New Member
 

Hello! My name is Amy and I'm so glad to have found this forum. I wish I had found it a little sooner as I am schedule for cervical ADR surgery tomorrow morning! I'm feeling a little nervous as it gets closer but it has been a long journey for me and I'm praying that I am about to embark on a much less painful existence. :jacks:Thank you all for all of your posts that I have been pouring over so that I can hear about your experiences. I really appreciate them!

Wishing you a positive outcome and pain free life after surgery amyk!

Which disc are you getting and who is your surgeon? Hope to hear from you later about your excellent recovery. Be well.

Amyk, also wishing you the best of luck. I'm scheduled to go for ADR surgery myself in just over a week with Dr. Blumenthal at the Texas Back Institute in Plano.

Thank you so much for the welcome! I will be doing a C5-7 Mobi-C disc replacement with Dr. Petinne in Loveland Colorado. I feel like I've had a headache at various degrees for years and I'm really praying that this will work. I've been fortunate that I don't have the radiating arm pain, it is all in my neck, head and traps. I'm a mom of 3 ( 12, 13 and 16) and would love for my children to have a strong, healthy, vibrant mom. I'll try to keep everyone posted with my progress so that I can share my experience:)

Amy,

You are in good hands -- Dr. Pettine is awesome and is a pioneer here in the United States for ADR. He also performed ADR at my C5-7. When I was sitting in your shoes 6 months ago, I knew I had nothing to worry about and was very confidant in Dr. Pettine's abilities. You will be well taken care of by Dr. Pettine and the staff at Poudre hospital. Good luck -- you will be so happy you did this for you and your family.

We're you able to get insurance to cover your surgery? If so, please share what carrier your with so we are all aware. Thank you!

Amy,

Good luck and best wishes on your surgery! Hoping everything goes well!

Continued thanks for the well wishes and especially to Colorado Babe for the reassurance from someone who used the same doctor, especially helpful for the day before surgery jitters:uhoh:.

I am miraculously covered by insurance through United Health Care for the 2 level Mobi-C. The Doctor's office facilitated this for me, but I do have to say that I also sent them a pile of documents showing how many conservative treatments I have tried and urging them to consider how much money they are spending on me to continue trying so many injections, physical therapies etc. I also called a few times. I have no idea if my efforts had anything to do with the approval, because I spoke to a different person every time. It may be that the doctor's notes were all they looked at, but I felt like I needed to communicate myself as well to plead my case.

I'm am beyond grateful that they are covering the surgery. I know that I am very blessed in this way.

Amy, condolences on being here, but welcome. You're going to do great tomorrow! Good luck!

Hello Amy
 

I will be praying for your speedy recovery. Mobi-C has outstanding outcomes in your case. I am having ADR next week in Spain. I already have a three level fusion and they won't approve an ADR here in the US. You are in good hands; as I have heard great things here with the doctor in Colorado!

Our prayers for a smooth surgery tomorrow AmyK, and progressing quickly to becoming pain free. My cervical problem is C3-C6, and wanted to know if you had any pain or burning around the shoulder blades (Scapula area)!
Best of luck tomorrow,
Dema & Raouf

JSS-thanks for the welcome.

Cheryl- I really hope your surgery goes well in Barcelona and that you come out of it feeling so much better. May the outcome be just what you need.

Dema-I have not had pain and burning under the scapula, but I have always had sort of a tingling nerve-y feeling under my right scapula when I lie in certain positions. I really feel that it is related. It's been that way for several years.

Amy - Just think in a few hours you will be carrying around two new Artificial Disc. I am thinking of you this morning and I am sending positive energy your way.

I am so happy United Healthcare approved your surgery. You wouldn't happen to be under Tricare are you? the reason why I ask is that I am the first person who ever won an appeal with Tricare and just want to see if they are approving request for military and their families. I was told by the head of Tricare back in December that they would not give us the run around again. I hope they're. Thank you!

I believe Amy has United Healthcare and they approved the 2 ADR procedure. Our prayers are with you today Amy.
Dema & Raouf

Tricare is managed through United Healthcare. This is the reason why I ask. I just want to know if they are approving the multi-level now as I was told by the head of Tricare that they would for retired/active duty members who are service connected. I had to appeal three times before they approved my surgery in October. I was the first one to get this approved. I just want to keep tabs on this to see where were at.

Mobi-C disc C4-6 replacement surgery 4/27/15
 

Dear Friends,

This is my first update after a 2 level mobi-c disc replacement surgery this past Monday with Dr. Petinne in Colorado. I really appreciate all of the prayers and kind wishes from all of you.

First of all, I want to apologize because I originally said that we would be doing C5-7, but we ended up deciding that C4-6 would be best. There is damage up and down the cervical spine, so we were just trying to make the best decision we could.

I was approved through United Healthcare for insurance coverage for the surgery. I am not under tri-care and did not have an appeal process. I think this might be incredible news for everyone seeking insurance coverage. As I mentioned before, I have years and years of paperwork documenting the amount of money United Health Care has spent on me trying to address my pain with traditional less invasive therapies. Literally hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on me over the course of about 8 years with no stone unturned. I really drove that point home with them. I don't know if that helped my case, but I share that with you for what it is worth as you plead your cases as well. My prayer is that this opportunity will continue to open up to more and more people without so much stress and fight for people that are already living their lives in pain.

I'm going to try and post updates in the thread for people post surgery so that I can share my recovery and hopefully help others. I'm still pretty groggy and uncomfortable, so it may not be every day, but I really want to be of service where I can so I will try!:clap:

Thank you again for all of your well wishes!
Amy

Congratulations Amy on making it to the other side, and wishing you a smooth and quick recovery from surgery.

Congratulations to you to as well, Amy!! I hope you have a quick and speedy recovery. My turn is tomorrow morning at level C5/C6 using the Mobi-C. I'm at the hotel right across the parking lot from TBI as I write this.

Best regards,
Gene

NJ Gene-Thinking of you and hoping that your mobi-c surgery went well. Praying for your comfort in your healing.

Amy

Amy: I am so happy that all went well with your surgery. Take care of yourself and keep us posted. This is great news!:beer:

Colorado babe,

May i ask why you chose an anterior fusion at L5-S1 vs. any other type of fusion offered for your condition. Most people don't go anterior for fusion unless something drastic is wrong.

Thanks