Fellow Mainer
 

Hi Grumpy
I am orginaly from Lewiston, I can wait, not on pain meds,yet, Still working a little and enjoying life. will hold out for the surgeons knife and insurance fight.
A wicked thank you
Gil:)
How about the steelers:shedance:

When I was looking at ADR in Germany I considered two surgeons. Dr. Bertagnoli was my first choice, but I felt like there really was no difference between him and Dr. Zeegers. When I got Dr. Bertagnoli's price, it seemed higher than I thought it would be, so I got the price from Dr. Zeegers. It was, indeed, considerably lower. When I told Bertagnoli's people that the price was too high for high, they did not attempt to negotiate - they just said, basically, "ok, good luck."

Bottom line, I do not think it is negotiable, but it is always worth a try.

Dr. B
 

I sent an email to Dr. B's office and told them I had a diagnosis from Stenum and wanted a second opinion but that I didnt want to spend $350 for them to give me one. They replied back a couple weeks later with a PDF of their requirements and wouldn't budge on the evaluation costs. Then right after I got that email, I got another from them with a link to pay by PayPal. I now have a contact with a family friend who is related to an orthopedic surgeon (she doesn't perform ADR) in Germany who is giving me an evaluation for free and hopefully will recommend a good Dr. I am leary of both Stenum and Dr. B at this point...maybe I'm just paranoid.

Yep.
 

Yep, I hadda pay for the consultation too... So far well worth it, but ask me again after surgery! (I hope I'll say the same!) Best of luck to you!

!
 

Stenum, in my humble opinion is the best in the business. They will look at everything you have and give you a diagnosis and a path to take. They get back to you fast and will even talk to you on the phone. I had L3-4 and L4-5 done with them in January 2008 and am back to work as a captain for American Airlines. They use the maverick and the cervical M6 and their rates are 28,000 Euros for a two level and that includes everything.

If you want, they will be in Missoula, Montana June 13 and 14 and will talk with you there for free. They are a nonprofit organization and travel to other countries to do ADR.

Mark

I agree with rhatzy. After all of the rumors thrown about concerning Stenum, I was leary about the visit. The team spent well over a half an hour with me reviewing my past MRIs, surgeries and asking general questions to see if maybe something else was wrong. Before the visit was over, I was hugely impressed with the character and compassion shown.

If anyone gets the opportunity to get an evaluation with them, I think they'll be equally impressed.

I'm currently trying to rearrange my budget to have a single level Maverick implanted.

The one thing they wouldn't do was install a zerk fitting for future lubrication if needed.......

Bob

Stenum - Nonprofit? ADR Abroad?
 

Mark

It's obvious from your several posts mentioning Stenum Hospital that you are satisfied with their services and that your outcome was successful (more or less). I say more or less because it appears from your signature that you may also have had a concurrent L5-S1 issue that was not diagnosed or addressed at the time of your surgery and a 3-level ADR might have been a better option at the time. That said, I congratulate you on getting your life back and getting into the air again! It must feel really great.

I visited the Stenum website (http://stenumhospital.com/) to investigate your statements, quoted above, but could find no evidence to support them. Would you kindly reference your source for that information?

Thanks!

My Own Research For Facts
 

Not having received any actual citations or references for the statements made above by Rhatzy,

(“As I have said many time, Stenum is great... I think they are a nonprofit organization and I know that one person didn't pay at all and just left. I also know that they do this operation free for people really in need. They travel all over to do this. I also believe they are one of the cheaper ones out there.” “There are also horror stories on this site about surgery done by doctor B. I believe the two surgeons at Stenum have done more ADR's than anyone on earth... Stenum, in my humble opinion... ...will even talk to you on the phone. They are a nonprofit organization and travel to other countries to do ADR.”)

I decided to do my own research. I’ve taken the question to another thread, to separate it from the original topic. Here’s the link:

http://www.adrsupport.org/forums/sho...1796#post81796 (Fact vs. Conjecture - ADRSupport Community - The Big File)