Introduction and Advice
 

Hello my name is Stephanie and I live on Vancouver Island in British Columbia.

I have Internal Disc Disruption (IDD) and I am desperate to find someone else with this diagnosis who has experienced success with ADR. Unfortunately IDD does not show up on an MRI as the issue is actually inside the disc. The diagnosis is given after a process of elimination.

I am severely disabled. I cannot sit, walk, or drive. I am largely housebound. So I am pretty desperate at this point and seriously considering ADR with Dr. Bertagnoli. I just have to get an MRI and send it to him in order to have him assess. I am terrified to hear him say because he can't see it on an MRI that he won't operate.

Anyways I am happy to be on this site and look forward to learning more about ADR.

Kind Regards,
Steph aka Daisy

Welcome to the forum. Although I don't have your condition, my symptoms were weighted heavily along with the MRI. Good luck finding a path that will fit for you.

Welcome, and sorry to hear about your pain. Although MRI's are the first form of submission, most dr's want x ray's with range of motion. I went to Dr Clavel, and only after he saw x-rays and CT scans showing range of motion would he give a diagnosis. I even had to do one of the views over because it didn't show exactly what he was looking for. It was kind of a pain, but in the long run, definitely worth it.

Hi Daisy,

Sorry to hear about your condition. I noticed in your sig that you did Prolotherapy, do you mind me asking the doctors name?
Also when you get your MRI you might want to solicit more doctors. I did 6, 3 overseas and 3 in the US. I received 5 responses and it was unanimous that L3-S1 needed surgery. It was a relief that I got that consensus. The next part was to narrow down that list and select the surgeon.
Good luck

What about a discogram?

Multiple Opinions
 

I agree with the "Stone". get multiple opinions because my experience with the Dr. Bertagnoli US contact was not pleasant, while Dr. Zeegers was probably one of the best doctors I had the pleasure of directly communicating with. I am not even sure Dr. B reviewed my files. Tim, his US handler, made so many mistakes, indicated I was a candidate for a Cervical ADR (Oh by the way, I have a single Level issue at L4/5. haha). This does not say anything about Dr. B's ability, just the process for US patients.

Since your case is unique a few opinions may be necessary. Just make sure you are not just searching for a doctor to say Yes to ADR. It needs to be the correct solution to your diagnosis.

Jim

Hello and welcome.

If I could wave my magic wand, I would find a pain mgt doc or interventional radiologist for you -- to extract a small sample from the disc nucleus and use PCR and culturing to screen for microbial infection. Your diagnosis is unusual, but it could suggest a pathology that involves lesion or infection.

Pls see this multipage topic on this subject:

http://www.adrsupport.org/forums/showthread.php?t=9218

And note this credible study on how many patients benefited from antibiotics:

http://www.adrsupport.org/forums/sho...tibiotic+study


But could it be simply an annular tear? Maybe. See:

http://www.chirogeek.com/IDD%20Page/IDD.html

If it’s an annular tear, fixes such as fibrin have been used to “cement” and seal the annular fissure.

Daisy,
I'm the guy you talked to in Duncan......
I have a business colleague in Victoria that had horrific lumbar spine pain and he was on pretty much every heavy opiate going. He finally after a long, long list of frustrating tests etc had a biopsy to remove tissue from the affected/infected area and they built a signature genetic culture and now for 6 weeks/3X day he injects the 'vaccine' back in to an IV that is fed in right near his heart. He had less than a week last Saturday when I talked to him and he said it was the first time he's slept over 4 hours and was drastically reduced in lower lumbar pain.

I think that biofilm issues and arthritis issues are really very important to look into. Try the Tart Cherry juice too......

Call me again and I'll dig up more information from John....

Hi Daisy,

So sorry to hear about the pain you are in. I am currently in Calgary recovering from surgery but will be heading to my second home on Vancouver Island the end of May. I'd be happy to talk to you or meet re ADR surgery if you are interested PM me some time.

Thank you.