Decision made, Dr. Clavel, M6-L, 05/17/12
 

Well folks after years of back pain, trying to get a proper diagnosis, years of conventional treatments and months and months of doing research on this site, as well as others, I have finally made the decision to have ADR surgery with an M6-L at L4/5 by Dr. Clavel at the Barcelona Spine Center on May 17th, 2012. Thanks to all of you that have freely shared you experiences and knowledge with me and all of the other lurkers out there. I feel anxious, nervous and relieved all at the same time!! I now just have to book airfare and hotel rooms. I hope that I can share my experiences on my way to a pain free life again with all that continue to use this site to help make their own choices with regards to their back problems well after my surgery and for years to come!!

MC,

Best of luck and please keep us posted. I hope you're able to see Barcelona before or after surgery.

Good luck, Jeff

Good luck from a current fence sitter! As my daughter would say, soon you should be able to "move like jagger".....

Dr. Clavel
 

Mc,

I am in Barcelona at the moment. My 3 level Cervical ADR is this Thursday. I had my pre-op tests done today and met with Dr. Clavel. So far so good. Everyone is very friendly and helpful and I feel very comfortable with Dr. Clavel's abilities.

Good luck to you!

Jules

Good for you McJagger!

I remember you asking about the M6L studies ages ago on the UK site and wondered where you were with everything. I'll keep my eyes peeled around May 17th and will be wishing a great result finds you. Clavel seems very good from what I've read :)

buena suerte!! i had a 1 level and was out seeing Barcelona on post-op day #4 (gently, but i was out and seeing the sights!). i wish you similar success ;)

Thanks everyone for your kind thoughts, they are very much appreciated. Have sent my initial deposit to confirm date. Just booked plane tickets to Barcelona via Miami on the way over and via London Heathrow on the way home landing on May 13th and getting home on the 31st. Spending a few days at a resort just outside of Barcelona before heading into the city for preop appointment, surgery and recovery. Still trying to decide what to pack for A)the stay at the hospital and B) recovery, site seeing around the city.

update
 

Just sitting here at the Miami airport waiting for our flight to Barcelona, so I thought I would give an update on things. Since I decided to go ahead with the surgery with Dr. Clavel they set you up with an account on their web site with a password that is secure where they post your invoices, receipts and the best part is a place where you can upload additional xrays, medical reports, etc. directly to their web site. I had already had a metal allergy analysis done (thanks to laid up doc for this info) thru http://www.orthopedicanalysis.com/ and had my pre op ekg, chest xrays and blood work results all uploaded to their web site. We also paid the initial 65% deposit and final deposit with our credit card on the web site with no problems what so ever. Dr. Clavel's assistant, Yolanda is extremely helpful and easy to talk to. We decided to book our own hotels and transportation so we will stay at a resort for a few days before the surgery, ( http://www.starwoodhotels.com/lemeridien/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=3037 ) and then move into the city ( http://www1.hilton.com/en_US/hi/hotel/BCNDMHI-Hilton-Diagonal-Mar-Barcelona-/index.do ) for the duration of the trip, coming home on May 31. We have an appointment with Dr. Clavel at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow so I will update more after that.

What a shiny resort! I hope you're able to enjoy Barcelona before/after surgery. Looking forward to your post surgery update. You're going to do great!

Good luck, Jeff

Best of luck!!! As I am sitting on the fence, trying to figure out who, where, etc… I look at that "shiny resort" and think WOW! That would definitely make the trip more tolerable! Please keep everyone posted, and take lots of photos!