph.D.

[robertpagen]

I attended a modified session of the Stanford/Wise-Anderson Protocol held by David Wise in New York in August 2003. It was worth every dollar I paid for it. He is a very relaxing person to be around. I found it inspiring that this man who searched in the dark for so long has emerged into a positive, balanced perspective. At that time I was still very bitter over what I had endured and lost but Mr Wise's philosophical and psychological perspective were at least as valuable as the physiological teaching.
That having been said, 2003 was for me a year where I was just beggining to reconstruct an economic life which had been devastated by this condition. I had spent the first 6 months of 2003 unemployed after becoming pretty apathetic about work the year before. My wife had left me, saying I could not make enough to support her. I barely scraped together the money for the sessions and I forgoed other things which were less important in a leap of faith. Keep in mind that in that year the protocol was still speculative.
So I am saying that while I can fully understand why someone might think they could not afford it, perhaps it would be a good idea to look at the cost/benefit ratio. I can still recall that in the year 2000 I had come across the web site for the Stanford/Wise-Anderson Protocol but I was intimidated by the percieved high cost. Had I gone in 2000 it would have saved me a lot of money lost and terrible misery. It also would have saved my marriage.
I remain well and I hope my thoughts are of some use to help someone in pain or anxiety.

Be well,

Robert

[treynor33]

Oh I can make it happen if I really need to. And may just do it. I need to try and exhaust all local resources first. I am still hopeful I can find a PT in this area, I have a few leads but am waiting on referrals from my insurance company. And I've learned in the last week that I CAN do the relaxation sessions. In fact I've enjoyed them. I usually don't want to stop after I really get going. Once in the AM for about 15 minutes and once in the evening for about 25 minutes. I now know I can relax and must stick with it. I am also consciously working on dropping my pelvis and relaxing it throughout the day. Until the last wek or so I never really thought I clenched. But I do.

The PT thing is still evolving....I need to find one that works on trigger points and not kegels etc. I think eventually I will. I am hesitant to work on myself out of a confidence factor and fear of making things worse. After the SP seminar, I would be much more confident.

If none of this works out and things are still real bad for me....I will spend the money...nothing, absolutely nothing, is worth feeling like this both physically and mentally. This latest flare has taught me a lot.

[CppsDad]

That's good treynor. The relaxation part is hard for people to get or believe in. How is your stretching going?

[treynor33]

Thanks for asking Mike.....I am committed to the relaxation. It is my way of fighting back finally. It may even help my 10 year old sleep issues over time which will help my symptoms too.

I am no longer going to sit back and wait for this crap to come at me. I am going to go after it. Without meds and hoping for a magic cure.

I have been doing some stretching in the last week. Mostly the yoga stretch that was posted here a while back, I think my hamstrings were contributing to my problems and that one is great. Also some sitting down, putting my feet together and leaning down to them twice a day. That one is good for the inside of the groin. I used to do that one a lot in high school track. The squat stretch is puzzling to me, makes me feel a need to pee for a while, not really inteh baldder but in the muscles in that area. Not sure if that is good. Maybe once I can get to a PT they can tell me why or if I should continue and it will go away.

I think that the Ultram use was a huge contributer to this recent flare. (I'm going to make a post about my experience soon) My anxiety level and mood swings as I cut it out and went through some withdrawals was bad. Things have slowly gotten better as I cut it down and out....but it was a rough couple of weeks. Had a real good day Friday, Sunday and today, yesterday was not too good but that is not abnormal for me. Not 100% sure if it was all Ultram or the relaxation and stretching. But am glad I can see the light at the end of a long, depressing flare.