Hello everyone. My name is Billy B. I just turned 30, and for the last 8 months I have had progressive pain expansion starting under my left shoulder blade and now running through my shoulder, upper and lower arms, and into my hand. Sometimes it runs through the top part of my chest. I live in Hawaii and my wire convinced me about 6 months ago to go and see a doctor. I worked my ways through several here but they wanted months to get anything done. Finally my family convinced me to go to the Mayo Clinic. There in less than 72 hours ran me through everything you could imagine and determined that I would be best off with a fusion surgery for herniation at C6-C7 with an annular tear impinging the nerve. I opted to try the guided epidural shot first, and they got me in for that in less than an hour. I was on a plane that afternoon and on my way back to the islands. I got my first night of sleep in bed with my wife that night in what seemed like a very long time. The next day the pain was on its way back and continued to spiral down over a few days right back to where I was plus a little more. No more bed. No more wife. Banished back to my chair by the pain. I called the Mayo Clinic and they told me they would be happy to get me scheduled. I have spoke to my PA about it and I ask about the possibility of an ADR over a fusion and he told me that my NS was qualified with the Prestige ST. Of course out of pocket thanks to BC/BS. I have been poking around ever since to find more information and I have landed here. Thankful that Harrison has brought us all together. I have 5 days and 3000 miles to my surgery. Of course I still have me reservations. I used to run, hike, surf, dive, and spend as much time on my motorcycle as possible. One dive to catch some materials on a job site and all that has slowly slipped away. On a plane even the Percocet can not stop the pain. Of course being 6'6" in coach is always painful. Any advice anyone might have would be appreciate. Best of luck to us all.

Welcome Billy. We are both glad to have you aboard and sorry for you circumstance that brings you here. Whatever you decide - I wish you the best.

I know exactly how you are feeling. Many of us do. Deciding when to have spine surgery was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. Actually getting on the operating table was the single scariest moment of my life.

I compare it to getting married. This is lifetime people, no decision anyone should make lightly. It is a very individual decision and no one else can tell you when you are ready.

Epidurals did not work in the long term for me either. I tried three epidurals before surgery. I am almost 2 years post op and glad that I went through with it.

Thank you, Jessica. I am pretty worried about. My wife and friends think that is pretty funny. I spend years as an Army Ranger, and I am more concerned about this than anything that I ever did there. I had some hopes for the injection, but they were dashed as soon as the local wore off. I spoke to a friend about it and they said that it can come back, but nothing ever did. I do however heal quickly so I have high hopes for the surgery, and after reading everything on here I hope I will be speeding down the road on my bike again soon. I have just a few days to wait.

Was there any reason that you went with the Prodisc-C over the Prestige?

Welcome Billy,

You have found a great place here at ADR Support. I cannot tell you how much this site, along with all of its wonderful members, has helped me in the last 3 months. I was leery when my NS first talked about ADR, since I had never heard of it. I did not even know it existed. Now, almost 3 weeks post op, I’m more than convinced that it was the best choice for my situation.

Good luck on your journey and be sure to ask questions along the way. Most of the questions I had I could find or get answers to here.

Peace be with you,

Billy

Welcome to the forum, sorry you need to be here. Best of luck to you in your surgery. Just remember to take it slowly no matter how good you may feel afterward.

Missy

I have two Prestige Discs in my neck. I went to the Mayo clinic for my first spinal surgery in 1995. I went to Germany for my four level ADR surgery. The Prestige Disc is a good disc. I am one year eight months out of ADR surgery on July 4th. I have my life back for sure. Hang in there and you will probably do fine. The neck seems to have less struggles than the lumbar area for this healing process. If you want to discuss this further with me, please send a PM.

Terry Newton

Hi Billy, welcome to the forum. At the present time, what are your top 2 or 3 questions? We can talk later this week too...

Billy,

Good luck on the 27th!

I couldn't help but notice your location. I have done a lot of surfing in Maui, as my Mother-in-law has a condo and a house in Maui. I wish I was on the beach right now.

Justin

Thank you everyone for the welcome, and Justin I can not wait to be able to lift my head up high enough to be able to paddle again. Surfing use to be daily on the way to and from work on the Lahaina side.

I think that my biggest concerns right now are the same that a lot of people have. I am fighting to get this covered on my workers comp, but I was stupid and I sucked it up for a long time and now the adjuster does not want to believe me. I am of course concerned if this is the right thing for me. If it is worth the $7000.00 out of pocket that I am going to have to front to get this done on top of the $2500 that it is taking to fly my wife and I to somewhere where you can find competent medical care. (PS If you are not going to die in 5 hours or less, crawl on a flight out of here) I am pretty concerned about getting put under. I wonder how long it is going to take me to get back on my feet, because my job is only offering me 9 days of pay (including my vacation time) before they cut me off, and of course I know you should not rush getting back. I am concerned that I am going to do this and it is not going to take away the pain. That I will wake up and it will still be there or worse. I am concerned that I am going to have to keep popping Percocet 8 times a day to try and keep working. I think that is a pretty good start into the chaos that is my mind at the moment. I have to hop a flight tomorrow afternoon to head to Scottsdale, and I guess I am still trying to make up my mind. http://adrsupport.org/groupee_common...n_confused.gif

I think that is enough venting for one post. Sorry!

I forgot a big one. I am really concerned about bulging disks above getting blown out.

Now I am done I swear.