Dr. Biren Desai 3 level cervical ADR Sept 4th
 

After almost a year of research and gathering quotes, I'm having surgery in Cologne, Germany on Sept 4th with Dr. Biren Desai. Dr. Desai will be installing the CP-ESP at C4 thru C7. Cost is E23,500 Euro [edit-deleted dollar sign because dumb American :) ].

I also need lumbar ADR at L3 thru S1. I'm going to wait until my neck heals and I can assess the symptoms without my neck yelling at me so loud. I'm sold on the flex-core ESP for cervical, the stresses aren't that high. May consider the pro-disc or other for my lumbar surgery. I lift weights, and my lumbar spine carries 10X the load that my neck does.

Ask me anything, and I will try to reply.

Wow that's right around the corner.


I'm still suffering from analysis paralysis. Almost there - at this point pretty much waiting to see when they can schedule successive surgeries (cervical then lumbar a week later)

Just curious
 

You state that after a year of research you have decided on Dr. Desai in Colonge Germany. I see you have only been posting on this forum since July 2019.
Please share your research resources and why only Dr. Bertagnoli or Dr. Desai?
Were there any other considerations?
It sounds like the quote was really low too.
How many ADR surgeries with this many levels has Desai done?

I finally scheduled my surgeries with Dr. Desai (2x cervical, 2x lumbar) in October.

He's has like 10+ years I think doing ADR surgeries, using a number of them during that time (Maverick, ProDisc, Charite). I think he told me he does like 200-250 surgeries a year. (I don't remember the starting year offhand) And has been using the ESP for many years now.

He has years of experience as a general surgeon which one can only assume helps him be prepared for a lot of different things.

I know there are surgeons who have more years of experience specific to spine surgery... But I wanted not only a very competent surgeon, but someone who I'd be comfortable with. You don't want me going into surgery with any more anxiety than I already live with :)

He spoke with me 3 times, for just over 2 hours. Answering every question with humility and compassion.

As a person, he seems to be really amazing. His outcomes as a surgeon seem to be on par with the other experts out there. All those experts seem amazing too - just with Dr. Desai there is no question that his personal motivation is helping you.

Three times at the end of his day, fairly late in Germany, he makes time to call me and listen to all my questions... With nothing but a friendly positive attitude... And it's not like he's personally getting paid to stay late to talk to me.

Amazing guy. Granted it doesn't mean he's perfect and there's no risk in the surgery. But because of his years of experience and his level of compassion I truly feel comfortable putting my life in his hands.

That says it all
 

Well J.B. that says it all.
It sounds like you feel you have made an informed decision.
How did you find Dr. Desai?

I found him here... Comments from Layne, Iris, nsaiko (spelling that wrong)...


Anxious to hear how funcrew is doing... today was the big day.

Jack, doing great. See my post over at Surgical Outcomes. Cheers! :)

Will answer your questions to the best of my knowledge. Dr. Desai has specialized in spine surgery for 15 years. He is chief of spinal care for Sana Dreifaltigkeits-Krankenhaus in Cologne. He does a lot of ADRs, mostly CP-ESP and LP-ESP. Also tricky work like whole-spine fusion for severe scoliosis, facet joint ablation, laminectomies, and many others. His sales pitch is somewhat subdued. He explains that fixing your discs at discreet levels will not repair everything that's wrong with your skeleton and may not result in your being 100 percent pain free. I found him to be humble, dedicated and perfectionist at his craft. He expects you as a patient to faithfully obey your post-op instructions in order to have a good outcome.

For my future lumbar ADR, I'm still considering the Pro Disc. As someone that lifts iron weights for health and recreation, my lumbar discs see a lot more force than those of a couch potato watching TV. The CP-ESP for cervical repairs comes in multiple sizes, and in fact my 3 units are each different size. Unfortunately, their LP-ESP lumbar units only come in one size. The footprint of that device is too small for my comfort level, introducing the risk of subsidence. The Pro Disc is available in much larger footprints for lumbar applications. Additionally, the Pro Disc has a replaceable UHDPE core, so if the ball and socket joint wear out, they can open me up and pop in a new core, leaving the titanium plates bonded to the vertebrae. Conversely, the LP-ESP is a single integrated unit, so if the elastic core fails, you are hosed really bad. They then have to chip the titanium plate away from the bone and fuse that level.

I did not gather quotes from Clavel and other international superstar ADR docs because I was comfortable with my Dr Desai action plan.

I believe that if you spend a few months on this forum reading many threads and posts, you will be able to formulate an action plan that suits your goals and resources.

Cheers, Tim

I concur with Jack's comments. I'm going to wait a while until my post-op pain and discomfort have a chance to heal before I sing Dr. Desai's praises as a surgeon. The proof is in the results, and it's honestly too early to tell. So far though I have no regrets at all.

adr 3 level
 

funcrew:

i am wondering how you are doing. I need the same levels disc replacement as you do but am thinking of Dr. Ferrandez. He is apparently more affordable and seems very knowledgeable and nice.

I wonder how long you had to stay in Germany before you flew out. How long in hospital? Did you go to hotel after the hospital or to a special rehab place?

Did the 23K euros cover everything from start to finish except flight, taxis? Did it cover the hotel rehab food etc?

Thank you!!
daffodil