[Kelly4ADR]

Welcome Mike! You found the right place for some sound advice.

I read your story and I could relate on a couple things. Should or shouldn't you have the surgery?? That is really between you and your surgeon but here's my take... I have personally been through the rounds of severe pain then feeling better, thinking it wasn't that bad. But it was that bad. I let it go for so long that my scope of activity got smaller and smaller and I didn't even realize how my life was being affected. I think the longer you put up with it, the slower the change and pretty soon pain and limited movement just become the norm. There is no way for a surgeon to judge your quality of life. That is your call, with the input of the people in your life that can see you suffer. Often times when DRs looked at my films, they were shocked that I didn't have worse symptoms such as balance issues and dropping things, but I didn't. My point there is that the films can be looked at objectively to say this or that, and it is a very important piece of the puzzle, but we are not flat images on a screen, and you need to take into account all the info, quality of life being a big one. Don't wait until you are really really bad, like I did. If I would've had surgery a few years ago like suggested, I may have only needed one disc replaced , not two.
That being said, it sounds like you have tried conservative measures first which is good, and often required by your insurance. I would look up what your plan says about artificial disc replacement so you are in the know. They will often want certain symptoms to be present along with "patient has failed 6 weeks of conservative treatment" etc. they want to see that you have exhausted all other possibilities. If you need help looking it up PM me with your insurance and I'll help you. Also, I have never heard of an insurance paying for ADR but not covering the Mobi-c. I would check on this too. The pro disc has served a lot of people well, but I would lean toward the mobi-c. I am a little biased, since I had two shiny new ones put into my neck last week.
Lastly, the claustrophobia, ugh. I too suffer from this, and as my neck symptoms got worse, so did my fears. T think it has to do with loss of arm function and feeling like I can't protect myself. Once I slid into a booth at a restaurant and my husband slid in next to me. I went to take my coat off and my arm got stuck. I panicked and I had to go outside. I was so embarrassed, I cried and I couldn't even eat my food. I have had several panic attacks since then, it's the worst feeling. Not too long ago I walked out of the grocery store, there was a couple behind me and when I tried to turn to see them I couldn't (my neck wouldn't turn very far). I got so panicked that when I got to my car I got in, locked the doors and sat for a while until I calmed down. Now that I've had surgery I'm planning on taking some self defense classes and shooting my gun a lot at the range to make up for 10 years of panic and stupid anxiety, jeez!!!

Again, my point is, quality of life can only be measured by you. Are your symptoms going to get better by waiting? Probably not. Are your symptoms going to get worse over time? Probably. If they don't get an ounce worse, are you content with dealing with the bouts of pain? It doesn't sound like you are.

So there is my long winded round about answer. I hope something I said was helpful!