[Jonesie13]

Hi beaverc:

Getting your head to the place where you are ready to take the leap to surgery is a process. You can't or shouldn't make that decision lightly. Having said that, since I am a good candidate for ADR I don't want to wait so long that I am no longer a candidate because I now have other problems or get conservative treatment that might cause scar tissue.

I friend of mine had a 2 level fusion in Canada about 2 months ago. She had been putting up with significant pain and was loosing feeling in her legs and getting incontinent. Her surgery was through the same spinal clinic that I go to. They got 2 other opinions and finally decided to use the Canadian surgeon she was initially referred to. She felt that she received exceptional care and that her surgeon had the necessary experience and knowledge. Her recovery has been amazing. Her pre-surgery problems were gone immediately and she is recovering nicely. If there are any second thought she wishes she would have opted for surgery earlier. You'll now if and when you are ready.

It's a process and everyone is different. I am amazed at the posts where once decided, surgery has to be NOW. While I have decided that surgery is my best option at getting active again and I am now on the surgery wait list, I can't say that I am in a great hurry. I know it's about an 8 month wait if I use the Canadian health care system. This gives me lots of time to come to terms with my decision and to get as fit as I possibly can. It is also allowing me to get a second opinion overseas, to do some research and to ask my Canadian surgeon questions.

In the meantime I deal with my pain, but if I am smart, the degeneration of my discs will not get significantly worse. Thankfully I think I have a pretty good pain tolerance and am able to cope pretty well without the use of narcotics. But that's another whole topic of conversation.