[nomorecdl]

I'm definitely willing to go wherever I need to in order to get the best treatment. I actually went to a spine injury seminar recently, and the doctor who reviewed my MRI there said there is a procedure that may be the answer that involves using a laser and sealing the herniations in the damaged discs, and clearing out the area (by removing bone) around my "out of shape" discs and showed me the difference between discs in my back that are healthy and the nice white color they have and have a kidney bean shape to them in front vs. the injured discs that have lost their white color and are now black, and have formed into a more circular shape closing off space for my spinal cord.

In the latest MRI, the jelly in the discs that came out is still visible in front of my spine and i was told its ok to leave the nucleus pulposus thats splattered out all over there indefinitely. There was no mention of fixing the actual placement of my spine, and/or restoring any lost height. Knowing how leverage and joint angles work in mechanics, Im concerned that this could lead to further problems.

Ive been looking around at the different options as far as ADR, and have found a small handful of German surgeons as well as a surgeon in Spain. The doctor in Spain seems to have a pretty good success rate. And the one surgeon in Germany does not use the M6, and instead uses the Prodisc. (you probably know who I'm talking about) My question is if the surgical procedure is supposed to be superior then why does it seem that the equipment used is not whats claimed to be the latest greatest technology in artificial discs? Are there complications with the M6, that the older versions of discs dont have? All of the surgeons in Germany that I've found seem to have a nice easy setup as far as getting a us citizen to germany and to the hospital and seem to have a very easy to understand "package deal" that make planning the trip for the surgery very easy.

I've noticed that alot of people include in their signatures that they have had procedures with Dr.Clavel, and it seems that most everyone is happy with his work, however I've not found planning a trip to go see him in Barcelona to be as easy as with some of the German surgeons. Not that I have a problem with arranging my own taxi from the airport, and hotel stays, etc.. But how did the planning/trip part of it go for those of you who have gone through it? And most importantly, how do I go about choosing the best surgeon for my particular situation? What should I be most concerned about as far as what questions to ask?