[colorado babe]

Mike - Funny that you should say you think Dr. Pettine is an "egotist". I didn't get that impression at all when I saw him. I was so impressed by his professionalism and demeanor and the time that he took to go over all my issues (3 hours) that I made up my mind immediately after seeing two other surgeons (Wong and Prusmack) that Dr. Pettine's was the surgeon for me based on my beliefs and what is best for me . I have never, ever in my entire life received such a thorough physical and the staff was awesome.

In regards to the stem cell institute, I have never ever received such wonderful care like the Institute when they performed my stem cell IV for chronic pain. As soon as I walked in the door Candice was there to greet me and my daughter. Meghan had all my paperwork ready and even went over to Dr. Pettine's office and ran off copies of my medical records for my appeal with Tricare and handed me a letter that Dr. Pettine wrote for more documentation.
Dr. Colburn was scheduled to perform the IV stem cell procedure and I was pleasantly surprised when Dr. Pettine came in and did it with Dr. Colburn by his side. They even allowed my daughter to come in since she had just received her BSN and passed the state boards. The whole experience from checking in to checking out was easy and everyone I dealt with that morning was professional and thorough. The Institute has even called me several times to check in with me. After only one month, I can definitely notice that it is working. When friends come over to me see me they can't believe the difference. Before they could see the pain all over my face and now I am able to function and even laugh and smile again. It was well worth every penny that I paid and they did give me a wonderful discount, much less that my friend who had stem cells in her knee the month before. They are even trying to get a grant for veterans so they won't have to pay. Hopefully they'll get it and pay it forward to other veterans.

I do agree with you 100 percent after doing research from here and other sites that I should consider fusion over the ADR on the Lumbar. I am getting a second opinion from Dr. Rittlerlang before I schedule the surgery and I am pretty sure that even my new appeal through an outside agency from Tricare and my request through the VA won't pay for the ADR on the Lumbar. My appeal will hopefully get approved for a multi-level ADR in the Cervical. Today I have an appointment at the VA to discuss with my provider the request. We will see what she says.

I guess it is all dependent upon the patient and their experience. Mine has been nothing but great with Dr. Pettine and the Spine Institute and from the sound of your post it seems like you had a different experience. I am sorry that you didn't have the same experience as I. I believe every patient should be treated the same.