Cervical ADR India

[Piglet]

Hello All. New to the forum today but have been reading thru it for 6 months. It has been VERY helpful. My main mission here is to share info. Going to Bangalore, India 8/23 for 2 level(C5/6/7) ADR. Will be getting the Prestige LP. I have not seen any posts about the hospital or Dr. that I have chosen but I will let this forum know how things turn out. I have put this off for TOO long and this website helped me to take the final step. I will share my experiences, both good and bad(mostly good I hope).
Mark

[Harrison]

Mark, thanks for finding us, I hope we can provide the support you are looking for in the months ahead. Wow, India. Please tell us about the reasons you made this choice, when you can find the time. E.g., are you paying out of pocket? Did you try to get insurance to cover it?

Also, how bad are your discs at C5-C7 now in terms of degeneration? How much pain are you enduring and how are you managing it?

Sorry for all the questions....

[Piglet]

Hello All. My story goes like this.
Broken neck(C3-4) Jan. 1993. Fusion at that level with bone graft from hip, wore a halo for 3 months. Recovery took about 1 year. Usually felt pretty good except for the occasional headache(bad). Over the years things changed and the headaches went away. My problems now are radiating pain down left arm, tingling, numbness, loss of sensation and fine motor skills. At time can have terrible pain in left shoulder. My pain runs a pretty steady 3or 4. If I move wrong or am having a bad day it runs about a 7 or 8. It just NEVER goes away. Cant sit for more than 10 mins or so. I would gladly take the headaches over this any day.

I finally reached the point where I cant take it anymore and so started looking for options. Had CT scan of neck, didnt show a whole lot. I cannot do MRI due to a metal injury in my eyes years ago. Myleogram was the test they had to do in order to see what was going on. I have bulging discs at C5-C6, C6-C7 with osteophytes in both areas. Moderate stenosis at those levels as well.

Yes, I will be paying for this out of pocket. I am un-employeed and could not afford my COBRA so I am without insurance. Probably wouldnt matter a lot since I need two levels, and I would rather cut my arm off than deal with insurance companies. I cannot tolerate fools! My nuerosurgeon in Ohio recommended a 3 level fusion, but said if it had been approved he would prefer to do a 2 level ADR. I sent my test results to two other surgeons, 1 in India and 1 in Hong Kong. Both of these Drs. said they would do the 2 level ADR. These opinions came independantly, none of the surgeons knew of others recommendations. Nice to have 3 people come to the same conclusion. I choose India after some research, and yes, money was also a factor in my decision. I hate to say that but it was. I am not too scared of my choice, at least not yet. Bottom line is I cannot continue to live in this pain so I HAD TO make a choice. Another reason to go to India, or elsewhere outside of the US is that I cannot tolerate trying to wade thru the red tape of the US health care system. The price for the fusion in the US was quoted to me at "between 75-100 thousand dollars. I said what is the real price, the cash price and I simply cannot get anyone to commit. Also too many people to try and negociate with. Drs, hospital, anesteia, etc. Its a nightmare, bordering on coruption in my eyes. I am not going to play that game.

I am working with Healtbase Online to handle details with India. Total cost is 16,500 USD., excluding airfare(1,500). A companion is allowed to stay in my room with me the whole time. The room is really like a nice hotel suite. I also got prices from Spain that would of turned into about 30,000 with the poor exchange rate of the Euro. Also looked at Stenum but cant afford that either. I will stay in the hospital for 10 days. I could move out to a hotel after 3 but chose to stay in the hospital to save a little money as well as I will be close to start my PT. I will get a complete surgical outcome report, complete with all films , to bring home with me to help my Drs. stateside do follow up care(if I can find one near me). That price also includes a complete cardio work up, EKG, Stress test, Blood work, and some other pre-op tests.

Pain is currently managed(poorly)on darvocet, an occasional Vicodin and RUM. I know, a terrible combo. I also have to take sleeping pills if I would like to sleep for more than 2 hours at a time. I use Immovane that I but in Hong Kong. It is similar to Lunesta, but they are over the counter drugs in HK. Usually I just suffer a lot as I had a hell of a time kicking the Vicodins after my MVA in 1993. I took ALOT of drugs for two years, mostly due to the shattered leg I got in the crash. Dont really want to go thru the addiction thing again.

Bottom line is this. I have almost 0 quality of life, a good day can turn to hell in a heartbeat. I have hit rock bottom and need to stop digging(delaying). I will have a computer with Internet Access in my room so I will be able to let everyone know how things go. I hope I am making the right choice, as it is the only option I see available to me.

p.s. So far my experience with Moe at Healtbase Online has been very good. The hospital in Bangalore is Wochart hospital. It is affiliated with Harvard and is JCI accredited. Surgeons name is Dr. Rajakumar.

Mark

[jmichaeldail]

Please post your outcome results. I just sent my MRI to Dr. Rajakumar since I have been denied by my insurance company here in the states. Am considing going there for 2 level ADR in October.

[Piglet]

Hello All. If interested you can follow post surgical progress in the "Surgical Outcome Forum.

[Jack]

Opps, just realized you have already been there done that. Please disregard.

I didn't know there was a place in India that did these. Did they mention anything about the procedure they use? How many have they done? Which is their preferred brand of disc replacement?

One of the points that concerns me is post-op care here when you get back home. I'm not trying to scare you but there is always the risk of complications.

[tucsonmikenc]

Are you O.K., how are you doing ? Facing 3 level cervical ADR and I am very scared. Would really like to hear how things are going for you.