Originally Posted by WakesurfMike (Post 115442)

I got tired of waiting on Zeegers and I still have not found out what sizes of Freedom disc are available or don't a final. I have still been communication with him and all I know at this point is he said sizing might be a problem with Freedom disc.

I contacted Dr Riscke earlier this week on the 8th using form on his website. http://www.spine-center-rischke.ch/?lang=en

I shared my MRI, CT, bone density, metal allergy test results with him via Dropbox and got an answer an then Quote within hours.

" thanks for sending your images. In L4/5 there occur a DDD with bright protrusion of the disc into the spinal canal with narrowing both foramen. At level L5/S1 there occur a DDD and black disc with lost of height and protrusion of the disc material into the spinal canal.Therefore again from my point there is no doubt for an indication of ADR in both level L4/5 and L5/S1."

Dr Rischke was an investigator on the Freedom disk but prefers the LP-ESP over the Freedom for a couple of reasons.

"with experiences since 20 years in ADR - the viscoelastic discs prothesis a the most natural like one. However from my point the LP-ESP is more adequate than the Freedom. The LP-ESP saves more the bone endplates than the more aggressive endplates of the Freedom." "LP-Esp is able to implant anterior-lateral, and the surface of the end plate is covered by hydroxyapatite which enables a save bone in growth . On the other hand I noted in the past a subsiding of the Axiomed prosthesis caused by the aggressive fins which damage the vertebra end plates Therefore I prefer the LP-ESP"

With my bone density on the light side I believe it is my best choice as well.

He is charging 25,000 swiss franc. He gave me choice of a surgery at one of two surgery centers. The high end option would be 35K-40k. I went with the least expensive option at Klinik St.George. He said is would be aprox 25,000k but the quote I have received is for

Aufwand Klinik St Grorge (OP dauer 150 Min) FR 10,295
implantate 2x LP-ESP inkl Leihgebuhren FR 6,880

for a total of 17,175. It says it includes a lot of stuff but it is in German so I don't know if this includes everything.

I have booked surgery for February 28th. I will be flying out a few days early on the 25th-27th depending on availability of unsold seats. My nephew works for American Airlines as a flight attendant and will be coming with me for the first week. He is hoping to get us upgraded to first class or business class seats. We just have to find a flight that isn't sold out of them.

I have added some more documentation on the FH Orthopedics LP-ESP thread that show the size, thickness, angles of the disc at https://www.adrsupport.org/forums/sh...ad.php?t=13104

Now I just need to figure out where I am going to stay for few weeks in Switzerland for the first part of my recovery.

Originally Posted by Blizzaga (Post 115477)

I think laterally simply refers to how the disc is pushed in between the vertebra. I think the cut is still done as anterior, meaning a cut going down from the belly button.